# Talk:Murder of Wadea al-Fayoume

This page is subject to the extended confirmed restriction related to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Some people online have been speculating that Czuba is Jewish, which motivated him to kill a Palestinian child.[1][2] I added one RS to the article reporting that Czuba is a Roman Catholic who attends church with his wife. The local Patch also quotes his defense attorney as saying "Czuba also attends St. Mary's Immaculate Church in Plainfield," which confirms the source I cited but may not be RS in itself. HouseOfChange (talk) 23:45, 17 October 2023 (UTC)

Please add the following text to the "legal proceedings" section:
"In addition to the Justice Department's investigation, the FBI announced a separate hate crime investigation on October 16." Truecrimefan22 (talk) 09:11, 27 October 2023 (UTC)

I've made the requested change with some modifications to the reference and the sentence. ~ F4U (talk • they/it) 02:54, 16 November 2023 (UTC)

Some reputable sources e.g.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/illinois-man-charged-with-hate-crime-fatal-stabbing-muslim-boy-2023-10-15/
https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/plainfield-landlord-joseph-czuba-arraigned-murder-hate-crime-wadea-al-fayoume-stabbing/
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/oct/30/landlord-pleads-not-guilty-killing-muslim-boy-hate-crime
have named the suspect, who has been indicted. Should the article do as well?
Thanks, cmɢʟee⎆τaʟκ 10:58, 8 November 2023 (UTC)

Yes we should, BLPCRIME does not say we cannot publish his name, just we should consider. Named in numerous RSs, we look like a nanny outfit by withholding it. WWGB (talk) 13:34, 8 November 2023 (UTC)
@WWGB  Why isn't the name of the suspect in the article? 2603:8080:EAF0:9B00:28CC:C890:22A6:6D9E (talk) 07:47, 16 November 2023 (UTC)
It is now. WWGB (talk) 08:04, 16 November 2023 (UTC)
Given the highly publicized nature of the accused's identity and their relationship (as landlord) to the victims, I strongly agree their identity as the accused belongs in the article. However, because the default per WP:BLPCRIME is innocent until proven guilty (and WP:BLPPUBLIC says an accusation against an individual of public notability should be carefully presented as such), I limited mentions of their name in the body to the "Accused" and "Legal Proceedings" sections.  Since the reporting only says he's accused, we can only say he's accused at this point. Danazar (talk) 17:40, 16 November 2023 (UTC)

This review is transcluded from Talk:Killing of Wadea al-Fayoume/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.
Reviewer: Moazfargal (talk · contribs) 19:54, 26 November 2023 (UTC)
Hi Davest3r08! I'll be reviewing this one. —M3ATH (Moazfargal · Talk) 19:54, 26 November 2023 (UTC)


### GABox
### Verifiability
You cite this source in the "Killing" section. The source says that police arrived at the scene at 11:35, which is inconsistent with the attack starting at 11:38 as the secton currently states. You cite this other source later in the article that says that the attack started 11:30 and that police arrived 11:38. Kindly fix this confusion. —M3ATH (Moazfargal · Talk) 22:46, 26 November 2023 (UTC)
 Done Verifiability problem solved. Davest3r08 >:) (talk)  00:09, 27 November 2023 (UTC)


### Suggestions for improvement
I'll place a few suggestions for improving the article prose below. Kindly strike out those you act on, or comment if you feel differently. —M3ATH (Moazfargal · Talk) 22:46, 26 November 2023 (UTC)


#### Lead section
Add information about the aftermath and reactions.
Change "in what authorities said was an anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian hate crime ... Authorities said the killing was an extremist reaction to the contemporaneous 2023 Israel–Hamas war, a part of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict." to "[[Authorities have described the killing as a hate crime motivated by [[Islamophobia and anti-Palestinianism, and an extremist reaction to the contemporaneous 2023 Israel–Hamas war." (This unifies all authorities' remarks in a single sentence, uses the more common term 'islamophobia' and avoids a sea of blue.)
 Done Davest3r08 >:) (talk)  00:07, 27 November 2023 (UTC)


#### Killing
Add an "at" before "around 11:38 a.m. on October 14, 2023."
Change "Shahin scratched him then ran to the bathroom and called 9-1-1." to "Shahin scratched him, ran to the bathroom and called 9-1-1."
Change "she found her son, six-year-old Wadea al-Fayoume, with multiple stab wounds" to "she found here six-year old son Wadea al-Fayoume wounded with multiple stabs."
Change "were transported to the hospital" to "a hospital," unless the hospital is known, in which case it should be mentioned in the sentence.
Instead of all refs being at the end of the paragraph, place each reference at the end of the sentence it is relevant to.
 Done Davest3r08 >:) (talk)  23:53, 26 November 2023 (UTC)


#### Accused
Relocate the sentences in this section that talk about the killing ("Joseph Czuba, the 71-year-old landlord of Shahin, came to her door on October 14, angry with her about what was happening in Jerusalem. After she responded "let's give peace a chance", he attacked her with a knife. Law enforcement officers who arrived at the scene found Czuba sitting outside Shahin's home with a laceration on his face.") to the section above. Also, consider replacing "laceration" with a more common word/phrase like "deep cut."
"At a hearing on October 16" I don't think this is particularly relevant to the topic at hand.
Like in "Killing," instead of all refs being at the end of the paragraph, place each reference at the end of the sentence it is relevant to.
 Done Davest3r08 >:) (talk)  23:54, 26 November 2023 (UTC)


#### Legal proceedings
Remove "committing" so the sentence reads "two counts of hate crimes.
 Done Davest3r08 >:) (talk)  23:35, 26 November 2023 (UTC)


#### Aftermath
Change "in Plainfield at a local basketball court" to "at a local basketball court in Plainfield."
Change "was also in attendance" to "attended."
Decapitalize "president."
Change "with another being earmarked for creating a charity" to "and another portion will be used to establish a charity."
 Done Davest3r08 >:) (talk)  23:34, 26 November 2023 (UTC)


#### Reactions
 Change "prompted many public statements and condemning" to "prompted many public statements and condemnations."
The entire text of Biden's statement is not needed. Summarize it in normal inline prose.
 Done Davest3r08 >:) (talk)  23:51, 26 November 2023 (UTC)


### Review on hold
As is customary practice, I will place the review on hold for seven days until the aforementioned issues are resolved. Davest3r08, if you finish this in less than seven days, notify me here (and ping!) or on my talk page. After these issues are fixed, I will invite a more experienced reviewer (this is my first review) to chip in with their thoughts. I'll also need their help with checking the conformity with the relevant policies of the image used and checking for copyvio, as I am inexperienced in these areas. —M3ATH (Moazfargal · Talk) 22:55, 26 November 2023 (UTC)

Moazfargal, sure! — Davest3r08 >:) (talk)  23:00, 26 November 2023 (UTC)
Davest3r08, sorry for the delay. I'll be checking the article in a moment. —M3ATH (Moazfargal · Talk) 16:33, 1 December 2023 (UTC)

Ok, I've noticed a number of minor issues, which should be fixed easily:
In the lead, start a new paragraph at "The killing lead to." Also, the fundraiser was created organized ... and creating establishing."
Also in the lead, remove the individual charges and say instead that he has been charged with five counts for which he potentially faces up to ...
In the "Killing" section, move reference 3 to the end of the sentence.
Czuba's age and position as the leandlord belong in the "Accused" section, and the fact that he has been arrested/charged isn't needed in the "Accused" section as it is already mentioned and elaborated on in the "Legal proceedings" section.
In the "Aftermath" section, add a comma after "spoke to the crowd" and remove the comma after "LaunchGood". Again, change "created" to "organized" with regards to the fundraiser.
Rephrase the last paragraph to: "The attack, along with other similar events, have led many Palestinian Americans and other Muslims to cancel plans, made them monitor their speech and actions, and made them concerned about their safety and that of their family members. A similar concern was seen by Jewish Americans, and security has been increased around mosques and synagogues across the country."
@Moazfargal  Done Davest3r08 >:) (talk)  17:19, 1 December 2023 (UTC)

—M3ATH (Moazfargal · Talk) 16:53, 1 December 2023 (UTC)
Great! I've posted to WT:GAN requesting assistance with the image and copyvio criteria, and that a more experienced reviewer give their thoughts before I finally close this nomination. —M3ATH (Moazfargal · Talk) 17:29, 1 December 2023 (UTC)


### Review passed
Davest3r08, it seems there is no issue regarding copyright and the images, as far as I can understand from what I've read. Since I do not want to delay this review further, I'm going to go ahead and pass this nomination. Congrats! —M3ATH (Moazfargal · Talk) 16:26, 3 December 2023 (UTC)

The image deletion discussion baffles me. It very obviously was not a press agency image - he was not known before he died, so it's obviously a photo taken by his family and so the copyright belonged to his family, who would have little commercial interest in exploiting the tragic loss of their son. Seeing a picture of him is obviously contextually important and standard on these kinds of pages. PARAKANYAA (talk) 20:11, 22 February 2024 (UTC)

There's not a lot of information about Czuba's background story. I tried to find secondary sources that are related to his life before the killing but all I know is that Czuba is a resident from Plainfield. Any information about his Czuba's life before the killing will be greatly appreciated. 2600:1702:5225:C010:999:200B:BF8B:67D0 (talk) 22:09, 28 February 2025 (UTC)

Could you clarify the reasoning behind this assumption of motive? What factual evidence supports a direct link between this hate crime and Zionism or Christianity? Contributions/ ([[User talk:|talk]]) 23:56, 2 May 2025 (UTC)

Amend "lead to" to "led to" 103.192.194.32 (talk) 14:27, 3 May 2025 (UTC)

 Done 🏳️‍🌈JohnLaurens333 (need something?) 22:10, 3 May 2025 (UTC)

I started correcting some variations in the spelling of the name, but then stopped, because I could not find an authoritative example.   The mother's name was also misspelled as Shaheen, which I already corrected to Hanaan Shahin based upon the Justice Department.
The title of article is:   "Murder of Wadea al-Fayoume"
In the article and other news sources, his name is referred to as:

Wadea al-Fayoume - Wikipedia
Wadee Alfayoumi - (New York Times, ABC, other's at the time of the murder)
Wadea Al-Fayoume & Hanaan Shahin - Justice Department
Al-Fayoume - Google search
al Fayoume - Google search
Al Fayoume - Google search

I have not been able to find the court documents, etc. which I assume would have to have the correct spellings of the victims.  Does anyone else have specific proof of the correct spelling of their names?  • Bobsd •  (talk) 18:37, 3 May 2025 (UTC)

Lifting this up again, this AP article from February 2025 states, "The boy — whose name was initially spelled Wadea Al-Fayoume by authorities" and uses "Wadee Alfayoumi" throughout, while spelling his mother's last name as "Shaheen". Therequiembellishere (talk) 15:48, 27 July 2025 (UTC)
And this press release from the Plainfield Park District (where the family lived) named a playground "Wadee Al Fayoumi". It does flip his mother's name as "Shaheen Hannan", when we know from many other sources it's the other way around, but the spelling is still informative. Therequiembellishere (talk) 15:52, 27 July 2025 (UTC)

Joseph Czuba was born on November 8, 1951 and is currently serving his sentence at the Stateville Correctional Center according to the Illinois Department of Corrections. 2600:1702:5225:C010:5954:A035:A1C0:975C (talk) 17:46, 23 May 2025 (UTC)