A 25-year-old Muslim man was arrested in Milan after violently attacking a group of American Chassidish tourists at the city’s central train station.

The chassidim were waiting for a train. The assailant noticed the group, began shouting slurs, and then began kicking and punching them, and hit one of them in the head with a metal object.

According to Italian media reports, the attacker, of Pakistani origin and with a criminal record, was apprehended by railway police on suspicion of “aggravated assault motivated by racial, ethnic, and religious discrimination.”

The incident occurred at 1:15 p.m. near platform 8.

Passengers nearby tried to protect the victim until security forces arrived and arrested the assailant on the spot. The chassid was taken to the hospital in stable condition.

Investigators found that the attacker had arrived in Milan by train shortly before the assault and targeted the group immediately upon entering the station. Italian police have launched a criminal investigation into the incident as a suspected antisemitic hate crime.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)