A week after he was charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder, Nathaniel Veltman, 20, was also charged with committing a terrorist act following a deadly┬аattack on a Muslim family in London, Ont.
Salman Afzaal, 46, his wife Madiha Salman, 44, their daughter Yumna Afzaal, 15,┬аand Salman’s mother, Talat Afzaal, 74, were killed.┬аThe youngest member of the family, nine-year-old Fayez, survived and remains in hospital.┬аA funeral for the family was held Saturday afternoon.┬а
Veltman’s appearance on Monday was a routine one in Ontario Superior Court. He┬аwore┬аan oversized orange t-shirt and orange pants, with a blue mask over his face. His appearance was made by video link from the Elgin Middlesex Detention Centre. He told the judge he has not yet retained a lawyer.┬а
The clerk formally read out the murder and attempted murder charges to Veltman, including the names of the dead. When he was first charged, those names were not available.┬а
Sarah Shaikh, from the Public Prosecution Service of Canada, then appeared.
“Mr. Veltman, you are now charged with four counts of first-degree murder. In addition to the allegation that these murders were planned and deliberate, the further allegation is that they also constitute terrorism,”┬аShaikh┬аsaid.┬а
Provincial prosecutors also signed a document supporting terrorism charges to be brought against Veltman.┬а┬а
The Criminal┬аCode of Canada defines terrorism as an act done “in whole or in part with the intention of intimidating the public, or a segment of the public, with regard to its security, including its economic security, or compelling a person, a government or a domestic or an international organization to do or to refrain from doing any act, whether the public or the person, government or organization is inside or outside Canada.”┬а┬а
On June 6,┬аthe victims of the attack were out for an evening walk in northwest London when┬аa┬аblack truck left the road and drove into the family as they were waiting to cross the street at a red light. It marked the first mass killing in the city’s history, in a case that has caused fear┬аin the Muslim community.┬а
Police say the family was targeted because of their Muslim faith.
Since the fatal hit-and-run, there has been an outpouring of cross-country grief and a call for a national summit on Islamophobia.┬а
WATCH |┬аMuslim leaders want Ottawa to commit to taking action against Islamophobia:
Following the killing of four Muslim family members in London, Ont., MPs have promised to hold a summit to combat Islamophobia тАФ but community leaders are looking for a stronger commitment from the government. 2:05
