Montreal police say they have arrested a 24-year-old man in connection with an assault on a Jewish man at Dickie Moore Park in the Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension borough.
The assault was partially captured on video, sparking public outcry as people shared footage of the victim being beaten on the ground in front of his children.
In a news release Monday, the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal said the suspect was arrested after an intensive investigation.
Police said the suspect is being questioned by investigators and a file will be sent to the Quebec Crown prosecutor’s office, the Directeur des poursuites criminelles et pénales (DPCP), for possible charges.
“The SPVM has spared no effort to locate the suspect and is continuing its investigation to shed full light on the circumstances of this criminal act,” the statement said.
“The SPVM would like to thank the citizens who contributed to this outcome by providing us with information that facilitated the suspect’s location.”
The incident happened Aug. 8 around 2:20 p.m., police said, when the victim arrived at the park with his young children. The SPVM said the suspect, who was in the park’s splash pad area, approached the victim and sprayed him with the contents of his water bottle.
Police said the victim tried to speak with the suspect, who then allegedly pushed him to the ground, punched him several times in the face and kneed him before leaving on foot eastbound on Beaumont Avenue around 2:26 p.m.
The 28-second video circulating online does not show what led up to the incident but begins with the assailant straddling and striking the victim, who is on the ground, several times.
The victim, who appears to be dressed in traditional Jewish attire, gets up on his knees and one of at least two children clings to him. The attacker picks up some belongings in a grocery bag and then tosses what appears to be a kippa, a head covering worn by Jewish men and boys, into a splash pad area.
The SPVM said the investigation is ongoing. The reason for the assault was not identified in the news release.
CBC News requested information about possible charges from the DPCP Monday afternoon but did not hear back.
Rabbi Saul Emanuel, executive director of the Jewish Community Council of Montreal, sent a news release shortly after the arrest calling the attack a hate crime.
“This was not just an assault. It was a public act of antisemitic humiliation designed to terrorize an entire community,” Emanuel said.
The rabbi goes on to say the Montreal police took nearly an hour to respond to the initial call for help.
“That delay is not a minor lapse. It is a dereliction of duty. It is a signal, intentional or not, that when Jews are targeted, urgency is optional,” said Emanuel.
Const. Jean-Pierre Brabant, an SPVM spokesperson, said the information he has is that the response time was less than an hour, but he cannot provide more information for investigation purposes.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Mark Carney released a statement about the attack, saying on X that it “was an appalling act of violence. Everyone in Canada has an inalienable right to live in safety.”
