- A man, woman and their 13-year-old son were in a parking lot in Ontario, Canada
- They were speaking Spanish and a man named Mark Phillips approached them
- He yelled that they were terrorists or part of ISIS and at one point tried to attack the son
- Phillips has been arrested and charged with aggravated assault
A family from Colombia was attacked by a bat-wielding man who screamed at them ‘ISIS’ and ‘terrorist’ in a shocking act of violence that police say was racially motivated.
Video taken by Sergio Estepa shows her, her common-law partner Mari Zambrano, their 13-year-old son and a friend in a strip mall parking lot in St Thomas, Ontario, Canada on Thursday.
They were speaking Spanish.
Mark Phillips, 36, approached them with a baseball bat and yelled that they were terrorists or part of ISIS.
Mark Phillips, 36, approached a family that was speaking Spanish and said they were terrorists and threatened them with a baseball bat
He has been charged with aggravated assault and is being held without bail
‘He started saying we don’t belong here, that we are speaking French. But we were not speaking French, we were speaking Spanish. We don’t know him,’ Estepa told CBC News.
The video shows him shouting: ‘ISIS. ISIS. We have ISIS right here.’
Video shows Phillips charging at the group with his baseball bat and screams can be heard.
Estepa says he stepped between Phillips and his son, who Phillips apparently tried to strike.
He said no one tried to save them except for a woman who said she would provide police with a statement.
Philipps was arrested and charged with aggravated assault.
He has been denied bail and is due to appear in court on Monday.