Judge rules today whether convicted killer of London, Ont., Muslim family committed terrorism

Warning: This story contains distressing details.

The judge overseeing the case of a man convicted of killing a London, Ont., family in 2021 because of their Muslim faith will rule today whether his actions amounted to terrorism in handing down Nathaniel Veltman's final sentence.

In November, a jury found Veltman, 23, guilty of four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder after a 10-week trial in Windsor. He attacked the Afzaal family with his pickup truck on June 6, 2021, while they were out for a walk in London, and later told police he wanted to send a message to Muslims. 

Yumnah Afzaal, 15, her parents — Madiha Salman, 44, an engineer, and Salman Afzaal, 46, a physiotherapist — were killed, as was family matriarch Talat Afzaal, 74, a teacher and artist. The boy who survived was among dozens of people who gave victim impact statements in January during the first part of the sentencing.

The jury's reasoning for the verdict wasn't released. However, they reached the decision based on two premises: They were convinced his actions were planned and deliberate, or — in a Canadian first — they amounted to terrorism, which is defined as an attempt to intimidate the public or a segment of the population based on political, ideological or religious grounds. 

Superior Court Justice Renee Pomerance must consider all the facts and evidence presented during the trial and the dozens of victim impact statements in ruling on the terrorism possibility. 

For many Muslim Canadians, the facts of the case clearly point to terrorism, said Amira Elghawaby, Canada's Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia. 

"There is no doubt that the Afzaal family were killed in a deliberate act of anti-Muslim hate, and it's clear from having listened to the testimony and from seeing and understanding the evidence — this was an act that terrorized London and communities across the country," Elghawaby said.  

The Crown has argued it would be hard to imagine a stronger case for terrorism than this one — the convicted killer wrote a white supremacist manifesto, deliberately drove his pickup truck into the family because of the traditional Pakistani clothing they were wearing, and confessed to wanting to send a violent message to other Muslims and inspire other angry white men.

"The offender wanted to make Muslims fearful of being in Canada, fearful of going to the park, the mosque, and living their lives. He wanted to drive this fear in Muslims and instil so much fear that Muslims would leave the country," Crown prosecutor Sarah Shaikh told Pomerance at the January hearing.

Minority communities in Canada want the judge's ruling to reflect the reality that they can be terrorized and the justice system will hold perpetrators accountable, said London lawyer Nawaz Tahir, who sits on the board of Hikma, a public advocacy group that speaks on behalf of Muslims. 

"It's important legally but it's also important from a belonging perspective," Tahir said. "Our justice system has an obligation to ensure that people of all faiths and backgrounds feel like they belong, and that includes holding people accountable when they engage in acts of terrorism against racialized minorities." 

Defence lawyers argued their client was not motivated by a particular ideology. 

"He did hold extreme right-wing beliefs," Christopher Hicks argued. "These were evident when considering his testimony. But the question is whether he adhered to an ideology and if he committed the crime to intimidate a segment of the population. We say that the Crown did not prove that he did."