The UW community responded to the death of Hussain Saeed Alnahdi, a UW-Stout international student from Saudi Arabia, Monday by offering condolences and holding a memorial service.
Hussain Saeed Alnahdi was found unconscious and bleeding by Menomonie police and taken to a hospital in Eau Claire. Menomonie police described the perpetrator as a white male who was approximately 6-foot tall. The assault occurred in downtown Menomonie around 2 a.m., according to
“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,” Meyer said in the statement.
The city of Menomonie and UW-Stout have established a reward fund of $15,000 for anyone with information that could lead to the arrest of the person or persons responsible for Alnahdi’s death, according to a UW-Stout release. The Council on American-Islamic Relations also issued a release Wednesday offering an additional reward of $5,000 for information.
Alnahdi was a 24-year-old junior majoring in business administration who enrolled at UW-Stout in 2015,
UW System President Ray Cross sent his condolences to the UW-Stout community and Alnahdi’s family Monday.
“It is difficult to find the right words in light of such of a tragedy, except to express our sorrow for all who knew Hussain,” Cross said in a statement.
A makeshift memorial was held at the site of the beating Tuesday. Alnahdi’s friends,
Memorial for Saudi @UWStout student who died after being beaten outside Topper's in Menominee early Sunday pic.twitter.com/s8uCRPiHI3
— Karen Herzog (@HerzogJS) November 1, 2016
UW-Madison community members have responded on social media and brought up the involvement of race in the occurence, including freshman Zahiah Hammad.
"Something has to be done for the voices that are not privileged enough to be heard," Hammad said. "Islamophobia wants to make us feel fear towards each other so bridges are built between us and hatred rises. The real challenge will be if we can see through this conspired fear and rise above."
The assault is under investigation and the identity of the perpetrator is unknown. The Menomonie Police Department is asking that any information about the assault be reported to Menomonie Police Investigator Kelly Pollock at (715) 231-8511 or anonymously to Dunn County Crime Stoppers.
UPDATE Nov. 1, 9:19 p.m. This article was updated to include a quote from a UW-Madison student who responded to the incident.
