An Austin man who stabbed a Palestinian American near the University of Texas in 2024 has been sentenced to one year in jail after pleading guilty to misdemeanor assault, according to court records. The outcome closes a closely watched case that drew national attention and demands for a hate crime investigation. The victim, then 23-year-old Zacharia Doar, was stabbed in the chest, suffered a broken rib, and later underwent surgery.
According to KUT, 36-year-old Bert James Baker entered a guilty plea on Tuesday and received a one-year jail sentence on a Class A misdemeanor assault charge, per court documents. The station reported that it remained unclear whether Baker would actually be booked into the Travis County Jail following the plea.
Attack near UT campus
Witness accounts and police records indicate the confrontation started in February 2024 after Doar and friends left a pro-Palestinian demonstration, AP reported. Baker allegedly rode up to the group’s truck, opened its doors, shouted racial slurs, and tried to grab a keffiyeh that read “Free Palestine.” A fight broke out, and witnesses told investigators that Baker stabbed Doar in the chest, breaking a rib. The clash unfolded near the intersection of Nueces Street and West 26th Street, just off the UT Austin campus.
Grand jury and charges
Austin Police's Hate Crimes Review Committee recommended a hate crime enhancement in the case, but a Travis County grand jury later declined to add that enhancement and instead returned an indictment for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, according to a press release from the Travis County DA. Prosecutors said the grand jury concluded that Baker's conduct was unlawful but did not make a hate crime finding.
How the plea changed the stakes
The misdemeanor plea drastically reduced Baker's potential punishment. Aggravated assault with a deadly weapon is usually treated as a second-degree felony in Texas, with a sentencing range of two to 20 years in prison. By comparison, a Class A misdemeanor carries a maximum of one year in county jail. Those ranges are laid out in the Texas Penal Code and related state punishment provisions. Prosecutors and defense attorneys say plea deals of this sort can reflect the strength of the evidence, legal uncertainties, and a defendant’s willingness to avoid the risks of a jury trial.
Community response and context
The stabbing quickly became part of a broader pattern of incidents that advocates said targeted Palestinian and Muslim Americans after the start of the Israel Hamas war, and civil rights groups pushed for tougher accountability in such cases, AP reported. With Baker’s sentence now in place, community leaders and advocates say they are still wrestling with how bias-motivated incidents are identified, investigated, and ultimately charged in Travis County and beyond.
