National Post (National Edition)
MURDER TRIAL DAY TWO: `INCEL' CULTURE THAT ATTRACTED ALEK MINASSIAN.
Murder trial in April 2018 van attack
The murder trial of Alek Minassian for killing 10 people and injuring 16 others in the Toronto van attack heard details of his misogynist motivation Thursday morning.
Court was told of the “incel” subculture and the bizarre world view of the “involuntarily celibate” that attracted and radicalized Minassian, 28, before he rented a van and drove it down a busy Yonge Street sidewalk on April 23, 2018.
Minassian admits he killed and injured the pedestrians that day in a van he rented for that purpose, but pleaded not guilty, claiming he is not criminally responsible by reason of his mental state.
Court heard Minassian is not expected to testify at trial.
The trial is being held entirely online over video teleconferencing software, due to COVID-19 restrictions. The judge and lawyers all remain at their homes or offices. Minassian is linked in from the Toronto South detention centre, where he sits, essentially motionless, in a collared shirt and suit jacket.
Crown prosecutor Joseph Callaghan presented an agreed statement of facts on the incel elements of this case, meaning the government and Minassian's defence lawyers confirmed its accuracy.
Minassian was influenced by incel ideology and by two men, idolized by incels, who committed their own murder sprees: Elliot Rodger, who killed six people in California in 2014, and Chris Harper-Mercer, who killed nine people in Oregon in 2015.
Minassian claimed he was in contact with both men online prior to their attacks, but an examination of his computers neither supported nor debunked his claim.
Incels are those who declare that they cannot attract sexual interest or contact. Primarily heterosexual males, incel online forums see users develop a world view of a society divided by those who are sexually successful and those who are not.
Minassian's computers showed he searched for information on past incel killers, court heard. Both Rodger and Harper-Mercer killed themselves after their attacks.
“The posthumous influence of Elliot Rodger stems from a series of YouTube videos and a 137-page manifesto,” which outline his motivation for his attacks, court was told. In them, Rodger complains that he is seeking revenge on the world because, despite being a “supreme gentleman” he is “still a virgin.”
Harper-Mercer also left a manifesto after his shooting spree at a community college, declaring his interest in Rodger's case and anger at not having a girlfriend.
Police seized and searched 29 electronic devices from Minassian's home, where he lived with his mother, father and only sibling, a brother.
There were 41 examples of school assignments or classwork, authored by Minassian, found on his devices, including a video. They were provided to psychiatrists and psychologists involved in examining Minassian for assessments of his mental state for trial.
The files have titles such as “Murder is wrong,” “Right Thing To Do,” “Murder or Self Defence,” “parents spanking children,” “Being comfortable with being weird” and “High school — pretend to be afraid of girls.”
The video appears to be a post-high school class assignment, with two other men, to produce a mock television commercial for a make-believe technical product they call “Glassphone,” a set of glasses that act as a wearable smartphone.
In the video, Minassian sits at a table wearing flashy sunglasses and is approached by another student, whose face was blurred prior to being shown in court, who asks Minassian what he is doing.
At one point, Minassian mimics the style and language of infomercials, saying: “Wait, there's more.”
Submitted into evidence was a long series of text messages between Minassian and a longtime friend, who is not fully named. Leading up to the attack, they discuss video games and going to see movies. Close to the date of the attack, Minassian cancels
plans to see a movie, saying he starts work soon and is busy.
“Hey Alek, are u doing anything today?” his friend asks in a text sent in the afternoon, the day of the attack. Minassian, who was arrested and in custody by that point, was not in a position to answer.
A little after midnight, the friend texts Minassian again: “Alek, i heard what u did… it was very deplorable… Im disappointed in you…”
The afternoon of the hearing was consumed by legal arguments over a Crown motion seeking access to video and audio recordings of interviews with Minassian and his family, made by a team of doctors hired by his defence lawyer. Prosecutors already have the doctors' notes, but recently learned the interviews had also been recorded.
The court heard arguments against this by Minassian's lawyer, Boris Bytensky.
Justice Anne Molloy ruled the recordings must be turned over to the Crown's lawyers as soon as any of the doctors involved are called to the stand. This would likely cause some delay, to allow prosecutors to view the lengthy videos and listen to recordings before cross examining the doctors.
Minassian is charged with 10 counts of murder and 16 counts of attempted murder.
Because he admits he was the driver and that he planned and intended to kill the people he hit, the only real issue at trial is Minassian's mental condition and its relevance to his behaviour on that day.
Killed in the attack were: Renuka Amarasingha, 45; Andrea Bradden, 33; Geraldine Brady, 83; So He Chung, 22; Anne Marie D'Amico, 30; Mary Elizabeth (Betty) Forsyth, 94; Chul Min (Eddie) Kang, 45; Ji Hun Kim, 22; Munir Najjar, 85; and, Dorothy Sewell, 80.
The oddities of a virtual trial continued Thursday when Molloy suddenly looked perplexed at the screen.
“Nobody else is hearing this?” she asked. She said she was hearing “like jingle bells,” before deciding it may have been her cat outside her door.
The trial is not sitting on Friday but is scheduled to continue on Monday when the Crown is expected to conclude its case and the defence will begin presenting evidence.
Minassian's father, Vahe, is expected to be called as the defence's first witness on Monday.
The trial is scheduled to take six weeks.
INCELS CLAIM THEY ARE CRUELLY DEPRIVED OF SEX.