A 23-year-old man has faced a Montreal judge over the vicious, broad-daylight beating of a Jewish father in a city park, a shocking assault carried out just feet from his three horrified children.
Sergio Yanes Preciado is charged with assault causing bodily harm after Montreal police arrested him Monday. The sickening attack, partly caught on video, happened Friday afternoon at Dickie-Moore Park. The clip shows the assailant straddling the 32-year-old victim, pounding him again and again, as one of the children clings desperately to their father. Moments later, the attacker snatches up a bag, then hurls what appears to be the man’s kippa into a splash pad.
The victim’s brother-in-law, Zev Feldman, told CBC News the family was at the park waiting for their car to be cleaned when the man sprayed them with water, then exploded into a frenzied beating. “At no point did the attacker utter a word,” Feldman said. He and the victim are convinced it was a hate crime, pointing to the kippa toss as proof.
Community leader Mayer Feig said that the victim suffered a broken nose, severe bruising, and is deeply traumatized. “They’re not doing well as a family.”
The footage has ignited outrage acoss the country. Hampstead Mayor Jeremy Levi called it “beyond deplorable,” Prime Minister Mark Carney slammed it as “appalling,” and Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante branded it “troubling.” Feig said it reflects “the climate that’s been allowed to fester in Montreal.”
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