Canadians Gather For Funeral Of Muslim Family Killed By Driver In Apparent Hate Attack - Forbes

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Topline

Hundreds of mourners gathered in the Canadian city of London on Saturday afternoon for the funeral of four family members who were killed when a man drove into them with a truck in an apparent attack last Sunday motivated by hatred of Muslims.

Key Facts

A public funeral was held in the Ontario city to honor Madiha Salman, her husband, Salman Afzaal, their teenage child, Yumna, and Mr. Afzaal’s mother, Talat, according to Reuters.

Afzaal and Salman’s nine year-old son, Fayez, the only survivor of the presumed attack, is recovering from serious injuries in the hospital.

Thousands marched Friday from the site of the attack to a local mosque, one of dozens of vigils and marches planned across the country this weekend to mourn the family, according to reports by the CBC and Reuters.

The alleged attacker, Nathaniel Veltman, will appear in court Monday, facing four charges of premeditated murder and one charge of attempted murder.

Key Background

Canada has seen several high-profile attacks against Muslims in recent years. A shooter killed six people at a mosque in Quebec City in 2017. In September, a man was stabbed to death outside a mosque in Toronto. Hate crimes against Muslims rose 10% percent in 2019, according to the Times. London, a city of 405,000 people 120 miles southwest of Toronto, has about 45,000 Muslim residents, its mayor, Ed Holder, told the New York Times. Anti-Muslim marchers targeted the city in 2017 but more counter-protestors showed up.

What To Watch For

Police and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have both described the alleged attack as a hate crime, but Veltman has not been charged with one. Detective Superintendent Paul Waight of the London Police Service said Wednesday they and federal law enforcement were investigating whether Veltman could be charged with terrorism, according to the AP. “It’s very rare to see actual terrorism charges brought because it ups the burden on the prosecutor without really adding anything in terms of sentence,” Leah West, a law professor at Carleton University in Ottawa, told the Times.

Tangent

Trudeau, whose government labeled the Proud Boys a terrorist organization in February, and who has pledged to crack down on hate speech online, said Tuesday that he will “continue to fight hate online and offline.”