Montreal Police probing attack on Jewish man in front of his two children

Montreal police launched an investigation on Friday after a 32-year-old Jewish man was attacked while out with his two children, Canadian media reported.

A 28-second video circulating on social media showed part of the attack — which occurred in the borough of Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension — beginning with the assailant straddling the man and beating him.

The assailant then picked up some groceries and threw what appeared to be a kippa into a nearby splash pad area.

The video did not show the moments leading up to the attack.

According to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the man — who was dressed in typical ultra-Orthodox attire — suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

The assailant had not yet been apprehended as of Saturday night.

The incident shown in this video is shocking and stomach-turning.
A Jewish father was beaten in front of his daughter in Montreal, Canada, yesterday.
These are images reminiscent of dark periods of Jewish persecution.
This is appalling.
The Canadian government must do more to… pic.twitter.com/6whsYit19W

— Gideon Sa'ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) August 9, 2025

The incident drew the attention of Canada’s leaders, including Prime Minister Mark Carney, who took to X to condemn “the appalling act of violence.”

“Everyone in Canada has an inalienable right to live in safety,” he wrote. “My thoughts are with the victim and his family as they recover, and my support is with law enforcement as they work to bring the perpetrator to justice.”

The Premier of Quebec, François Legault, said he was “deeply shocked” by the attack, and stressed that “hatred and violence have no place” in his province.

“I hope that justice will be served,” he added.

Meanwhile, the mayor of Montreal, Valérie Plante, vowed that the city’s security forces would fully investigate the “violent and unacceptable” incident.

While Carney condemned the incident, other Canadian politicians blamed him, claiming that he had allowed antisemitism to go unchecked.

“This is beyond deplorable — it is an outrage against basic human decency,” said Jeremy Levi, the mayor of the Montreal suburb of Hampstead.

“This is the Canada that Mark Carney has allowed to fester — a place where weakness in leadership has emboldened brutality,” he declared. “We will defend our people — every time, without apology.”

The incident was also condemned by Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, who demanded that Canada do more to “fight antisemitism.”

“These are images reminiscent of dark periods of Jewish persecution,” he wrote.

Canada has seen a sharp rise in antisemitism since the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel triggered the war in Gaza almost two years ago, and the country’s B’nai Brith organization said in a report earlier this year that antisemitic incidents had almost doubled since then.

In that time, there have been several firebombings and shooting attacks on Jewish schools and synagogues in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver.