The killing of four members of a Muslim family in London, Ontario amounted to a "terrorist" act, a Canadian judge ruled Thursday, sentencing the perpetrator to life in prison.
Justice Renee Pomerance said the killer deliberately drove his truck into the Afzaal family who were out for a walk on the evening of June 6, 2021. Salman Afzaal, 46, his 44-year-old wife, Madiha Salman, 15-year-old daughter, Yumna and her 74-year-old grandmother, Talat Afzaal, were killed in the attack, while the couple’s 9-year-old son was seriously hurt but survived.
Pomerance gave the killer four life sentences for the murders and another life sentence for the attempted murder of the boy.
She told a packed courtroom in London, a city of 378,000 west of Toronto, that she would not use Nathaniel Veltman’s name because she did not want to present him with a voice to espouse hate, and referred to him only as an offender. Pomerance said the killer is a white nationalist.
"I have chosen not to name the offender nor share the hateful things he shared with police or in his manifesto,” said Pomerance, as reported by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. "This is because his actions constitute terrorist activity.
"There is no place in Canadian society for the hatred and racism that spawned the offender's actions. Because they have no place in Canadian society, they will not be given a place in my reasons,” she said.
Pomerance said there was no doubt the killer planned the attack and he instigated the crime because they were Muslim.
"This event sent ripples of fear and devastation throughout the London community and beyond. He killed them because they were Muslim,” she added.
