On Monday, an Orthodox Jewish man who was on his way to a Los Angeles synagogue for morning prayers was viciously beaten by an unknown assailant.
Video footage posted on Facebook by Gary Schlesinger Footage from a security camera shows the attacker pacing around the street, located on the block of Detroit and Oakwood, near Bais Yehuda synagogue.
The unidentified assailant then stops. As the older man — who is wearing a kippa — approaches, the assailant turns around and proceeds to punch, smack and kick him, shoving him into a metal electric pole and a red vehicle parked on the street.
Even when the man is down on the ground, the assailant continues to kick and beat him before taking off.
Rosario Herrera, Public Information Officer for the Los Angeles Police Department, told Breitbart News, “The only information that we have is an assault with a deadly weapon occurred / elder abuse on May 22 at 8:40 in the morning. The victim is a white, male, 74 of Jewish descent. We have a suspect who is also white and in his 40’s. He’s a possible transient.”
According to ABC 7, the Los Angeles ABC affiliate, friends of the victims and witnesses to the crime said the elder man has “never hurt a fly. He’s just a good guy going on the way to prayers this morning and gets pummeled for no reason other than probably being Jewish.”
Asked if it was a random attack or a targeted hate crime, Officer Herrera said, “It’s being treated as a random act. The suspect is still outstanding. The victim was treated at the scene by LAFD and was not transferred to the hospital.” She added, “It’s not being treated as a hate crime.”
Investigators are searching for the suspect.
Adelle Nazarian is a politics and national security reporter for Breitbart News. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.