Hussain Saeed Alnahdi, a junior at the University of Wisconsin-Stout, died a day after being assaulted in Wisconsin in a possible hate crime. The business administration major was assaulted outside of a pizza restaurant in downtown Menomonie, Wis, according to USA Today.

The assault occurred on Sunday, Oct. 30 and Alnahdi, 24, passed away from his injuries while in the hospital the next day. The most recent reports could only state that the suspect was a white male around 6 feet tall.

When police found him after the 2 a.m. assault, he was unconscious and bleeding from his mouth. The Washington Post reports that he was transported from Mayo Clinic Health System in Menomonie to the one in Eau Claire by helicopter.

Given the changing racial environment in the United States, especially in regards to the Muslim population, many fear that Alnahdi’s attack was a hate crime.

“Our deepest sympathies, thoughts and prayers go out to Hussain’s family in Buraydah, Saudi Arabia, and his friends at UW-Stout,” UW-Stout Chancellor Bob Meyer said. “I want to make a personal appeal to anyone on campus or in the community who might have information that would help authorities locate the individual involved in the attack to come forward.”

Alnahdi was one of around 150 students from Saudi Arabia in attendance at UW-Stout, which is about a third of its international student population.

Given that this incident came before a large percentage of the United States population elected a man who encourages such behavior into the presidency, many fear that it could only be the first of many such instances. Hopefully, it will reveal itself to be an exception and show tat people aren’t as intolerant as they’ve been presented.

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