OTTAWA: A Canadian man who used his truck to run down a Muslim family out for a walk was found guilty Thursday in Canada’s first murder trial in which jurors were asked to consider a terrorism motive related to white supremacy.
Nathaniel Veltman, 22, was convicted of four counts of first degree or premeditated murder, and one count of attempted murder. He faces up to life in prison when sentenced.
He acknowledged striking the Afzaal family with his pick-up truck in June 2021 in London, Ontario, which left three generations of the family dead and a young boy orphaned.
The prosecution argued at trial that he was motivated by white supremacist ideology and sought to intimidate or terrorize Muslims.
The defense said he’d suffered a mental decline — which did not, however, meet the requirements for an insanity plea — and was in “a state of extreme confusion” after consuming hallucinogenic psilocybin mushrooms that weekend.
“Today’s verdict is a monumental step in the fight against hate and Islamophobia,” Imam Abdul Fattah Twakkal said outside the courthouse.
“It sets a precedent against white nationalist terrorism,” he said. “It sends a clear message that such hate has no place in our society.”
But he added, “the evidence that came out of this trial shows us that there is still a lot of work to be done to ensure that the next radicalized young man is not out there.”
Tabinda Bukhari, the mother of one of the adult victims, told reporters: “The enduring grief, trauma and the irreplaceable void left by the loss of multiple generations of one family has pierced us profoundly.”
The verdict, she added, provides “some solace.”
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.
He “dressed like a soldier,” wearing body armor and a helmet, with a “crusader T-shirt” with a red cross, prosecutor Fraser Ball said in closing arguments earlier this week.
“He was hunting for Muslims to kill,” he said.
When Veltman passed the Afzaal family on a London street on that warm Sunday evening, the Crown attorney said, he turned his pick-up truck around and accelerated “pedal to the metal,” jumping the curb as he drove into them.
Bodies flew into the air.
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 but non-life-threatening injuries.
Bits of the victims’ clothing were found embedded in the grill of Veltman’s truck after he surrendered in a nearby parking lot. He told police he’d wanted to “send a strong message” against Muslim immigration.
Ball said that message was “brutal and terrifying: leave this country or you and your loved ones could be next.”
The defense argued that a combination of mental disorders, childhood traumas and drug use left Veltman feeling detached or disconnected from reality.
The attack two years ago “changed Canadian Muslims’ relationship with their country,” said Omar Khamissa, head of the National Council of Canadian Muslims. “For the first time for many of us, we felt unsafe and targeted just for walking down the street.”
Former federal minister Omar Alghabra said on X, formerly Twitter, that this case was “an example of how hateful words could lead to radicalization which could lead to deadly violence.”
Defense lawyer Christopher Hicks said that Veltman was, after the verdict, “in shock, because he knows he’s looking at 25 years in jail without hope of parole.”
A date for a sentencing hearing will be scheduled on December 1.
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.
Canadian man who ran over Muslim family convicted of murder
https://arab.news/y22hr
Canadian man who ran over Muslim family convicted of murder
Venezuela begins ‘large’ prisoner release amid US pressure
- The releases are the first since Maduro’s former deputy Delcy Rodriguez took over, with the backing of President Donald Trump
- The releases were announced by Rodriguez’s brother, parliament speaker Jorge Rodriguez
CARACAS: Venezuela on Thursday began releasing a “large number” of political prisoners, including several foreigners, in an apparent concession to the United States after its ouster of ruler Nicolas Maduro.
The releases are the first since Maduro’s former deputy Delcy Rodriguez took over, with the backing of President Donald Trump, who says he is content to let her govern as long as she gives Washington access to oil.
The White House credited Trump with securing the prisoners’ freedom.
“This is one example of how the president is using maximum leverage to do right by the American and Venezuelan people,” Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly said in a statement to AFP.
The releases were announced by Rodriguez’s brother, parliament speaker Jorge Rodriguez, a key figure in “chavismo,” the anti-US socialist movement founded by Maduro’s predecessor Hugo Chavez.
He said “a large number of Venezuelan and foreign nationals” were being immediately freed for the sake of “peaceful coexistence.”
He did not say which prisoners would be released, nor how many or from where.
Renowned Spanish-Venezuelan activist Rocio San Miguel, imprisoned since February 2024 over a purported plot to assassinate Maduro, was among five Spanish citizens freed, according to Spain’s foreign ministry.
Security was stepped up Thursday afternoon outside the notorious El Helicoide detention center in Caracas, used by the intelligence services to jail political and other prisoners.
Miguel was held in El Helicoide after her arrest.
Leading opposition figure Alfredo Diaz, who died in December in custody, was also held at the facility.
Families gathered outside on Thursday for news of their loved ones.
“I’m nervous. Please God may it be reality,” the mother of a detained activist from the party of opposition leader Maria Corina Machado told AFP.
On Tuesday, Trump had told Republican lawmakers that Rodriguez’s administration was closing a torture chamber “in the middle of Caracas” but gave no further details.
His remarks had sparked speculation that Venezuelan authorities had agreed to close El Helicoide.
Venezuelan rights NGO Foro Penal estimates over 800 political prisoners are languishing in the country’s jails.
It welcomed the government’s plans to liberate some of them but was still verifying releases.
As tensions with Washington climaxed in the past month Venezuela had already released dozens of dissenters in two phases.
- Trump rebuked by Senate -
Thursday’s move by Caracas came as Trump suggested the United States could run Venezuela and tap into its oil reserves for years.
Shortly after Maduro’s seizure in US airstrikes and a special forces raid that left 100 people dead, according to Caracas, Trump announced that the US would “run” the Caribbean country for a transitional period.
“Only time will tell” how long Washington will demand direct oversight of the country, he told The New York Times in an interview published Thursday.
When asked whether that meant three months, six months or a year, he replied: “I would say much longer.”
Meanwhile, the US Senate on Thursday took a major step toward passing a resolution to rein in military actions against Venezuela.
The Democratic-led legislation, expected to pass a vote next week, reflects widespread disquiet among lawmakers over Saturday’s secretive capture of Maduro, conducted without their express approval.
It is expected to face resistance in the Republican-dominated House, however.
- Millions of barrels of crude -
Oil has emerged as the key to US control over Venezuela, which has the world’s largest proven reserves.
Trump announced a plan earlier this week for the United States to sell between 30 million and 50 million barrels of Venezuelan crude, with Caracas then using the money to buy US-made products.
Delcy Rodriguez on Wednesday called the US attack to depose Maduro, who was taken to New York with his wife to face trial on drugs charges, a “stain” on relations with the United States.
But she also defended the planned oil sales to Washington.
On the streets of Caracas, opinions remain mixed about the plan.
“I feel we’ll have more opportunities if the oil is in the hands of the United States than in the hands of the government,” said Jose Antonio Blanco, 26.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump, who will meet oil executives on Friday, is also considering a plan for the US to exert control over Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA.
Trump has warned Rodriguez she will pay “a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro” if she does not comply with his agenda.
“Her power comes from Washington, not from the internal structure. If Trump decides she’s no longer useful, she’ll go like Maduro,” Venezuela’s former information minister Andres Izarra told AFP in an email.
