JTA — A Jewish man was assaulted on Monday evening behind a Los Angeles synagogue in what police say is being investigated as a hate crime.

The assault, which took place behind Adas Torah, an Orthodox synagogue, in the heavily Jewish neighborhood of Pico-Robertson, occurred after the victim said he was followed for a short distance by a man in a car.

“All of a sudden, he just opens the door,” the victim, a 32-year-old Judaic studies teacher, told the Jewish News Syndicate. “I don’t know what he was saying. He pounced me, immediately put his hands over my neck, shaking me back and forth, trying to choke me.”

During the assault, the victim said that the man used a “window breaker” as a weapon while he was choked. As the assailant left, the victim claimed he said “free Palestine.”

“I thought it was the end of my life,” the unnamed victim told JNS.

In a separate interview with local news outlet KTLA, the victim said: “Any religion, any race, no one should be afraid, worried or intimidated to walk outside with pride for what values they hold or what religion they practice.”

Jewish man ATTACKED near LA synagogue The attacker got out of his car, lunged at a Judaic studies teacher, and tried to strangle him Advertisement if(typeof rgb_remove_toi_dfp_banner != "function" || !rgb_remove_toi_dfp_banner("#Article_Incontent1")){ window.tude =........

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