CAPAC Chair Statement Mourning the Murder of Wadea Al-Fayoume

WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Sunday, a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy was stabbed to death in his Illinois home by his family’s landlord in a tragic incident that is now being investigated as an anti-Muslim hate crime. His mother was also stabbed more than a dozen times. She is recovering from her injuries.

Rep. Judy Chu (CA-28), Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), issued the following statement:

“I mourn the horrendous loss of innocent 6-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume and my heart goes out to his mother Hanan Shaheen. No family should have to endure such tragedy. We must stand strongly against hate violence targeting Muslim communities and heed the lessons we have learned about the targeting of Muslim, Middle Eastern, and Arab communities after September 11. That means appropriately addressing the surge in hatred and vitriol we are already witnessing against Muslims, Palestinians, and Arab Americans.

“There can be no room for any hate in America: not Islamophobia, not anti-Semitism, not racism. I commend law enforcement’s swift decision to open a federal hate crime investigation into this incident to bring justice to Wadea’s family and the entire Plainfield, IL, community.”