Peel police say the alleged assault of a driver over the weekend in Mississauga is now being investigated as a hate crime.

Muhammed Abu Marzouk was backing out of a parking spot after a picnic with his family at around 9:30 p.m. on Sunday night at the Mississauga Valley Community Centre when two men walked behind his car.

He got out of the car and somehow got into an altercation with the two men. The men then allegedly attacked him, also injuring his wife and another male who tried to intervene.

“They beat him brutally in front of his family, in front of his wife, they assaulted other people who tried to intervene and the man was unconscious,” said Ibrahim Hindy, a close friend who’s been checking in on Abu Marzouk and his family.

His two young daughters, aged four and six witnessed the assault.

Officers were on the scene for an unrelated matter and were able to break up the fight.

“They saw so much blood, they saw the state that he was in to the point that they think he died,” explained Hindy. “They’re having trouble understanding what’s going on.”

He suffered a brain hemorrhage and multiple fractures to his face.

A hate crime investigation was launched after police determined that certain words were used during the assault.

“The reality is that there is hate in our community right now, people don’t like to talk about it, they don’t like to recognize it but it does exist and someone might lose their life because of it,” said Hindy.

Two brothers from Brampton, Adem, 27, and Janis Corhamzic, 19, have both been charged with aggravated assault and two counts of assault.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police.