An early morning assault on a Toronto man at a downtown McDonald’s may have been racially motivated.

Rob Ramlackhan, an editor at CityNews, was at the fast food restaurant in the Church and Queen streets area shortly after 2 a.m. Sunday when he was allegedly struck in the back of the head with a collapsible baton.

“At first I didn’t realize I’d been hit. I looked down and blood was pouring on the ground,” he recalled. “I reached back and touched the back of my head and my hand was covered in blood.”

The suspects then fled the scene.

Bystanders and McDonald’s security rushed to Ramlackhan’s aid. He was then taken to hospital with serious injuries.

Ramlackhan claims that before the assault, two males were shouting racist insults and threatening him outside the restaurant.

“As I got out of the cab, three kids are out front blocking the entrance and immediately turned on me,” he explained.

Ramlackhan said the three shouted racist and homophobic remarks to him as he tried to enter the restaurant.

As he attempted to pass, Ramlackhan said he tapped one of the males on the back of the head and said “racism doesn’t work” and that they should “smarten up.”

The males followed Ramlackhan into the restaurant but were quickly escorted out by security.

They allegedly continued to taunt Ramlackhan from outside the restaurant before re-entering and attacking.

“Hitting someone from behind is just cowardly,” Ramlackhan said. “I’m just angry. What did you accomplish last night? Nothing.”

Police have not classified the incident as a racial attack but said they are looking into the entire event as a whole, including the comments made and the assault.

A spokesperson for McDonald’s released the following statement to CityNews on Sunday.

“McDonald’s Canada takes incidents like this very seriously. When security became aware of the situation at the restaurant, they immediately took action, intervened, and called the police. This was an isolated incident that is currently a police matter and we are cooperating with them.”

The incident was caught on security camera.

Police said they plan to obtain a copy of the footage to help identify the suspects, as well as determine if charges will be laid.