West Campus stabbing determined as a hate crime: APD

West Campus stabbing is hate crime: APD

The stabbing in West Campus on Sunday night meets the definition of a hate crime, according to Austin police.

AUSTIN, Texas - The stabbing near UT campus on Sunday meets the definition of a Hate Crime, according to APD's Hate Crimes Review Committee.

It is now up to the Travis County District Attorney's Office to make the final decision on whether the offense can officially be classified as a hate crime.

"For this incident to happen in Austin, it was very surprising," said Fayyaz Shah, the board chair for the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Austin and DFW.

Sunday's stabbing was too close for comfort for Shah.

"My son is a medical student, and he ended up providing some aid to the victim and kind of, so, it just completely came home from many different angles," said Shah.

According to arrest documents, Bert Baker stabbed Zacharia Doar after an altercation near the intersection of 26th Street and Nueces. Baker opened the tailgate and doors of the truck Doar was in, then placed his bike in front of it, yelling racial slurs. An altercation then broke out.

"This thing that happened to Zacharia is hard to understand because I don't know why, you know, what could cause someone to have that much rage to go up and try to pull somebody out of a car and do the things that he did," said Mustafaa Carroll, the interim executive director for Dallas’ Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Doar's family and friends said he was leaving a pro-Palestine rally at the capitol with plans to get dinner before returning home to Dallas.

"All I want is justice for my son and justice for people in Gaza," said Nizar Doar, Zacharia Doar’s father, at a gathering on Tuesday.

After police charged Baker with aggravated assault, Doar's family called on law enforcement to look at hate crime charges.

"I really call for the law enforcement to do their right investigation and determine exactly what happened,’ said Nizar Doar.

Just more than 24 hours later, APD’s Hate Crime Review Committee said the case was a hate crime.

Family of West Campus stabbing victim speaks out

The group that gathered at Austin City Hall Tuesday morning came to support Nizar Doar and his wife. The couple came to the event to it make clear, they believe their son Zachariah is the victim of a hate crime.

The news was bitter-sweet for CAIR representatives.

"We are glad that the investigation is going in the right direction," said Shah.

"I'm also sad that we're still dealing with these types of issues," said Carroll. "It's not a sign of progress because we have to label it hate crimes and whatnot, but if it's going to bring justice to the family, then I'm okay with it."

Both Carroll and Shah said what happened on Sunday is part of a larger issue.

Their civil rights group saw anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian complaints rise by almost 200 percent in the last three months of 2023.

"The dehumanization of one group overseas does translate to the dehumanization of that group domestically," said Shah.

The Travis County District Attorney's Office will have the final say on any hate crime charges.

They sent FOX 7 Austin the following statement:

"We are in the process of receiving the evidence on this case from the Austin Police Department and look forward to working with them on this case."

Carroll told Fox 7 Austin Doar is back home with his family in Arlington.