Canadian man convicted of murdering Muslim family in 2021 truck attack

A jury in Canada has found a 22-year-old guilty on four counts of murder and one of attempted murder, in a case that horrified the country when he ran over a Muslim family out for an evening stroll in June 2021 in the town of London in Ontario.

At the end of the trial on Thursday which lasted ten weeks, Nathaniel Veltman was found guilty on the charge of first-degree murder, as four of the family had died when Veltman drove a black pickup truck on to a sidewalk and ran them over. They were identified as Talat Afzaal, 74, Madiha Salman, 44, Salman Afzaal, 46, and Yumnah Afzaal, who was just 15. A nine-year-old male boy survived the attack. The Afzaals were originally from Pakistan.

At the time of the tragedy, London Police underscored the motivation, saying, “Investigators believe that this was an intentional act and that the victims were targeted because of their Islamic faith. There is evidence that this was a planned, premeditated act, motivated by hate.”

In a statement issued by the family after the verdict came, Madiha Afzaal’s mother Tabinda Bukhari described the attack as one which “wasn’t just a crime against the Muslim community, but rather an attack against the safety and security of all Canadians.”

Soon after the Islamophobic incident occurred, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was “horrified” with what had occurred. “To the Muslim community in London, and to Muslims across the country, know that we stand with you. Islamophobia has no place in any of our communities. This hate is insidious and despicable – and it must stop,” he added in a post on X.

On Thursday, following the verdict, Doug Ford, Ontario’s Premier, said that “justice was served.”

Veltman is expected to be sentenced at a hearing on December 1. The first-degree charges against him mean he will get the life sentence without the option of parole for 25 years.

Because of the media coverage of the crime, the trial had been moved from London to the city of Windsor.

In a statement, the Mayor of London Josh Morgan said, “While this represents an important step towards closure for the Muslim community, and our city at large, it is by no means the end of that journey.”

Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.