Austin Stabbing Investigated as Hate Crime

Incorrect slurs were hurled.

Spontaneous stabbings are one of the many things that make Austin “weird.”

KVUE:

AUSTIN, Texas — In an update on Wednesday, the Austin Police Department (APD) said a Sunday night stabbing in West Campus, near the University of Texas, meets the criteria of a hate crime.

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.

I’ve never seen someone on a bike hunting for people to stab and call the n-word—very weird, very Austin.

What is unique about this stabbing is that it’s being investigated as a hate-crime because of pressure from special interest groups like the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR.)

APD said Tuesday that based on the information investigators have received, they believe the stabbing was "bias-motivated." It will be reviewed by the department's Hate Crimes Review Committee.

The victims in this case were Palestinian-Americans and the suspect was White. Police said the attack was “bias-motivated” because the victims had pro-Palestine bumper stickers and Baker attempted to rip their scarf.

Bert James Baker - Austin PD

Baker told police he was an alcoholic and drank that night. Again, he also allegedly called them the n-word, lol.

The jump to label this a hate-crime seems a bit quick. Baker was drunk, called someone the incorrect racial slur, and based on our background check he seems to have a violent criminal background. Clearly an unstable individual!

Father of the victim - AP

Normally stabbing someone in Austin gets you a slap on the wrist, but since it’s potentially a “hate crime,” they’ll probably throw the book at this guy.