Ontario judge sentences white supremacist to life in prison for terrorist attack on Muslim family.

Nathaniel Veltman is sentenced to life in prison for act of terrorism after intentionally crashing his pickup truck into a Muslim family in Canada

In a landmark ruling on Thursday, 23-year-old Nathaniel Veltman was ordered to life in jail by an Ontario judge for what she called an act of terrorism as the convict intentionally crashed his pickup truck into a Muslim family, killing four and orphaning a young boy.

The decision was given on Thursday by Judge Renee Pomerance of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. This is the first time in Canada that a murder case has been directly linked to terrorism and white nationalism.

The attack in London, Ontario, in June. 2021 was charged with four counts of first-degree or planned murder and one count of attempted murder. Veltman was found guilty in November. The people killed were from the Afzaal family: Salman Afzaal, 46, his wife Madiha Salman, 44, their 15-year-old daughter Yumnah, and Talat Afzaal, 74, Yumnah’s grandma.

The prosecution at Veltman’s trial said that he wanted to scare and frighten Muslims, while the defense said that he was mentally declining but did not meet the requirements for a plea of insanity. Veltman’s lawyers also said that he was in “a state of extreme confusion” because he had eaten psychedelic mushrooms that weekend.

Judge Pomerance threw out these claims, saying that Veltman had planned the attack for months and took steps to make sure as many people as possible were hurt. She brought up his comments to the police, in which he said he wanted to scare Muslims and be like other mass killers. The judge noted, “I find that the offender’s actions are terrorist activity.”

Members of the Afzaal family spoke out in pain outside of the courts, stressing that even though the decision recognizes the hate that led to the attack, it cannot fix their pain or bring back what was lost. “The verdict won’t get back what was taken.” A family member of the dead, Tabina Bukhari, said, “It will not fix the broken pieces of our lives, our identities, or our safety.”

Bukhari, however, agreed that calling the attack terrorism brings out the hate that led to it, respecting the lives of Talat, Salman, Madiha, and Yumnah Afzaal.

During the trial, the proof showed Veltman’s extreme views. For example, a “terrorist manifesto” found on his computer showed that he supported white nationalism and hated Muslims. The judge pointed out that Veltman was wearing fighting gear during the attack, which was another sign of his purpose.

Source: AFP