London attack suspect charged with terrorism
Terrorism charges have been filed against the suspect accused of killing four members of a London, Ont., family in what police have called a targeted attack on Muslims.Nathaniel Veltman was already facing first-degree and attempted murder charges. New charges alleging the attack was an act of terrorism were unveiled Monday.
Federal prosecutor Sarah Shaikh told the court the deputy director of public prosecutions had approved charges last Wednesday alleging the killings constituted terrorist activity.
The attempted murder is also being prosecuted as terrorism, she said.The development came after the RCMP’s Integrated National Security Enforcement Team was brought in to assist with the investigation into the June 6 vehicle ramming.
National security law expert Prof. Leah West said the additional charges of “murder-terrorist activity” were appropriate given what is known of the attack.“That makes the most sense,” said West, an assistant professor at Carleton University’s Norman Paterson School of International Affairs.Saboor Khan said the family hoped the new charges would help address Islamophobia and demon
strate that the justice system did not tolerate hate crimes. It is the third time murder-terrorist activity charges have been laid following recent attacks in Ontario.The same charge was used in February 2020 against an alleged supporter of the so-called Islamic State accused of killing a Toronto woman with a hammer. A spokesperson for the victims’ family said they were following the news of the terrorism charges, but their main concern was the 9-year-old survivor, who has now been released from hospital. An alleged Incel who attacked employees of an erotic massage parlour in Toronto, killing one and injuring another, was also charged under the same section last May.
The terrorism charges place an additional burden on prosecutors, who will have to prove not only that Veltman committed the killings, but that his motive was terrorism. That means making the case that his intention was to intimidate a segment of the population “for a political, religious or ideological purpose, objective or cause.”
But West said while that will complicate the prosecution, it is in the public interest to prosecute acts of terrorism as terrorism. Canadian authorities were previously reluctant to file terrorism charges, even in cases where the attackers’ intentions seemed clear, preferring to prosecute for murder and attempted murder. But federal prosecutors began showing a greater willingness to apply “murder-terrorist activity” charges last year, in cases of killings allegedly fueled by extremist beliefs. “In this case, there’s a strong argument to make that there’s a public interest in charging terrorism,” she said. West said charging the London attack as terrorism would have the effect of denouncing anti-Muslim violence, and sending the message that terrorism would be consistently treated as such.
Salman Afzaal, 46, Madiha Salman, 44, Yumna Afzaal, 15, and Talat Afzaal, 74, were killed in the attack. Fayez Afzaal, 9, was the lone survivor..............