Chicago bus attack investigated as hate crime, police say

CHICAGO - Authorities are searching for a man who attacked an 18-year-old Chicago city bus passenger with a metal cane while screaming racist and anti-immigrant slurs at him.

The Chicago Tribune reports that the attack happened Wednesday in the Marquette Park neighborhood on the city’s southwest side.

Police say the assailant approached the victim unprovoked and started swearing at him and calling him an “immigrant” and “Mexican.” The victim remained seated, but the attacker struck him in the head with the cane before exiting the bus.

The victim was treated for a head injury at a hospital and released.

Police are searching for the attacker. They described him as a black man in his 20s who is between 5-foot-6 and 5-foot-10 inches tall and about 155 pounds.

Detectives are investigating the incident as a hate crime.