PETALING JAYA: Football critic and influencer Joe Zakaria was going about his day when he was suddenly attacked by two assailants at a petrol station here.
"I was inflating my car tyres at the Caltex station in Sri Damansara when, without any warning, two men suddenly attacked me," he said, recounting the incident on Sunday (July 12).
Joe was kicked in the head and punched repeatedly. The assault only began to subside when a bystander, an Indian man, stepped in and tried to help him.
"Before leaving, one of the attackers shouted, ‘This is the person who stole. This is the person who stole.’ I asked them, ‘What did I steal?’ but they didn’t respond — they just walked away. Those were the only words the attackers said throughout the entire incident," he said.
Petaling Jaya OCPD Asst Comm Shamsudin Mamat said police received information about the incident at 7.56pm.
He said initial investigations revealed that the victim, who was about to inflate his vehicle’s tyres, was approached by two men riding a Yamaha LC motorcycle with an unconfirmed registration number.
"The suspects beat the victim repeatedly before recording a video of the incident and fleeing the scene. As a result of the attack, the victim suffered a fractured eye socket and several other injuries," he said in a statement on Monday (July 13).
ACP Shamsudin added that the motive behind the incident remains under investigation, with active efforts underway to track down both suspects.
Joe revealed that he is still in a state of shock and continues to experience trauma as a result of what happened.
"I have no personal disputes or enemies with anyone. I do not owe money to illegal moneylenders, I have not interfered in anyone’s marriage, and I have no involvement in any form of traffic-related gangsterism. There is no clear motive for this attack," he said.
"A police report has already been lodged, and I place my trust in the authorities to conduct a thorough investigation.
"However, I have repeatedly received threats, and my personal information has been shared on X in posts related to Malaysian football. Given these circumstances, I believe it is important that every possible angle is properly investigated."
Joe added that violence like this should never happen to anyone, regardless of the circumstances.
"If this attack was in any way related to the opinions and views I have shared on social media about Malaysian football, then it should never have come to this.
"Differences in opinion should be respected and discussed through dialogue, not through intimidation or violence. Violence is never the solution," he said.
