Hate crime? Call for charges after stabbing near UT Austin

Calls for hate crime charges after stabbing near UT Austin

FULL VIDEO: CAIR-Austin and the victim's family calls on law enforcement to file hate crime charges after a stabbing in West Campus, near UT Austin.

AUSTIN, Texas - The local chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is calling on law enforcement to file hate crime charges after a stabbing in West Campus, near UT Austin.

Austin police say Bert Baker, 36, stabbed another man at the intersection of West 26th and Nueces Streets just before 7 p.m. on Sunday. Officers arrived to find a man with stab wounds. He was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

CAIR says the victim was part of a group of four young Muslim Americans who had just attended a pro-Palestinian protest.

Stabbing near UT campus after altercation

Austin police are investigating a stabbing in the West Campus neighborhood. It happened Saturday evening near 26th and Nueces.

They say the group was driving home when Baker allegedly tried to rip a flagpole with a Palestinian keffiyeh scarf reading ‘Free Palestine’ off of their car.

CAIR says, according to the victims, Baker then pulled a man from the car and attacked him. They say the rest of the group tried to fight him off, before he stabbed one of the men in the chest, breaking one of his ribs.

CAIR and local community leaders held a news conference Tuesday outside of City Hall to call for hate crime charges against Baker.

Safety concerns at UT Austin after stabbing

There are renewed concerns about safety on and around the UT campus after a man was stabbed in the West Campus neighborhood.

In a statement, CAIR-Austin Board Chair Fayyaz Shah said, "The entire Austin Muslim community stands in solidarity with these young members of our community, who appear to be the latest victims of a surge in anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian hate across our nation. We encourage law enforcement to file hate crime charges against the suspect and we also encourage federal law enforcement to open a hate crime probe."

The Austin Police Department released a statement on February 6 saying, "Based on the information we received, we believe the February 4, 2024 incident to be bias-motivated and will be reviewed by the Hate Crimes Review Committee. Once the committee reviews the details of this case, the information will be provided to the Travis County District Attorney's Office and/or the County Attorney's Office. It is up to the prosecuting office to enhance the offense to a bias motivated crime not the investigative unit."