A Stanford University student who was struck in a hit-and-run that authorities are investigating as a hate crime is calling on others to “collectively denounce hatred, bigotry, and violence.”
Abdulwahab Omira shared the message Sunday from a hospital bed. The driver, whom Omira said was a white man in his mid-20s, made eye contact with the victim and accelerated toward him Friday afternoon, striking him while shouting “f— you and your people” out a window of his Toyota 4Runner, according to a Saturday public safety alert from Stanford.
Omira said he was walking to campus when he was hit. He suffered non-life-threatening injuries, the Stanford Department of Public Safety said.
“As I lay in my hospital bed, grappling with a reality I had never imagined, I reflect on the importance of spreading love, kindness, and compassion in a world that seems to be steadily succumbing to hatred and prejudice. This ordeal has solidified my resolve to advocate for love, understanding, and inclusivity,” Omira wrote in a statement.
He also denounced what he called a slow response from the university, saying that the school’s “belated response came six hours later” and that the subsequent communication downplayed the severity of the incident.
Omira claimed it took “a multitude of emails and a cry for acknowledgement” to get the university’s administration to personally respond. In response to the claim, Dee Mostofi, assistant vice president of external communications at the school, said the university issued a notice as soon as there was enough information from the California Highway Patrol to do so.
Stanford President Richard Saller and Stanford Provost Jenny Martinez said in a joint statement Friday that they were “disturbed” about “potentially hate-based physical violence on our campus.”
“Violence on our campus is unacceptable,” they said. “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.”
Authorities are still looking for the driver, who was described as having short, dirty-blond hair and a short beard. He was reportedly wearing a gray shirt and round framed glasses at the time of the attack. The university’s public safety department said he fled in the black SUV that was of a model year 2015 or newer and had an exposed tire mounted to the rear.
Omira said the “emotional scars” of the attack will likely linger, but he called on others to denounce hatred and celebrate diversity.
“I implore everyone reading this: let us collectively denounce hatred, bigotry, and violence. Let us take the time to understand one another, to celebrate our diversity, and to stand united against the forces that seek to divide us,” he said. “There is immense power in love and understanding, enough to overshadow the darkness of hatred.”
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