Barry Ellsworth
12 September 2023•Update: 12 September 2023
TRENTON, Canada
Prosecutors told a Canadian court Tuesday that accused Nathaniel Veltman mowed down and killed a family of four with his truck for one hate-filled reason – “he did it because they were Muslim.”
The trial, which opened last week with jury selection, heard the opening statement of the Crown (government) prosecutors into the deaths of Yumnah Afzaal, 15, her parents Madiha Salman, 44, and Salman Afzaal, 46, and family matriarch Talat Afzaal, 74. The Afzaal’s nine-year-old boy survived the June 6, 2021 attack.
The Afzaals were out for an evening walk in London, Ontario when a pickup truck allegedly driven by Veltman, 22, jumped the curb, went onto the sidewalk and plowed into the family who were waiting to cross the street. The accused has pleaded not guilty.
The crime was hate-motivated, officials said.
"Why did he do this? You'll hear him in his own words," Crown prosecutor Susan Shaikh said in Ontario Superior Court as reported by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. "He made two statements to detectives after he surrendered and you will hear both of those statements. You'll hear him say that he did it on purpose ... he said he did it because they were Muslim."
Veltman is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder, along with terror-related charges. The trial is being held in Windsor, Ontario for reasons that are not known because there is a publication ban on the change of venue.
The prosecution told the jury that Veltman had purchased the truck two weeks prior to the attack and that on June 6 he “left before 8 p.m. with a specific purpose in mind: to find Muslims to kill,” Shaikh said.
The two women in the Afzaal family were wearing traditional Pakistani clothing, she said.
The trial is expected to last three months.
