Trudeau denounces truck attack that targeted Muslim family
ROB GILLIES, Associated Press
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1of16Mourners take a moment to reflect at the scene of an attack on Monday, involving a driver accused of plowing a pickup truck into an immigrant family of five in London, Ontario, Tuesday, June 8, 2021. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has denounced the attack as police say the attack targeted Muslims. (Geoff Robins/The Canadian Press via AP)Geoff Robins/APShow MoreShow Less
2of16People attend at a memorial at the location where a family of five was hit by a driver, in London, Ontario, Monday, June 7, 2021. Four of the members of the family died and one is in critical condition. A 20-year-old male has been charged with four counts of first degree murder and count of attempted murder in connection with the crime. (Brett Gundlock/The Canadian Press via AP)Brett Gundlock/APShow MoreShow Less
Many Canadians have been enjoying evening walks to get fresh air after long days at home during the pandemic, Trudeau said.
“But 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.”
Trudeau said words matter and in part blamed rhetoric, disinformation and extremism online and in politics.
“They can be a seed that grows into an ugly, pervasive trend. And sometimes, they lead to real violence,” the prime minister said.
Mon, 07 Jun 2021 10:18 UTC A Muslim family of five out for an evening early summer stroll were mowed down by a driver in an act of mass murder, the mayor of London, Ont., said on Monday.
The deadly attack on Sunday evening, denounced as terrorism by one Muslim group, left four of them dead and a boy with serious injuries, police said. Words fail on a day as dark as this but still words matter, Mayor Ed Holder said. This was an act of mass murder perpetrated against Muslims, against Londoners, and rooted in unspeakable hatred.
A 20-year-old man from London was arrested in the parking lot of a mall seven kilometres away. He now faces four counts of first-degree murder and one of attempted murder, police said.
A pick-up lorry attack that killed four members of an immigrant family has shaken Canada, a country where immigrants are largely accepted, and drew denunciations from Canada’s prime minister, who called it a hate attack directed at Muslims.
The victims, two parents, two children and a grandmother, were on an evening walk when the lorries struck them at a junction in London, Ontario.
“This was a terrorist attack, motivated by hatred, in the heart of one of our communities,” prime minister Justin Trudeau told Parliament.
“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?
Canadian murder suspect Nathaniel Veltman, 20, accused of running over a Muslim family of five, killing four, worked at an egg-packing plant, where a colleague said he was a devout Christian.