Warning: this article may contain content that is distressing for some readers.
During his third day of testifying in his defence, Nathaniel Veltman revealed that on two different occasions, he fought an “urge” to drive his truck into a group of Muslims before he crashed into five members of the Afzaal family on the evening of June 6, 2021.
Talat Afzaal, 74, her son Salman Afzaal, 46, his wife Madiha Salman, 44, and their daughter Yumnah, 15, were all killed. Their son, who was nine at the time, was the only survivor.
Veltman has pleaded not guilty to four counts of terrorism-motivated first-degree murder and one count of terrorism motivated attempted murder.
Defence lawyer Christopher Hicks continued his questioning of Veltman during a short day in court Monday. The jury only sat for two hours as the lawyers met during the morning session to discuss legal matters with the judge. Anything discussed in court with the jury not present is under a publication ban.
Veltman testified that he drove to Toronto the night before the attack on the Afzaal family to start to put a plan into action.
He said he made this decision after coming down from a “bad trip” from consuming a large amount of mushrooms.
“I had taken as many as I possibly could… I was determined to throw myself into oblivion and escape the hell that I was living in,” Veltman told the jury.
After taking the mushrooms, Veltman told the court he was in a state of panic brought on by the countless videos he watched online about alleged crimes against White people committed by “Muslim gangs.”
During his panic, he remembers having suicidal thoughts.
“I thought I need to kill myself right now before I do something horrible,” Veltman told the jury.
He said after the panic subsided and he slept for several hours, he felt something was wrong.
“I felt completely depersonalized, like I wasn’t inside my body. I was in a bizarre dreamlike state. I was detached from reality. I felt more determined and started actively thinking about committing a violent act,” said Veltman.
He said he decided to drive to Toronto with the thought of putting together a plan.
“I was entertaining the thought of committing an attack there in the future,” said Veltman.
“On who?” his lawyer asked.
“I didn’t know who, but I knew there was a high Muslim population there,” Veltman replied.
“I was satisfying the obsessional thoughts about engaging in violence by checking to see if this was somewhere I could commit the act,” Veltman told the court as his testimony continued.
After driving around Toronto randomly for several hours, Veltman said he “came across a group of Muslims.”
“I felt a massive wave of panic and nausea and felt an urge to step on the gas. I turned around and looked at them. I had the urge to step on the gas, an obsessive fixation. I was fighting it, and I was panicking,” said Veltman.
He said he drove home to London as fast as he could, speeding down the back roads to return home.
On June 6, 2021, he said he woke up still feeling disconnected and went to work for a shift at the egg processing plant in Strathroy.
On his way home from work, he came across another group of people he believed to be Muslim while he was stopped at a light on Oxford Street.
“I felt the same thing as I felt in Toronto. I felt the urge to step on the gas,” said Veltman. “I felt like I could stop feeling the need to fixate on these atrocities perpetrated by Muslims. It felt like it could all go away if I just stepped on the gas.”
He said the urge made him feel sick, and he drove home as fast as he could.
While at home, Veltman watched videos online about the “usual content” consisting of videos of mass shooter manifestos and reading articles about alleged crimes against White people.
After about an hour, he decided to leave his apartment.
“I took the shirt off the wall [a white shirt with a black spray-painted cross on it] and put it on, thinking about the possibility of if I came across these people what might happen,” said Veltman.
He testified he was driving down random streets in London before pulling over and putting on his “tactical gear” a vest and a helmet.
Hicks asked the judge to adjourn for the day after Veltman testified he came across the victims while driving down Hyde Park Road.
Court will resume at 10 a.m. Tuesday.