The actions of Nathaniel Veltman, who is accused of attacking a Muslim family in London, Ontario, in June 2021, “constitute terrorist activity,” ruled the judge, who sentenced the accused to a life sentence , THURSDAY.
The 23-year-old was back in court for sentencing after being found guilty of four counts of first-degree murder last November.
He ultimately received a life sentence for the attempted murder of the little boy who survived the tragedy, but also a life sentence without the possibility of parole for 25 years for the murder. of the four other members of the family targeted in his attack.
A terrorist act
“The attempted murder is part of a terrorist act which cost the lives of four people and miraculously spared one,” underlined Judge Renne Pomerance during her verdict, according to the “London Free Press” .
She ruled that there were several aggravating circumstances in the case, accusing Veltman of having wanted to “disrupt the most fundamental of human rights”, namely the feeling of security.
Before announcing her decision, Judge Pomerance indicated that the Afzaal family was the victim of a “terrible act of violence”.
“This terrorism-related designation adds to previous murder convictions and marks the first time in Canadian history that a case linked to white nationalism has been classified as a terrorist act,” said Amira Elghawaby, special representative of Canada responsible for the fight against Islamophobia.
“Today’s decision sends a clear message that Canada’s Muslim communities must be protected against ideologically motivated violent extremism. It confirms that targeted, heinous and hate-motivated attacks like that in London constitute terrorism and that their perpetrators will be prosecuted in accordance with the law,” she added.
Nathaniel Veltman is accused of intentionally crashing into the Afzaal family on June 6, 2021, killing Talat Azfall, 74; Salmon Afzaal, 46; Madiha Salman, 44 years old and Yumnah Afzaal, 15 years old.
“[Veltman] never met them,” she said according to the “London Free Press.” “He killed them because they were Muslims.”
The judge also declared that she did not wish to mention the name of the accused in her decision so as not to give him notoriety.
“The decision to classify these crimes as terrorist activity is very important, because it recognizes that Islamophobia and attacks directed against people, because of their beliefs, cannot under any circumstances be tolerated and must be denounced in the manner the strongest possible,” underlined federal prosecutor Sarah Shaikh after the verdict.