US: Rights group call for hate crime charges as Muslim stabbed following pro-Palestine protest
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) yesterday called on US state and federal law enforcement authorities to file hate crime charges against Bert James Baker, the man accused of attacking a group of young Muslims after a pro-Palestinian protest.
On 4 February at around 7pm local time, four Muslim Americans who had just attended a protest in support of Palestinian human rights were driving home when a white male riding a bicycle, later identified as Bert James Baker, allegedly attempted to rip a flagpole with a Palestinian keffiyeh scarf reading ‘Free Palestine’ off of their car.
According to the victims, “Baker repeatedly screamed the n-word and other obscenities, opened the passenger door, pulled one of the victims out of the car and physically attacked him.” The three others then exited the car and fought off Baker. He then allegedly pulled out a knife and stabbed one of the young men in the chest, breaking one of his ribs, CAIR explained.
The stabbing victim again subdued Baker, who was arrested after police arrived on the scene.
The father of the stabbing victim reports that he has undergone a successful surgery and is recovering in hospital.
“We strongly condemn this apparent act of hate… No one should be targeted and attacked because they put Palestinian-themed items on their vehicle. Anti-Palestinian racism and anti-Muslim bigotry have no place in Texas or anywhere else in our nation,” CAIR-Dallas Director Mustafa Carroll said.
According to a report, a civil rights group has called for hate crime charges to be filed against a suspect accused of stabbing a young man in Texas after the alleged victim had attended a demonstration in support of Palestine nearby.
Bert James Baker, 36, was arrested by Austin police on Sunday night on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. According to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Baker allegedly attacked a 23-year-old man and three other Muslims as they drove home from a demonstration where protesters reportedly demanded a ceasefire in Gaza and denounced Israel’s war against Hamas as genocide.
The alleged stabbing victim—who has not been named by authorities—underwent a successful surgery and is now recovering at the hospital, their father told CAIR.
The organization said in a press release that the four Muslim men were driving home when a white male cyclist—allegedly later identified as Baker—tried to “rip a flagpole with a Palestinian keffiyeh scarf reading ‘Free Palestine’ off of their car.” The alleged victims told CAIR that Baker shouted racial slurs and pulled one of the group from the car and physically attacked him.
The other three then got out of the vehicle and tried to fight off their assailant. “After Baker appeared to be subdued, he allegedly pulled out a knife and stabbed one of the young men in the chest, breaking one of his ribs,” CAIR claimed. The organization said the victim nevertheless was able to subdue Baker, who was arrested when law enforcement arrived.
“This apparent act of hate in Austin appears to be the latest incident of hate motivated by the rise in anti-Palestinian racism and Islamophobia,” CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell said in a statement. “From the murder of six-year-old Wadea [Al-Fayoume] outside Chicago to the shooting of three college students in Burlington, Vermont, far too many incidents of violence against Muslims, Palestinians and others who support Palestinian human rights have occurred over the past several months.”
