The US Justice Department has opened a federal hate crime investigation after an Illinois landlord allegedly stabbed a 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy to death and seriously wounded his mother because the family is Muslim. Joseph M. Czuba, 71, was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of a hate crime and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, the Will County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. The sheriff’s office said Czuba did not make a statement to detectives, but investigators determined the victims were “targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis.” Read more at the link in bio. 📷: CAIR/Reuters