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Czuba had been friendly with the boy and his mother before the attack in the Middle East, building the boy a tree house and allowing him to use the swimming pool, The Washington Post reported<\/a>. But \u201csomething changed\u201d in the days following Oct. 7, 2023, and Czuba grew suspicious of the mother and son due to their background and religion, The Post reported.<\/p>\n In a statement Friday, the Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations<\/strong> called Czuba\u2019s lengthy sentence \u201ca necessary measure of justice.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWadee was an innocent child,\u201d<\/em> Ahmed Rehab, Executive Director of CAIR-Chicago<\/strong>, said in a statement. \u201cHe was targeted because of who he was \u2014 Muslim, Palestinian, and loved.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n One of the boy\u2019s relatives, Mahmoud Yousef, spoke Friday during the sentencing hearing. He thanked the local authorities and Plainfield community for \u201cstanding up against the hate crimes,\u201d the Chicago Tribune reported<\/a>, before turning to face Czuba<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to know what made him do this,\u201d Yousef said, according to the Tribune. \u201cWhat type of news did he hear on the TV or radio that made him do such an unheard [of] crime, that is more than just hate? We are talking about a 6-year-old kid.\u201d<\/p>\n Czuba did not respond to Yousef or speak during the hearing. His attorney could not immediately be reached for comment.<\/p>\n Complaints of anti-Muslim discrimination rose about 70 percent after the war in Gaza began compared with the same period the year before, according<\/a> to CAIR. Anti-Jewish hate crimes in 2023 also reached their highest number since data collection began in 1991, according<\/a> to the FBI.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n