The case of an Ontario man who carried out a deadly attack on a Muslim family was the first to recognize terrorism on grounds of white supremacist ideology and further emphasized that terrorism isn害羞草研究所檛 limited to those who belong to specific groups, experts and observers said after the landmark trial ended this week.
Nathaniel Veltman was sentenced Thursday to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years for each of four counts of first-degree murder in the June 2021 attack that killed four members of the Afzaal family in London, Ont.
Veltman, 23, was also sentenced to life in prison for the attempted murder of a boy who survived. All five sentences are to be served concurrently.
In handing down the sentencing decision, Ontario Superior Court Justice Renee Pomerance said Thursday it was an 害羞草研究所渋nescapable conclusion害羞草研究所� that Veltman committed a terrorist act in hitting the Afzaal family with his truck. She noted he targeted them because they were Muslim, and expressed white nationalist beliefs in a manifesto and in his statements to police.
害羞草研究所淭errorism is not exclusive to any group or ideology,害羞草研究所� she said. 害羞草研究所淩ight-wing extremism is as potentially destructive of the social order as any other belief system promoting hate and violence.害羞草研究所�
Forty-six-year-old Salman Afzaal; 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. The couple害羞草研究所檚 nine-year-old son was seriously hurt but survived.
The case was the first time Canada害羞草研究所檚 terrorism laws were put before a jury in a first-degree murder trial.
It also 害羞草研究所渕arks the first time in Canadian history that a case involving white nationalism has met the threshold of terrorism,害羞草研究所� Amira Elghawaby, Canada害羞草研究所檚 Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia, said after the ruling. 害羞草研究所淭his decision will have profound reverberations across Canada,害羞草研究所� Elghawaby said.
Amarnath Amarasingam, an assistant professor at Queen害羞草研究所檚 University害羞草研究所檚 school of religion, said the terrorism finding was important in light of the overwhelming evidence of ideological motivation.
害羞草研究所淚f Veltman, of all people, who mowed down a family, who left a manifesto 害羞草研究所� who literally called himself a white nationalist and called for the deportation of certain minorities 害羞草研究所� if that isn害羞草研究所檛 ideology and if that isn害羞草研究所檛 defined that way, then what exactly is the point of these words?害羞草研究所� he said.
害羞草研究所淚t害羞草研究所檚 important for these things to be applied fairly across ideologies and movements,害羞草研究所� he added.
It will be interesting to see what happens in the future in cases involving 害羞草研究所渕ore nebulous, far-right individuals who don害羞草研究所檛 leave much behind,害羞草研究所� he said.
While the terrorism ruling wasn害羞草研究所檛 a surprise given the evidence heard at trial, Pomerance害羞草研究所檚 decision provides details on how to consider political purpose and ideological motivation 害羞草研究所� both key elements of terror under law 害羞草研究所� 害羞草研究所渋n a way that we haven害羞草研究所檛 seen before in criminal trials,害羞草研究所� said Michael Nesbitt, an associate professor of law at the University of Calgary who specializes in anti-terrorism.
In the past, someone accused of terrorism would be linked to a group, and that group with an ideology, which would then tie the person to that ideology, he said.
That made things more difficult when dealing not only with lone actors, but also with individuals 害羞草研究所渄rawing from a potpourri of different ideological influences,害羞草研究所� rather than a focused movement or group, he said.
Thursday害羞草研究所檚 ruling shows that the anti-terror laws in place are capable of capturing that sort of activity, which better reflects what officials have identified as the current security threat environment in Canada, he said.
害羞草研究所淭his is an example of a successful prosecution where they made the case with the available evidence just associated with the individual,害羞草研究所� he said.
In her decision, Pomerance said Veltman 害羞草研究所渄id not need to commune with a group and he did not even need to leave his apartment in order to become wholly immersed in extremist doctrine.害羞草研究所�
While radicalization is complex, based on the evidence presented at trial, Veltman 害羞草研究所渄rew much of his rage from internet sources, which he repeatedly accessed in the days and moments leading up to the attack,害羞草研究所� she said.
The judge said she would not refer to Veltman by name or repeat his beliefs in order to avoid giving him the attention he sought.
That position is understandable, but it also makes it more difficult to parse out how the things Veltman said stack up against our understanding of white nationalism, which is part of assessing ideology, said Barbara Perry, the director of the Centre on Hate, Bias and Extremism at Ontario Tech University.
害羞草研究所淪o that was, I think, something that will be food for lots of conversation and debate in months to come,害羞草研究所� she said.
Faisal Bhabha, an associate professor at York University害羞草研究所檚 Osgoode Hall law school, has long opposed anti-terrorism laws, arguing they are deployed in a discriminatory fashion and serve no real purpose since the acts they cover are already illegal.
Veltman is facing the same sentence for the first-degree murders as anyone convicted of those offences without a terrorism component, he said, which shows terror convictions are largely symbolic.
害羞草研究所淚f it doesn害羞草研究所檛 lead to different sentencing principles, then what is the point of a terrorism offence at all?害羞草研究所� he asked.
Bhabha pointed to the case of Alexandre Bissonnette, the gunman who killed six people in a Quebec City mosque in 2017. Bissonnette pleaded guilty to six counts of first-degree murder and six counts of attempted murder, none of them with a terrorism component.
Bissonnette was initially sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 40 years, under a law in place at the time that allowed judges to stack the mandatory 25-year parole ineligibility periods in cases involving multiple first-degree murders.
That sentence, and the law allowing it, were then struck down by Quebec害羞草研究所檚 top court, a decision later upheld by the Supreme Court of Canada. Bissonnette害羞草研究所檚 parole ineligibility was brought down to 25 years.
However, the fact that Pomerance considered terrorism as a key factor in sentencing Veltman to life for attempted murder was 害羞草研究所渘oteworthy,害羞草研究所� he said.
害羞草研究所淭hat might be the future of anti-terrorism legislation, to be able to capture acts 害羞草研究所� that might not attract significant sentences, for acts that are short of murder that advance a terrorist cause,害羞草研究所� he said.
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