AUSTIN, Texas — Austin police say a stabbing attack in West Campus on Sunday does meet the definition of a hate crime.
Police say Bert James Baker attacked a group of people on West Campus. He's accused of calling them a racial slur and stabbing one of them, targeting a Palestinian American.
On Tuesday, officials with the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) said the group had just left a "free Palestine" rally. The group called for the attack to be classified as a hate crime. Baker already faces an aggravated assault charge.
Now that the Austin Police Department's Hate Crimes Review Committee has determined the attack did meet the definition of a hate crime, the Travis County District Attorney's Office will decide whether to enhance the offense.
On Feb. 4, at around 7 p.m., APD responded to the intersection of Nueces and West 26th streets after multiple 911 calls reported that a man – later identified as Bert James Baker – was being pinned to the ground and another person had been stabbed in the ribs, according to an affidavit obtained by KVUE.
The victim, 23-year-old Zacharia Doar, and three others were in a pickup truck when one of the passengers felt the tailgate open. The witness said he then saw Baker on a bicycle, pulling open the rear right passenger door and the front right passenger door.
The witness told police Baker put his bicycle down in front of the truck and began yelling at people inside, calling them racial slurs. He said Baker seemed to be trying to get them to fight him because he had his hands up in a fighting stance.
“Baker repeatedly screamed the N-word and other obscenities, opened a passenger door, pulled one of the victims out of the car and physically attacked him," said Mustafaa Carroll, the interim executive director for CAIR.
The four truck passengers, including the victim and the witness, got out of the truck and walked to the front of it. The witness said Baker approached the victim and punched him in the shoulder. A fight ensued, and Baker fell to the ground.
According to the affidavit, the three friends then backed away from Baker, but he got back up to continue the fight. Multiple punches were thrown, and Baker ended up back on the ground as the friends again backed up.
The witness told police Baker reached into his sweatshirt pocket and pulled out a long knife, unsheathed it and began running toward them.
When the witness turned around, he saw his friend, the victim, bleeding from his right ribs, according to the affidavit.
Zacharia Doar's father said news like this isn't only scary, but disappointing.
“The City of Austin failed to protect my son. Greg Abbott failed to protect his citizen," Nazir Doar said. “The first thing that came to my mind is, 'I'm going to lose my son.' He just had his baby, his wife. I was thinking, 'How am I going to tell them that I failed to protect my son?'”
The witness told police that after he was stabbed, Zacharia Doar wrestled Baker to the ground and got the knife away from Baker. The witness then grabbed the knife and sheath from the street and put them in the truck's front seat. Police arrived shortly after and Baker was arrested, according to the affidavit.
The affidavit states that an interview with Zacharia Doar and video evidence from another witness corroborated this account of the events.
The affidavit also states that throughout most of his interview with police, Baker claimed he didn't know why he was speaking to detectives. He then admitted to being an alcoholic and to having drank "more than the normal amount of alcohol for him" that night. The affidavit also states that Baker had what appeared to be drying blood on his face, but he couldn't tell detectives who the blood belonged to or how it got there.
At one point during the interview, the affidavit states that Baker began patting down his body and asking police where his "Ka-Bar" was located. When police asked him if he was looking for his knife, Baker said "yes."
Baker has been booked into the Travis County Jail. He faces an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charge.
Carroll said Islamophobia and attacks are at an all-time high.
“A civil rights report shows that there's been over 3,000 complaints of anti-Muslim, anti-Palestinian, issues within the last three months, since Oct. 7. This is over a 200% increase from this time last year," Carroll said.
"We encourage everyone to educate, support, and respect all members of our community, regardless of their background or beliefs. We strongly condemn all forms of crime, especially those which are bias-motivated or showing of discrimination," APD said. "Our Department is committed to keeping our community safe and inclusive for all. We will continue to work to ensure that our community is a place where everyone feels valued and respected."
APD also reminded residents that the City of Austin has tools and resources available online to report hate crimes and incidents called the " We All Belong Campaign".
After APD's announcement on Wednesday, Austin Mayor Kirk Watson released a statement thanking the department.
"Austin is a city of acceptance and openness," Watson said. "We must come together as a community with that acceptance and openness. We’re a diverse community with diverse opinions about global events. There is positive power that rises out of that diversity, and that power is well served by making change that combats hate of any kind right here. Locally. In Austin. That’s where we have our greatest power."
In response to calls for the Austin City Council to pass a resolution calling for a cease-fire in the conflict between Israel and Hamas, Watson suggested the city would not take action.
"The proposed resolution of the Austin City Council will not realistically end the violence on the other side of the globe," Watson said. "Nor will it stop federal taxes from being used to implement U.S. foreign policy. That is not in our power. The resolution, however has the power to divide Austin – and will."