Accused in London, Ont., attack says he knew his actions were terrorism

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This article was published 19/10/2023 (774 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The man accused of killing four members of a Muslim family in London, Ont., told a jury Thursday he knew his actions were considered a terrorist attack.

On the stand in the Windsor, Ont., courtroom where his trial is taking place, Nathaniel Veltman said he was influenced by the writings of a gunman who committed the 2019 New Zealand mass killing of 51 Muslim worshippers at two mosques.

Veltman said his understanding of terrorism is that it’s any politically-motivated violence and he was a “political person” when he crashed into the Muslim family.

Crown attorney Jennifer Moser, who was cross-examining Veltman, told him he knew he committed a terrorist attack when he struck five members of a Muslim family in June 2021.

“I know that every major event like this is considered a terrorist attack,” Veltman said, responding to Moser. “My understanding of a terrorist attack was, generally, politically-motivated violence.”

Veltman said he was “obsessed with politics” for two years before the attack and he was aware of “major events” that were called acts of terrorism.

“(Terrorism) is violence that had to do with politics or political motivation,” he said. “That was my understanding.”

The 22-year-old Veltman is accused of deliberately hitting the Afzaal family with his truck on June 6, 2021, while they were out for a walk in London. Prosecutors have alleged his actions amount to an act of terrorism.

He has pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.

Salman Afzaal, 46; his 44-year-old wife, Madiha Salman; their 15-year-old daughter, Yumna; and her 74-year-old grandmother, Talat Afzaal, were killed in the attack, while the couple’s nine-year-old son was seriously hurt but survived.

Veltman told the jury on Wednesday that he had been considering using his pickup truck, which he bought a month earlier, to carry out an attack and looked up information online about what happens when pedestrians get struck by cars.

He said he wrote down data he found that indicated the likelihood of pedestrians’ injury and death increased if the vehicle hitting them was travelling at higher speeds.

Veltman also testified that he ordered a bulletproof vest and a military-style helmet online in the month leading up to the attack and wore them on the day he ran down the Afzaal family.

Veltman also told the jury earlier this week that he felt an “urge” to hit the family with his truck after seeing them walking on a sidewalk, adding that he knew they were Muslims from the clothes they were wearing and he noticed that the man in the group had a beard.

Jurors have previously seen video of Veltman telling a detective that his attack had been motivated by white nationalist beliefs.

Court has heard he wrote a manifesto in the weeks before the attack, describing himself as a white nationalist and peddling unfounded conspiracy theories about Muslims.

The case is the first where Canada’s terrorism laws are being put before a jury in a first-degree murder trial.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 19, 2023.