Veltman sentencing: Killer’s actions ‘constitute terrorist activity’, judge says

globalnews.ca:

Nathaniel Veltman, 23, was found guilty on four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder in November, with jurors returning to a packed courtroom in Windsor, Ont., after less than six hours of deliberation.The crimes come with an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years, but the question of what role, if any, terrorism played in the attack is playing a central role in the Thursday’s sentencing decision.“I find the offender’s actions constitute terrorist activity,” Justice Renee Pomerance said at the outset of her decision, which is ongoing.She also stated that she would not be using the offender’s name in her decision, nor would she repeat what he said to police the night he was arrested, noting that media coverage invariably publicizes what happened and those who commit terrorist activities “hope and plan for this.”Veltman purposefully drove his truck into the Afzaal family on June 6, 2021. Salman Afzaal, 46; his 44-year-old wife, Madiha Salman; their 15-year-old daughter, Yumna; and her 74-year-old grandmother, Talat Afzaal, were killed in the attack, while the couple’s nine-year-old son was seriously hurt but survived.Three days of sentencing submissions were set aside with over 70 victim impact statements read into court in January, including one from the little boy who survived the attack.In the boy’s statement, he said he was left with a broken leg and collarbone and would eventually have to get a metal plate taken out of his leg and have to re-learn how to walk.

He said since the attack, he’s had to leave the family home he lived in since he was three years old. He will never again get to enjoy any of the wonderful food his mother would cook, nor get to enjoy his