Canada: White killer of Pakistani-origin family sentenced to life in prison

A white nationalist who deliberately ran over four members of a Muslim family with his pickup truck in Canada in 2021 was sentenced Thursday to life in prison, with no possibility of parole for 25 years.

Nathaniel Veltman, 23, was found guilty of first-degree murder in November 2021 for an attack that shocked Canada, according to Reuters.

The Canadian newspaper London Free Press reported that the convict had little reaction to the decision.

The trial judge said Weltman’s attack was an act of terrorism. For the first time in the country, the term was used to describe any white nationalist violence.

Weltman crushed five members of the Pakistani-origin Afzal family under his truck in London, Ontario, while they were out for an evening stroll in June 2021.

Those killed in the incident included 46-year-old Salman Afzal, his wife Madiha Salman, 44, their 15-year-old daughter Yamuna and Afzal’s 74-year-old mother Talat.

Salman’s mother Tabinda Bukhari said after the court verdict that we don’t know if this is the end or justice, but we know for sure that our loved ones will not come back with this verdict.

He told reporters outside court: ‘This case was not just about an individual act. It was a stark reminder of the fault line that runs deep within our society.’

It was the worst attack on Muslims in Canada since a shooting at a Quebec City mosque in 2017 killed six people.

Crown attorney Sarah Shaikh, prosecuting the case, said of the verdict that Veltman had committed an ‘individual heinous’ crime, aimed at hatred of Muslims as a whole.

He said that hatred and ideological violence against an entire community can never be tolerated in a free and democratic society.

The nine-year-old son of the couple killed in the attack was also seriously injured. Shortly after the attack, Veltman said: ‘I’ve done it and I killed these people.’

Veltman pleaded not guilty to the murder charges. His defense counsel, citing Weltman’s mental challenges, said the act did not fall under the category of ‘mass murder’.

But the judge hearing the case, Justice Renee Pomeranus, did not agree with these arguments. According to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the judge said: ‘I think the offender’s actions constitute terrorist activity.’

Prosecutors noted that Veltman had written a manifesto titled ‘A White Awakening’ in which he outlined his hatred of Islam and his opposition to mass immigration and a multicultural society.

Defense attorney Christopher Hicks said of the circumstances of the trial, which he described as a long and difficult trial, that he felt a terrorist motive was inevitable. Asked about a possible appeal, he said, “The elements of an appeal are there, but Weltman will need to be consulted first.”

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