Canada PM Justin Trudeau denounces truck attack that targeted Muslim family

Canadian PM Justin Trudeau on June 8 condemned the "terrorist attack" in which four members of a Muslim family were killed when a pickup truck jumped the curb and ran them over. According to the Associated Press, two parents, two children and a grandmother were on an evening walk when the truck struck them at an intersection in London, Ontario. The Canadian police said that the family were targeted because of their religion. They also informed that a 20-year-old suspect, Nathaniel Veltman, was arrested in the parking lot of a nearby mall and is now facing four counts of first-degree murder. 

Following the incident, Trudeau told Parliament, “This was a terrorist attack, motivated by hatred, in the heart of one of our communities. If anyone thinks racism and hatred don’t exist in this country, I want to say this: How do we explain such violence to a child in a hospital? How can we look families in the eye and say “Islamophobia isn’t real”?”

Trudeau said that many Canadians have been enjoying evening walks to get fresh air after long days at home during the pandemic. However, he added that, unlike every other night, this family never made it home. Trudeau said, “Their lives were taken in a brutal, cowardly and brazen act of violence. This killing was no accident. ... Canadians are outraged by what happened on Sunday. And many Muslim Canadians are scared”. 

He even on to say that words matter and in part blamed rhetoric, disinformation and extremism online and in politics. Trudeau said that they can be a seed that grows into an “ugly, pervasive trend” and sometimes they “lead the real violence”. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, on the other hand, said on Twitter that the attack revealed the growing Islamophobia in western countries.

Flags lowered for three days 

The victims spanned three generations of a family and ranged in age from 15 to 74. A 9-year-old boy who survived remains hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. The victims' extended family issued a statement identifying the dead as Salman Afzal, 46; his wife Madiha, 44; their daughter Yumna, 15; and a 74-year-old grandmother whose name was withheld. Friends said they immigrated to Canada 14 years ago and they worked extremely hard in their fields and excelled.

A fundraising webpage said the father was a physiotherapist and cricket enthusiast and his wife was working on a doctorate in civil engineering at Western University in London. Their daughter was finishing ninth grade, and the grandmother was a “pillar” of the family, the page said.

After the incident, flowers were placed around a light pole and a tree where the truck crossed onto the sidewalk. A vigil was scheduled for Tuesday night at the mosque the family attended. Canadian PM and other federal political party leaders were scheduled to attend. Meanwhile, Mayor Ed Holder said flags would be lowered for three days in London, which he said has 30,000 to 40,000 Muslims among its more than 400,000 residents.

(With inputs from AP)