Sunnyvale, California:
A fundraising campaign for Dhriti Narayan, 13, who is on life support after hit by a car driven by an army veteran on pedestrians he thought were Muslims, has raised $552,417 in three days. More than 11,281 people contributed.
According to the Go fund me page, ‘Dhriti, a 7the student at Sunnyvale Middle School and her brother and father were targets of the intentional crash while walking back home from the library. Dhriti has suffered life threatening injuries including severe brain injuries.
In this crime the driver intentionally targeted them based on their ethnicity/perceived religion. While our hearts and prayer go to Dhriti for her speedy recovery but a huge medical bill and potential rehab costs are expected for her recovery.
The beneficiaries of this campaign will be Dhriti's father 'Rajesh Narayan' and her mother.’
Her father Rajesh Narayan and brother Prakhar too were injured. The other injured victims have been identified in court documents as Marina Reimler, 32; Soeren Reimler, 33; Ping Lu, 51; Eric Nava, 24; and Miguel, 15, who was identified only by his first name, though he has identified himself to reporters as Miguel Balbuena Nava.
The accused driver, Isaiah Joel Peoples, 34, was arrested and charged with a hate crime among others. But his lawyer says that he has Muslim relations and he did not hate Muslims.
‘My client’s cousins are Muslim — it’s hard to believe he would hate Muslims,’ attorney Chuck Smith said. ‘I do know also that while he was in Iraq, his job was as a community officer who would go into safe areas and try to help the community rebuild. He obviously worked with many Muslim citizens of Iraq, so it’s difficult to believe that his experience helping people rebuild their country would cause someone to hate Muslims.’
Police last week said Peoples intentionally drove his Toyota into a crowd in a crosswalk April 23, injuring eight, including Dhriti Narayan.
Prosecutors charged Peoples with eight counts of attempted murder, but later said that Peoples targeted Dhriti’s family thinking they were Muslim. The family are Hindus of Indian descent.
Peoples is an Iraq war veteran — serving the Army in combat duty and later as a civil affairs specialist — who last worked as a government defense auditor.
The Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety contends that Peoples drove his Toyota Corolla into a group of pedestrians and bicyclists, then onto the sidewalk, injuring eight people before crashing into a tree. He was described in multiple witness accounts as saying, “I love you, Jesus,” “Thank you Jesus,” and “Praise Jesus,” or words to that effect after the crash.
