A California Highway Patrol investigation is underway into a Friday hit-and-run at Stanford University that injured an Arab Muslim student, potentially a hate crime, CBS News reported.
The student, crossing the street near student housing, was allegedly struck by a vehicle whose driver allegedly shouted “f*ck you and your people” before fleeing the scene. The student, who was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, recognized the assailant as someone who had been allegedly filming pro-Palestinian activists on campus, suggesting a targeted attack, according to CBS News.
The suspect is described as a white male in his mid-20s with short dark-blond hair, a short beard and round-frame eyeglasses. He was driving a newer model black Toyota 4Runner at the time, per CBS News.
California authorities are investigating a hit-and-run Friday afternoon which injured an Arab-Muslim student on the campus of Stanford University as a possible hate crime. https://t.co/izUNhHR1lB
— CBS News (@CBSNews) November 5, 2023
“We are profoundly disturbed to hear this report of potentially hate-based physical violence on our campus. Violence on our campus is unacceptable, hate-based violence is morally reprehensible and we condemn it in the strongest terms,” the statement by the university president and provost read, the outlet noted. (RELATED: White House Announces Anti-Islamophobia Strategy Amid Large Spike In Antisemitism)
Stanford Students for Justice in Palestine has released a statement following the incident, blaming school administration for being “complicit in the white supremacist violence,” CBS News reported.
“I’m Jewish, and I don’t want to invalidate the people who say they’re experiencing antisemitism, but my personal experience over the past four weeks has been that I have been harassed, I have had aggressive actions taken against me, and it has also been because of my participation at the sit-in or because I am sitting next to Arab and Muslim students,” Stanford University student Draper Dayton told the outlet.
The recent surge in Islamophobic and anti-Palestinian rhetoric nationwide has been reported by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, with the Anti-Defamation League noting a rise in antisemitic incidents.