Hundreds Protest in Germany After Police Mistakenly Beat Victim of anti-Semitic Attack

Around 600 people took to the streets of Bonn, Germany on Thursday to protest anti-Semitism after an assault on an Israeli professor ended in embarrassment for police when they apprehended the victim instead of the attacker.

The event was originally set for November but was brought forward following last week's attack.

In attendance was the city's mayor, Ashok Sridharan, who said he was "ashamed" of the events surrounding the assault last week.

The behavior of the police must be "unreservedly and completely" accounted for, he told the audience at the rally.

The alleged assailant, a 20-year-old German of Palestinian origin, repeatedly struck the kippah from the 50-year-old Jewish philosophy professor's head during the attack last week, police said.

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Called to the scene, police initially suspected the professor from the United States was the guilty party. When he refused to stop on their orders and resisted, he was pinioned and struck in the face.

The actual assailant was initially taken to a psychiatric clinic but doctors found no reason to hold him.

He is now in regular custody and is under investigation for assault and incitement.

The incident is the latest in a recent series of attacks on people wearing Jewish symbols in Germany.

The four police officers involved in the incident are now under investigation on suspicion of causing bodily harm and attempted obstruction of justice while in office.