U.S. man sentenced to 53 years for hate-crime killing of 6-year-old Palestinian American [Video]

WARNING: This article contains graphic details of violence.

An Illinois landlord who killed a six-year-old Palestinian American boy and severely injured the boy’s mother in a vicious hate-crime attack days after the war in Gaza began was sentenced Friday to 53 years in prison.

Joseph Czuba, 73, was found guilty in February of murder, attempted murder and hate-crime charges in the death of Wadee Alfayoumi and the wounding of his mother, Hanan Shaheen.

Authorities said Czuba targeted them in October 2023 because of their Islamic faith and as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas. The family had been renting rooms in Czuba’s home in Plainfield, Ill., about 64 kilometres southwest of Chicago, when the attack happened.

WATCH | Vermont shooting investigated as hate crime: The U.S. attorney general says authorities are investigating the shooting of three men of Palestinian descent in Burlington, Vt., as a hate crime. All three were seriously injured but are expected to survive. The accused shooter pleaded not guilty …