A Montreal judge has ruled that a 24-year-old man who assaulted a Jewish father in front of his children last month is not criminally responsible due to mental illness.

The accused, identified as Sergio Preciado, was charged with assault causing bodily harm after video footage captured him pummeling a 32-year-old Orthodox Jewish man in Montreal’s Dicky-More Park. The video, which showed the attacker throwing the victim’s yarmulka into a fountain while the victim’s children looked on in terror, spread rapidly on social media and prompted condemnation from across the political spectrum.

The provincial prosecutor’s office confirmed Wednesday that a psychiatric evaluation determined Preciado was suffering from a severe mental illness, likely schizophrenia, and was in the midst of a psychotic episode during the assault. “This is not a hate crime but a crime arising from mental illness,” prosecutors said in a statement, noting that Preciado had no prior diagnosis before his arrest. He has since been transferred to a psychiatric hospital rather than facing criminal prosecution.

The ruling comes despite widespread assumptions that the assault was antisemitic in nature, given the victim’s visibly Jewish appearance and the symbolism of the kippah being desecrated. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney called the incident “a horrific act of violence,” adding, “Everyone in Canada has the right to live in safety. My thoughts are with the victim and his family as they recover.”

Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, issued an even sharper rebuke, insisting the attack was motivated by antisemitism. “I just spoke with David, who was brutally attacked in front of his children simply because he is Jewish,” Sa’ar said. “I call on the Canadian government to adopt a zero-tolerance policy toward antisemitism and to name this crime for what it is—a hate crime. I invited David and his family to Israel, and I look forward to seeing them in Jerusalem soon.”

Jewish advocacy groups in Canada echoed Sa’ar’s concerns, warning that the court’s ruling risks minimizing the gravity of antisemitic violence at a time when incidents have surged nationwide since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in October 2023.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)