The killing of four members of a Muslim family in London, Ontario, amounted to an act of "terror," a Canadian judge ruled Thursday, sentencing the perpetrator to life in prison.
Justice Renee Pomerance said the killer deliberately drove his truck into the Afzal family who were out for a walk on the evening of June 6, 2021. Salman Afzal, 46, his 44-year-old wife, Madiha Salman, 15-year-old daughter, Yumna, and his 74-year-old grandmother, Talat Afzal, were killed in the attack, and the couple's 9-year-old son survived, though seriously injured.
Pomerance sentenced the killer to four life sentences for the murder and another life sentence for the attempted murder of the boy.
He told a packed courtroom in London, a city of 378,000 west of Toronto, that he would not use Nathaniel Veltman's name because he did not want to represent him as a voice to support hate and referred to him only as a criminal. Pomerance said the killer was a white nationalist.
According to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation report, "I chose not to share the offender's name or hate speech with the police or in his manifesto."
"The hatred and racism that gave rise to the criminal's actions have no place in Canadian society. Because they have no place in Canadian society, they will not be included in my reasons," he said.
Pomeranz said there is no doubt that the killer planned the attack and that he instigated the crime because they were Muslim.
"This incident sent waves of fear and destruction through the London community and beyond. He killed them because they were Muslims," he added.
