The Afzaals a ‘peace-loving’ family, says witness at Nathaniel Veltman’s trial in Windsor

Warning: This story contains distressing details:

Data from a Dodge Ram pickup truck driven by Nathaniel Veltman on the day in 2021 that members of a London, Ont., Muslim family were struck shows him veering to the right five seconds before impact, his gas pedal 100 per cent compressed, court heard Monday.

On the first day of testimony at the 22-year-old’s murder trial in Windsor, Crown prosecutors called three witnesses and laid out the evidence they’ll present to the judge and jury in Ontario Superior Court.

Veltman is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder as well as associated terror charges after the June 6, 2021, vehicle attack on the Afzaal family. He has pleaded not guilty.

Yumnah Afzaal, 15, her parents Madiha Salman, 44, and Salman Afzaal, 46, and family matriarch Talat Afzaal, 74, were killed. A nine-year-old boy survived.

In opening statements, prosecutor Sarah Shaikh told the jury that the defendant went to work on June 6, 2021, in Strathroy. Two weeks earlier, he had purchased a Dodge Ram truck, court heard.

He went home to his bachelor apartment in downtown London and “left before 8 p.m. with a specific purpose in mind: to find Muslims to kill,” Shaikh said.

“He sped up, aiming to strike the family. You will hear him say, in his own words, he was driving ‘pedal to the metal,'” she said.

Jurors also heard that the accused told police he was inspired by others with similar political views, he wanted to inspire others, and police found two versions of a document, titled “A White Awakening,” on his computer.

Throughout the day, several agreed statements of fact were read out — evidence the Crown and defence agree on that won’t have to be argued before the jury. They include:

• The accused was driving his truck north on Hyde Park Road when he saw the Afzaal family and performed a U-turn. He drove south, toward the intersection of North Carriage Road where the family stood, and accelerated. “He steered his truck off the road, mounting the curb, striking all five members of the family,” Shaikh said.
• Data from the truck shows he steered right toward the family five seconds before impact, that his accelerator pedal was 100 per cent compressed, and that his break pedal never depressed.
• He drove his truck at excessive speeds along Hyde Park Road, running several lights and weaving in and out of lanes before turning east on Oxford Street, where he continued to weave in and out of traffic and run red lights.
• Many bystanders called 911 and many noted the damage to the front end of his vehicle.

Also not in dispute is that the family lived in London and were on their way back from a local park when they were struck.

“Three generations of a family were out for a walk — a grandmother, a father, a mother and two children. They went to a park near their home and this would be their last walk together,” Shaikh said as part of the Crown’s opening statements.

“Why did he do this? You’ll hear him in his own words,” Shaikh said, referring to the accused. “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.”

On the day of the incident, the two women in the family were wearing traditional Pakistani clothing, she added.

A family member testified the Afzaals were a “peace-loving Muslim family” who came to Canada in 2012. The youngest member of the family was born here. A photo of the family entered into evidence shows the two women and teenager wearing a salwar kameez — loose pants and a colourful long shirt.

Another witness, a university student out for a walk in the area where the Afzaals were run over, spoke about calling 911 in the moments after the incident.

Several friends of the Afzaals, as well as extended family, were in the Windsor courtroom to hear the opening statements. The trial is expected to last about eight weeks — shorter than originally anticipated because defence and Crown lawyers were able to agree to those facts that won’t have to be disputed.

‘Set aside biases’

Before they heard from the Crown, jurors were reminded by Justice Renee Pomerance that their main job is to look at all the facts logically and with common sense.

“Every juror must be impartial. We all have beliefs and assumptions that inform our perception of our world and we may be aware of some of these biases and unaware of others,” Pomerance said.

“We look at others through a lens of our experiences, no matter how unbiased we may think we are. All humans experience unconscious biases, but we can overcome them. It’s not a character flaw, it’s the function of being human. But stereotypes must have no place in our justice system.

“In this case, [the accused] is charged with various counts of first-degree murder. The Crown alleges that he set out to murder a family because of their Muslim beliefs. These are just allegations. The Crown must prove them beyond a reasonable doubt.”

The reasons for the trial’s change of venue to Windsor are under a publication ban. Jury selection was the week of Sept. 4.