Muslim Stanford student injured in suspected hate crime hit-and-run
PALO ALTO -- On Friday an Arab Muslim student at Stanford University was injured in a hit-and-run on campus in what is being investigated by the California Highway Patrol as a hate crime.
Shortly before 2 p.m., the Arab student was crossing the street near the student residences at the intersection of Campus Drive at Escondido Road when he was hit by a car and the driver sped off, allegedly after yelling, "F--- you and your people."
Officials reported that the student sustained non-life-threatening injuries and is currently in the hospital. According to a statement from the victim after the incident, the driver made eye contact with him before accelerating.
"As soon as he hit me, as my body was turning around, the driver yelled, 'F--- you and your people!' and accelerated toward me," the student said. Upon locking eyes, he identified the individual as someone who has taken to filming pro-Palestinian activists on campus, a tactic often employed to intimidate and dox students.
The suspect is described as a White male in his mid-20s, with short dark-blond hair, round-frame eyeglasses and a short beard.
His vehicle was described as a black Toyota 4Runner, model year 2015 or newer, with an exposed tire mounted on the back and a California license plate with the letters M and J.
Campus police did not disclose if any part of the incident was captured on security or cellphone video.
"I think what happened yesterday was a shock, but in a way expected, because there has been warning sign after warning sign that there's escalation in the violence targeted toward Arab and Muslim students on campus," said student Alisha Magalhaes Service.
University police were alerted of the hit-and-run shortly after the incident but did not issue a campus-wide alert informing the student body of the violent crime until 10:30 p.m.
A statement from Stanford Students for Justice in Palestine demanded that the university take immediate action.
"The university must deploy its resources to determine who the perpetrator was, support the survivor of this attack (and others) with specialized resources, care, and any and all resources they need at their request, and release a statement condemning the violent Islamophobic and anti-Arab hate crimes in particular and with that language that have occurred on campus," the students wrote. "At present, Stanford University is complicit in the white supremacist violence Arab and Muslim students have faced on campus. To the university administration, we say unequivocally: shame on you. Your silence is enabling violent Islamophobic and anti-Arab hate crimes on our campus and the genocide of the Palestinian people."
The incident comes after mounting criticism of the university's refusal to address an ongoing sit-in protest by student activists who demand the school denounce Israel's invasion of Gaza and provide additional support to Palestinian students. The students have been camping out in Stanford's White Plaza since Oct. 20.
According to the Department of Public Safety, "Stanford is continuing to work to provide a safe and secure campus environment in the context of heightened tensions related to the events in Israel and Gaza. This includes additional security that has been deployed at key locations on campus."
Service and Draper Dayton have been supporting the ongoing sit-in protest by student activists who demand the school denounce Israel's invasion of Gaza and provide more support for Palestinian students.
"We're sad about our friend who was hurt, and we're sad that the university is a place where this type of thing can happen, and we're certainly fearful for what comes next both in Gaza and in a lesser degree what might come next on campus," said Dayton.
Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, the Council on American-Islamic Relations reported a spike in Islamophobic and anti-Palestinian rhetoric. The Anti-Defamation League also documented a rise in antisemitic incidents in the country.
"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," said Dayton.
The students participating in the sit-in said they want Stanford to take a stronger stance in condemning Islamophobia.
The university president and provost sent a message addressing the hit-and-run to the campus community Friday stating "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..."
"I don't think it's too far to say that people feel abandoned and without an administration that's willing to fight for them," said Service.
Anyone with information is encouraged to contact CHP at (650) 779-2700 or Stanford public safety at (650) 329-2413.
Betty Yu contributed to this report.