Ottawa: A 22-year-old self-confessed white nationalist who deliberately ran over and killed four members of a Muslim family with his truck in 2021 has been found guilty of first degree murder.
The killings shocked Canada, a country that encourages mass immigration and takes pride in its multiculturalism.
The jury took around six hours to convict Nathaniel Veltman, who attacked the family in the Ontario town of London. The Canadian faces life imprisonment with no chance of parole for 25 years.
Mourners pray as caskets draped in Canadian flags are lined up at a funeral for the four Muslim family members killed by a white nationalist in June 2021.Credit: The Canadian Press/AP
Prosecutors argued the attack was an act of terrorism, noting Veltman had written a manifesto entitled “A White Awakening” in which he outlined hatred of Islam and opposition to mass immigration and multiculturalism.
Five members of the Afzaal family, originally from Pakistan, were out for an evening walk in June 2021 when Veltman ran over them on the footpath.
The victims were Salman Afzaal, 46, his wife Madiha Salman, 44, their 15-year-old daughter Yumnah, and Afzaal’s 74-year-old mother Talat.
Family and friends of the Afzaal family, including Tabinda Bukhari, front-left, the mother of Madiha Salman, exit the Superior Court of Justice in Windsor Canada after the verdict.Credit: The Canadian Press/AP
The couple’s nine-year-old son suffered serious injuries. Veltman, who shortly after the assault admitted “I did it. I killed those people”, was also found guilty of one charge of attempted murder.
“Today’s verdict is a monumental step in the fight against hate and Islamophobia. It sets a precedent against white nationalist terrorism,” said Abdul Fattah Twakkal, an imam at the London Muslim Mosque.