CANADIAN WHITE SUPREMACIST NATHANIEL VELTMAN GETS LIFE FOR KILLING MUSLIM FAMILY

A cross spray-painted on his shirt, Nathaniel Veltman in custody at London police headquarters.

Fri 23 February 2024:

A Canadian white supremacist who killed four members of a Muslim family by running them over on purpose has been given a life term in jail.

In November, Nathaniel Veltman, 23, was found guilty on four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder in connection with the shocking attack that took place in Canada.

“I have chosen not to name the offender nor recite the hateful hateful statements that he shared with police or in his manifesto. This is because his actions constitute terrorist activity,” Superior Court Justice Renee Pomerance told a packed courtroom.

“One might go so far as to characterize this as a textbook example of terrorist motive and intent…By not referring to the offender by name, and not restating his views, I am trying to reduce the potential use of these proceedings as a platform for the ideology that spawned the violent acts of June 6, 2021.”

A cross spray-painted on his shirt, Nathaniel Veltman rests while in custody at London police headquarters shortly after the fatal hit-and-run that killed four members of the Afzaal family on June 6, 2021.

Yumnah Afzaal, 15, her parents — Madiha Salman, 44, an engineer, and Salman Afzaal, 46, a physiotherapist — were killed, as was family matriarch Talat Afzaal, 74, a teacher and artist. The boy who survived was among dozens of people who gave victim impact statements in January during the first part of the sentencing.

The family had been out for a walk near their home in the town of London, Ontario, at the time of the attack.

A family stands outside, looking to the camera. There are trees in the background.

Yumna Afzaal, 15, left, Madiha Salman, 44, centre left, Talat Afzaal, 74, and Salman Afzaal, 46, right, were out for an evening walk when they were run over by a truck on June 6, 2021, in London. (Submitted by the Afzaal family)

The murder convictions carry an automatic sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years, but it was up to Pomerance to determine whether his actions constituted terrorism, based on the facts considered by the jury that convicted him.

The 2021 attack was the worst against Canadian Muslims since a man gunned down six members of a Quebec City mosque in 2017.

Prosecutors noted Veltman had written a manifesto in which he outlined hatred of Islam and opposition to mass immigration and multiculturalism.

Shortly after the assault, Veltman said, “I did it. I killed those people.”

Veltman pleaded not guilty to the charges of murder. His defence, citing what it called Veltman’s mental challenges, said the actions amounted to a lesser charge of manslaughter.

Relatives of the Afzaal family released a statement after the hearing.

Tabinda Bukhari is embraced by family friend Sarrah Lawendy outside of the courthouse in London on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024, after a judge found Nathaniel Veltman committed a terrorist act when he murdered four members of London’s Afzaal family and injured a fifth in June 2021. Bukhari’s daughter, Madiha Salman, was killed along with her husband, daughter and mother-in-law. (Derek Ruttan/The London Free Press)

“Today’s sentencing has brought relief to people near and far,” the statement said. “The terrorism designation acknowledges the hate that fuelled this fire, the ugliness that took the lives of Talat, Salman, Madiha and Yumnah. But this hate didn’t exist in a vacuum. It thrived in the whispers, the prejudices, the normalized fear of the other…That hate hidden in plain sight was normalized by the unchallenged belief that a racial hierarchy exists in Canada.”

Ahead of Thursday’s hearing, Amira Elghawaby, Canada’s Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia, said the facts of the case clearly point to terrorism.

“There is no doubt that the Afzaal family were killed in a deliberate act of anti-Muslim hate, and it’s clear from having listened to the testimony and from seeing and understanding the evidence — this was an act that terrorized London and communities across the country,” Elghawaby said.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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