The alleged perpetrator of a car-ramming attack that killed four members of a Muslim family on June 6 in Canada has been charged with terrorism, investigators and the prosecution said on Monday.
The 20-year-old suspect, Nathaniel Veltman, appeared briefly in court Monday morning in London, the southern Ontario city where the tragedy took place on June 6.
At a first hearing last week, he had already been charged with four counts of premeditated murder and attempted murder after the attack which had been described as a “terrorist” act by the Prime Minister. Canadian Justin Trudeau.
“Attorneys general at the federal and provincial levels have given their consent to initiate terrorism proceedings, alleging that the murders and attempted murder also constitute terrorist activity,” said the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP, Federal Police ), in a statement after the hearing.
The young man, who has no criminal record and no known affiliation with an extremist organization, said he does not have a lawyer at the moment. Mr. Veltman is scheduled to appear again at a hearing scheduled for June 21.
When arrested, he was wearing a vest resembling a bulletproof vest and a helmet.
According to London police, Mr. Veltman had deliberately attacked the Afzaal family with his pickup as part of a “premeditated and planned act, motivated by hatred”.
Five members of the same family were struck down while waiting to cross at a crossroads in the city of London, 200 km southwest of Toronto. Both parents, their 15-year-old daughter, and her grandmother were killed, but their 9-year-old son, seriously injured, survived.
Little Fayez was able to leave the hospital and he was taken care of by members of his family, several Canadian media revealed on Monday.
The boy “should be recovering, but it will take time,” Afzaal family member Saboor Khan told CBC. He also welcomed the new terrorist qualifications against the suspect, which were demanded by several Muslim community leaders.
“I think it is very important for us to talk about a terrorist act”, for her part reacted Monday the Deputy Prime Minister of Canada, Chrystia Freeland.
“It is important for us to identify this as an act of Islamophobia and it is important for us to identify the terrible threat that white supremacism poses to Canada and Canadians,” she added, during a press briefing.
Last week, Canadian MPs passed a motion to hold an emergency summit on Islamophobia by the end of July.
This drama constitutes the deadliest attack on Muslims in Canada since the shooting at the Quebec mosque that killed six people in 2017. The perpetrator, a Canadian supremacist, had not, however, been charged with acts of terrorism.
The attack also sparked a broad outpouring of support and solidarity towards the relatives of the victims.
