Just days after his 23-year-old son was rushed to a hospital after being stabbed in Austin, Nizar Doar is still struggling to cope with what happened.

“I can’t make any sense out of it; that’s the problem,” he said.

Doar, 55, and his son Zacharia — both identify as Palestinian American — were at a rally at the state’s capital to protest Israel’s actions in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas war. After the demonstration, Zacharia, who lives in Arlington, decided to stay in Austin a while longer to eat with his friends, Doar said.

Doar was near Waco when one of Zacharia’s friends called to tell him his son had been stabbed.

“He said, ‘Uncle, you have to come back,’” Doar recalled. “It was the worst feeling I ever endured in my life. I felt like, ‘Oh my God, I’m going to lose my son.’”

A racial slur, then a stabbing

According to police, officers were notified at about 7 p.m. of a disturbance in the intersection of West 26th Street and Nueces Street in West Campus, near the University of Texas at Austin. Responding officers found a man with injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening, police said, adding that he was taken to a hospital.

One of the people with Zacharia during the stabbing told authorities that they, along with two other people, were in a pickup going southbound on Nueces Street when a man on a bicycle approached the truck, according to a probable-cause affidavit obtained by The Dallas Morning News.

The man, later identified by police as 36-year-oldBert James Baker, “put his bicycle down in front of the truck” and started yelling a racial slur at the people in the truck, according the affidavit. When they got out of the truck, Baker allegedly punched Zacharia in the shoulder and a fight ensued.

The witness told authorities Baker pulled out a knife at some point and ran toward the group. He then saw Zacharia “bleeding from his right ribs,” according to the affidavit. The same person told authorities that Zacharia, after being stabbed, “wrestled” Baker to the ground and “struck the knife out” of his hand.

Doar said he believes Baker targeted the truck because it had a keffiyeh, a traditional black and white head scarf, displayed on the passenger side of the vehicle.

Zacharia was stabbed “under the shoulder blade,” Doar said. The knife broke one of Zacharia’s ribs, and doctors told the family his recovery is expected to take at least six weeks. He is back in North Texas with his wife and son.

“He cannot attend to his son because he cannot carry him,” Doar said. “He can’t pick him up and comfort his son.”

Investigators mull a hate crime charge

Baker was arrested and accused of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. On Wednesday, Austin police announced that the department’s Hate Crimes Review Committee determined the stabbing met the definition of a hate crime.

“Per department policy, the information has been provided to the Travis County District Attorney’s Office. The prosecuting office will make the final decision on enhancing the offense to a Hate Crime,” Austin police said in a Wednesday news release.

Doar, who has lived in the United States since 1988, said he and Zacharia have been attending pro-Palestinian rallies in North Texas. He said what’s happening in Gaza is a “genocide” of Palestinians, adding that he thinks elected officials must do more to call for a cease-fire in the region.

“If we cannot do this as Americans, who else is going to stand in the front of this evil that’s going on in Gaza? We really need to stand together to stop this madness,” Doar said.

Doar said he is “110%” proud of his son and described him as his “pride and joy” and one of the “most helpful, wonderful, cheerful” people “you’ll ever meet.” His family has been moved by the outpouring of support for Zacharia following the stabbing, Doar said.

“I mean, I’m talking about Muslims, Christians, Jewish — people that I really never met call us to show their support for us,” he said.

The Palestinian Youth Movement Dallas has helped organize demonstrations in North Texas. Nidaa Lafi, a spokesperson for the organization, said she had met Zacharia at rallies in North Texas and described him as “outspoken and passionate.” The group is planning to participate in a rally Friday at Main Street Garden in response to the stabbing, Lafi said.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, an advocacy group that works closely with the Muslim community, said it saw an alarming spike in the number of Islamophobic incidents following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack in Israel. In November, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Justice Department had noticed “a significant increase in the volume and frequency of threats against Jewish, Muslim, and Arab communities” in the U.S. following the attack,

In a written statement, state Rep. Salman Bhojani said the rise in hate crimes in Texas is “utterly unacceptable.”

“The horrifying Austin stabbing shows a disturbing trend that cannot be ignored,” his statement read.

Doar has felt a range of emotions about the stabbing: confusion, anger, sadness.

But he isn’t afraid.

“No matter what it is, I’m going to participate in more protests,” Doar said. “I’m not going to let this evil stop the good we provided to show the world we stand with Gaza. I’m not going to let that deter us from getting our messages out there.”