Stanford campus hit-and-run investigated as hate crime after Muslim student struck, injured

An Arab Muslim student at Stanford was injured in a hit-and-run traffic incident Friday, which the California Highway Patrol is investigating as a possible hate crime, university officials said.

The driver of a black SUV reportedly struck the student at Campus Drive and Ayrshire Farm Lane, near several student residence buildings shortly before 2 p.m. Friday, according to advisories from Stanford’s Department of Public Safety.

The hit-and run victim, who suffered non-life-threatening injuries and is receiving medical care, told police that the driver made eye contact and accelerated before striking them. The student said the driver yelled “f*** you and your people” out the vehicle’s open window before driving away.

While CHP probes all campus traffic incidents, the agency said the circumstances of Friday’s strike prompted a hate crime investigation.

The student described the driver as a white male in his mid-20s, with short dirty-blond hair and a short beard, who was wearing round framed eyeglasses and a gray shirt at the time of the attack.

The vehicle involved in the incident is described by the victim as a black Toyota 4Runner with California plates, model year 2015 or newer, with an exposed tire mounted to the rear center and a Toyota logo in the center of the wheel.

On Friday, a campus safety alert about the incident said that additional security has been deployed to key locations on campus, as Stanford works to provide a “safe and secure campus environment in the context of heightened tensions related to the events in Israel and Gaza.”

“Violence on our campus is unacceptable,” President Richard Saller and Provost Jenny Martinez said in a note sent to students and faculty. “Hate-based violence is morally reprehensible, and we condemn it in the strongest terms. We want to express our deep concern for the student who was injured, and for all affected by this incident.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact CHP at 650-779-2700 or Stanford public safety at 650-329-2413.