Carrying signs including the words “I am not a threat”, classmates and friends of six-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume stood on an Illinois basketball court on Tuesday night at an emotional vigil for the Muslim boy stabbed to death in an alleged hate crime.
Hundreds of adults, including Dilawar Syed, the highest-ranked Muslim official in the Biden administration, joined the children in Plainfield to pay tribute to the child. The Palestinian American boy died after he and his mother were allegedly stabbed by their landlord, who authorities say was fueled by rage over the Israel-Hamas war.
Joseph Czuba, 71, is charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of a hate crime and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon for Saturday’s knife attack that killed Wadea and seriously injured his mother, Hanaan Shahin, 32, at their apartment.
The suspect allegedly shouted “You Muslims must die!” during the attack.
On Tuesday, a succession of speakers paid tribute to a boy known for his smile and love of basketball, and who was born in the US to parents originally from a village in the West Bank.
“What you see is an all-American boy,” Juhie Faheem, a therapist and member of the Will county mental health board, said, according to CNN.
“He didn’t wear a sign or necklace stating he was Muslim. He wore a smile on his face, stating he was a child, a child filled with love and not any hate.”
Wadea’s father, Oday Al-Fayoume, addressed the gathering one day after his son’s funeral.
“With Wadea gone, I don’t think there’s room for me to speak English any more,” he said.
Pointing to a displayed giant photograph that has become the most widely shared image of his son, celebrating his sixth birthday just eight days before his death, and holding up curled fingers, he added: “Do you know what Wadea is doing in this picture? He was waiting for me to complete the half of the heart he was making.”
He was hugged by Cynthia Glass, mother of Wadea’s best friend Dexter. Speaking through tears, she said: “This is about two boys who will never get to play together again. They will never, ever get to sit next to each other in class again. They will never get to ride the bus together again.
“We need to learn from these two sweet, sweet little kids.”
Syed, an official in the Small Business Administration, echoed Joe Biden’s words following the attack.
“President Biden has been very, very clear. There is no place for hate in America,” he said. “The president has and will continue to do everything in his power to fight Islamophobia and antisemitism in our nation.”
Syed was interrupted by shouts from the crowd, before community leaders stepped in to ask for calm and to focus on the victims.
“One of the elements of this village is a desire by this community, and so many thousands in this community, to make a statement rejecting hate because that is not who we are as Plainfield,” John Argoudelis, Plainfield’s mayor, said.
Ahmed Rehab, executive director of the Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (Cair), remembered Wadea as a typical six-year-old who enjoyed coloring, playing with toys and any game with a ball.
“He loved his parents, he loved his family and his friends, he loved life and he was looking forward to a long, healthy, prosperous life,” he said.
Rehab said the boy’s mother, who remains in a hospital in Joliet, is “dealing with her injuries, dealing with her emotional trauma and dealing with the biggest hole that can never be filled, the biggest gap of all, the loss of her child”.
The Illinois governor, JB Pritzker, and the Chicago mayor, Brandon Johnson, met the boy’s family following a vigil at the hospital on Monday. Wadea’s mother was unable to attend his funeral or Tuesday’s gathering in Plainfield. She is expected to recover.
Czuba remains in custody in Will county after an initial court appearance on Monday. Court documents allege he knocked on the family’s door on Saturday morning and began arguing with Wadea’s mother about the Israel-Hamas war.
After Shahin suggested they pray for peace, the argument became violent. Shahin was stabbed, and locked herself in a bathroom and called 911, while Czuba attacked the boy with the knife and stabbed him 26 times, it is alleged.
His next court appearance is scheduled for 30 October.
