Police say they will investigate whether two assaults in Harvard Square by suspected skinheads indicate a larger problem with hate crime in the area.

But, they caution, at the moment it does not seem that the two incidents, which occurred this week within 72 hours of each other, are criminally connected.

Both Harvard and Cambridge police say that witnesses have described the assailants as skinheads.

On Sunday morning, a group of seven men harassed three Quincy House students outside Let's Go Travel on Mt. Auburn St. The students who were attacked described the seven men as intoxicated skinheads,

The group shouted "unoriginal but offensive" homophobic slurs, according to Evan H. Feinberg '02, one of the three students.

Adam R. Kampff '02 said when he turned to confront the group, they became agitated, and one man was physically restrained by others. Following a brief verbal altercation, one man hit Kampff on the forehead with a plastic recycling bin.

Kampff received five stitches at University Health Services to close a one-inch wound.

Two nights later, two men described as skinheads by witnesses attacked a Dunster House senior wearing an Islamic prayer cap near St. Paul's Church at 29 Mount Auburn St., according to police reports. They kicked and punched him, knocking him to the ground. He, too, received stitches.

"It's really raising the question of how safe are we," said Jeffrey P. Morgan '02, president of Cornerstone, a Catholic gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender discussion group. "We shouldn't have to be walking around in fear at night."

The Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) and the Cambridge Police Department (CPD) are both investigating the incidents. However, Kampff's assault will be hard to solve, detectives say, because none of the involved students can make a positive identification of the assailant.

"Our investigative unit is in communication with the Cambridge investigators," McNamara said. "They always work very closely when an affiliate has been victimized."

Area police agree that the two recent assaults are cause for concern--whether or not they are connected.

"It would appear there's a situation here," said Cambridge Police Department (CPD) spokesperson Frank Pasquarello said. "It's something that we'll be addressing."

He declined to elaborate on how CPD will respond to the attacks.

HUPD will also be paying close attention to the situation in the Square in the coming days and will reevaluate patrols on a daily basis.

"It may be something to look at, if this trend continues," McNamara said. "If you feel in fear, quietly and slowly walk away or cross the street to avoid them."

Skinheads are a periodic problem in the Square, police agencies report. The area commonly known as the Pit, near the subway kiosk, is patrolled by transit police, CPD and HUPD in an effort to avoid confrontations.

But police say violent episodes are rare.

"The problem is almost universal, but our worst problems come at night and when school lets out," said transit police spokesperson Brian A. Pedro.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), an organization that tracks hate crimes, is currently organizing a response to the Square assaults.

"If what appears to have happened happened, it's a horrible incident and it's very frightening," said Andrew H. Tarsy, civil rights director of the Massachusetts ADL chapter. "It doesn't matter who you are or what you are... [Hate crimes] should rate everyone's attention."

The ADL is not currently aware of any violent skinhead activity in Cambridge, Tarsy said.

Massachusetts crime statistics show that there were 63 aggravated assaults classified as hate crimes in 1998, the last year for which data is available.

Only four percent of hate crimes in Massachusetts during 1998 could be traced to an organized movement like skinheads, said Christina J. Bouras, executive director of the Massachusetts Governor's Task Force on Hate Crimes.

However, hate crimes based on sexual orientation have increased over recent years, bypassing religion-based crimes in 1998 for the first time.

If caught and convicted, the assailants in both cases face up to five years in prison and fines of $10,000.