A group of Orthodox Jewish American tourists was attacked at Milan’s Central Station on Monday by a Pakistani man, according to Milan Police Headquarters.
While the victims were checking the train schedule board, the attacker, a 25-year-old Pakistani man, charged at them, punched and kicked one victim, and hit him in the head with a blunt metal ring in his possession.
During the attack, the Pakistani man shouted racist threats and insults in Italian, such as “dirty Jews” and “you kill children in Palestine, and I’ll kill you.”
The assault ended when bystanders intervened and called the Railway Police officers (Polfer), who restrained the man; however, he reportedly continued repeating the same phrases along with “Allahu akbar.”
The victim was taken to the hospital with a minor injury. The attacker has been charged with assault aggravated by racial hatred, charges to which he admitted.
Total absence of remorse
The presiding judge, Judge Sofia Fioretta, said the charges were fast-tracked due to “the seriousness of the conduct, its brutality, and the total absence of remorse.”
The 25-year-old told the judge that he regularly attends a mosque and is out of work and without a fixed abode. His court-assigned public defender, Gianluca Rozza, asked for a lower sentence given his until-now clean record.