Stabbing of Palestinian American near the University of Texas meets hate crime standard, police say

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The stabbing of a 23-year-old Palestinian American who advocates say was attacked near the University of Texas campus while riding in a truck displaying support for Palestine merits the label of a hate crime, Austin police announced Wednesday.

Bert James Baker, 36, was arrested following the Sunday evening attack on Zacharia Doar, who was hospitalized. Baker was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Police said Wednesday that their Hate Crimes Review Committee had determined that the stabbing met the definition of a hate crime. They have provided that information to prosecutors, who will make the final decision on whether to enhance the offense.

The Travis County district attorney's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

Doar was one of four Muslim Americans who were in the truck, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which said Baker allegedly tried to rip a flagpole with a keffiyeh scarf reading “Free Palestine” off of their vehicle.

An arrest affidavit said that Baker, who was on a bicycle, rode up to the truck Doar and three others were riding in, opened the tailgate and doors and yelled racial slurs at them. The group exited the truck and approached Baker, who punched Doar in the shoulders, the affidavit said. A fight ensued, with Baker eventually pulling out a knife and stabbing Doar in the rib, the affidavit said.

When Baker was interviewed by police, he said he was an alcoholic and had more to drink that day than he normally did, the affidavit said.

Baker was being held in jail on Thursday on $100,000 bond. Jail records did not list an attorney for him.

Threats against Jewish, Muslim and Arab communities increased across the U.S. during the Israel-Hamas war. Israel invaded Gaza after an Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas militants.

In Vermont in November, three college students of Palestinian descent were shot and seriously wounded while taking an evening walk in an attack that authorities are investigating as a possible hate crime. In October, a landlord in Illinois was accused of fatally stabbing a 6-year-old Muslim boy and wounding his mother. He was charged with a hate crime after police and relatives said he singled out the victims because of their faith.