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 attack on a Muslim family in London, Ont.
Salman Afzaal, 46, his wife Madiha Salman, 44, their daughter Yumna Afzaal, 15, and Salman’s mother, Talat Afzaal, 74, were killed. The youngest member of the family, nine-year-old Fayez, survived and remains in hospital. A funeral for the family was held Saturday afternoon.
Veltman’s appearance on Monday was a routine one in Ontario Superior Court. He wore an 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.
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.
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,” Shaikh said.
Provincial prosecutors also signed a document supporting terrorism charges to be brought against Veltman.
The Criminal Code 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.”
On June 6, the victims of the attack were out for an evening walk in northwest London when a black 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 in the Muslim community.
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.
WATCH | Muslim 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 — but community leaders are looking for a stronger commitment from the government. 2:05