An Arab student at Stanford University was intentionally struck by a driver in a hit-and-run that school officials say is being investigated as a hate crime.
Shortly before 2 p.m. Friday, the Arab student, whom the school said is Muslim, was crossing Campus Drive near Bowdoin Lane when he was hit by a car, and the driver sped off while yelling, “Fuck you and your people,” Stanford officials said in a campus alert.
The California Highway Patrol is investigating the incident, the school said, per the university’s normal procedures.
School administrators reported that the student sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was hospitalized.
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, ‘Fuck you and your people,’ and accelerated toward me,” the student said, according to school officials.
The suspect was described as a white man in his mid-20s, with short dirty-blond hair, round-framed eyeglasses and a short beard.
According to the Stanford administration, the vehicle was a black Toyota 4Runner, model year 2015 or newer.
Stanford’s student newspaper, The Stanford Daily, reported that following the Hamas attack and Israel’s retaliatory war in Palestinian territories, there has been a rise in reported hate crimes on campus against Jewish and Palestinian students, as well as those advocating for Palestinians.
Students have participated in walkouts, vigils, sit-ins and rallies to condemn both Israeli and Hamas actions and mourn those lost in the violence.
According to the school’s 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.”