A man was arrested last Monday in Seattle in the United States on suspicion of a hate crime, after allegedly attacking a 71-year-old Jewish man. Police are investigating the case as a hate crime.
Officers were summoned at around 1:30 p.m. to Alaskan Way in the west of the city following reports of an assault. At the scene they found the elderly man with his mouth covered in blood and his lips swollen, according to a Seattle Police Department report.
According to local media reports, the attack began when the suspect, who was walking his dogs, approached the elderly man after the man tore up a poster related to Gaza. A dispute developed between them, during which the suspect called the man, "Zionist pig", and then attacked him and struck him in the head, the complainant alleged. The elderly man sprayed the attacker with pepper spray in an attempt to defend himself.
Investigators found that the motive for the attack was the victim's Jewish identity. The suspect was arrested and taken into custody, and the police classified the case as a hate crime.