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Nathaniel Veltman (centre) listens as the verdict is read in the Superior Court of Justice in Windsor, Ontario, in November 2023. Courtroom sketch: Alexandra Newbould/Canadian Press via AP

Canada white supremacist Nathaniel Veltman gets life sentence for killing Muslim family with truck

  • The ruling is the first in the country a to make a link between white supremacy and terrorism in a murder case
  • Veltman struck members from 3 generations of the Afzaal family with his vehicle, killing 4 of them and leaving a young boy orphaned

A white supremacist committed terrorism when he ran down a Muslim family out for an evening stroll, a Canadian judge said on Thursday as she sentenced him to life in prison for the murders.

The ruling is the first in Canada to make a link between white supremacy and terrorism in a murder case.

Nathaniel Veltman, 23, was convicted in November of four counts of first degree or premeditated murder, and one count of attempted murder in the killing of three generations of the Afzaal family that also left a young boy orphaned.

He acknowledged striking the family with his pickup truck in June 2021 in London, Ontario.

Supporters of the Afzaal family arrive at the courthouse to attend the sentencing hearing of Nathaniel Veltman in London, Ontario, on Thursday. Photo: Canadian Press via AP

The prosecution argued at trial that he sought to intimidate and terrorise Muslims, while the defence said he had suffered a mental decline – which did not, however, meet the requirements for an insanity plea.

His lawyers also said he was in “a state of extreme confusion” after consuming hallucinogenic psilocybin mushrooms that weekend.

Judge Renee Pomerance, of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, said Veltman “had planned a murderous rampage for months and took steps to ensure that he would kill as many Muslims in this brutal manner as he could”.

Recalling Veltman’s statements to police, she said: “He wanted to intimidate the Muslim community. He wanted to follow in the footsteps of other mass killers, and he wanted to inspire others to commit murderous acts.”

Hundreds gather in Canada to pay tribute to Muslim family killed in truck attack

“I find that the offender’s actions constitute terrorist activity,” she concluded.

Outside the courthouse, extended members of the Afzaal family expressed their grief, describing “a hollowness” and “scars”.

“The verdict will not bring back what was stolen. It will not mend the fractured pieces of our lives, our identity and our security,” relative Tabina Bukhari said.

But, she added, “the terrorism designation acknowledges the hate that fuelled this fire, the ugliness that took the lives of Salman, Madiha and Yumnah”.

People put up a sign at a makeshift memorial at the site Nathaniel Veltman jumped the curb with his truck to hit members of the Afzaal family in London, Ontario, in June 2021. Photo: Reuters

Defence lawyer Christopher Hicks, meanwhile, told reporters he is considering appealing against both the conviction and sentence.

The jury in the almost 10-week trial heard Veltman had penned a “terrorist manifesto,” found on his computer, in which he espoused white nationalism and described his hate for Muslims.

The judge noted that he wore “combat gear” including a helmet and bulletproof vest during the attack.

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Veltman passed the Afzaal family on a London street on that warm Sunday evening, turned his newly purchased truck with a heavy grill guard around, jumped the curb and slammed into them.

Salman Afzaal, 46, his wife Madiha Salman, 44, their 15-year-old daughter Yumnah and her grandmother Talat Afzaal, 74, were killed.

A nine-year-old boy orphaned in the ramming suffered serious injuries.

The slaying was the deadliest anti-Muslim attack in Canada since a shooting at a mosque in Quebec City in 2017 that left six dead. The perpetrator of that shooting was not accused of terrorism.

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