After Nathaniel Veltman was found guilty of murdering four people in London, Ontario, a judge ruled it an act of terrorism in court on Thursday.
Canadian Anti-Hate Network
Picture of the Courthouse in London Ontario. Source: Google Maps
A Judge ruled on Thursday that Nathaniel Veltman, a 22-year-old man from London, ON, committed an act of terrorism when he used his vehicle to murder Salman Afzaal, Madiha Afzaal, Talat Afzaal, and Yumnah Afzaal. A nine-year-old boy, who cannot be named due to his age, was injured in the attack.
In November, jurors found Veltman guilty of four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder after less than six hours of deliberation.
“I find the offender’s actions constitute terrorist activity,” she said in court, according to Global News.
Superior Court Justice Renee Pomerance will release her full decision to the media later in the day.
In June 2021, Vetman used his pickup truck to drive into the Afzaal family. Though he admitted his actions, he pled not guilty.
Over the course of the trial, it was revealed that Veltman had penned a manifesto, titled "A White Awakening." According to the CBC, only portions of the document were allowed to be heard in court. Parts of it are reported to contain excerpts from Christchurch, New Zealand shooter Brenton Tarrant’s screed that he released online. Excerpts from Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf appeared 12 times in Veltman’s manifesto. Police reported finding a copy in his apartment.
The attack was a devastating blow against the
In the last six years, Canada has seen multiple attacks that included an ideological motivation or by individuals otherwise involved with the far-right. In 2017, Alexandre Bissonnette killed six and injured eight worshippers at the Islamic Cultural Centre of Quebec City. Bissonnette regularly railed against Muslim people online, and reports say he was inspired after seeing a speech by the French, anti-immigration politician, Marine Le Pen.
Alek Minassian rented a van and drove it down a busy Toronto sidewalk in April 2018. Minassian, who posted a message in support of the involuntary celibate (incel) movement just before his attack, killed 10 people and injured 15 others.
A 17-year-old boy who attacked a massage parlour in 2020 fatally stabbed Ashley Noell Arzaga, and injured two others, also identified as an incel, claiming to have drawn inspiration from Minassian when talking to police. He was found guilty of murder and the act was determined to be an "incel-ideologically motivated terrorist activity.”
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One Canadian man awaiting trial for terrorism charges related to the Atomwaffen Division is also alleged to be one of the pseudonymous authors of the collective’s manifestos.
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