Police in Lyon, France have arrested the alleged ringleader of an antisemitic attack on a Jewish man wearing a kippah, which took place around 8 p.m. on Wednesday night, after the 2-day Rosh Hashanah holiday, according to local French media.
The assailants reportedly demanded that the victim leave Gabriel-Peri Square in the city’s 7th District, and when he refused, was allegedly attacked by five men, who called him a "dirty Jew," and was kicked and punched by the gang, according to the Actu 17 news website.
Police reporting to an incident nearby quickly saw the attack and intervened, arresting one of the attackers. The suspect is reported to be a minor, and his name has not been publicly released.
The victim suffered minor injuries and reported the incident.
The National Office for Vigilance Against Antisemitism (BNVCA) — a French group that assists the victims of antisemitic violence said they were joining the victim as a civil party to his complaint.
BNVCA also urged that the ringleader fulfill "community service at a Holocaust memorial site."
France's Jewish community is the third-largest in the world, after the United States and Israel, and the largest in Europe, but many Jews have been leaving the country due to rising antisemitism.