Statements made by a man who stabbed a professor and two students in a University of Waterloo gender studies class last year show the attack was ideologically motivated and meant to instil fear in the community, federal prosecutors argued Tuesday.
The federal Crown began making its submissions at Geovanny Villalba-Aleman’s sentencing hearing, arguing the offences he pleaded guilty to amount to terrorist activity in his case.
One of the key components of terrorism under Canadian law is that the act must have been committed for a political, religious or ideological purpose.
Another is that it must have been done with the intention of intimidating the public or a segment of the public regarding security, or to compel a person or organization to do or refrain from doing something.
Federal prosecutors argued Villalba-Aleman laid out his “bespoke ideology” in a statement to police and a manifesto found on his phone.
He made it clear in speaking to police that he did not know the people he attacked and had no personal grudge against them, but instead wanted to strike out against the “left-wing, woke ideology” he believed they represented, the Crown said in its submissions.
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The former University of Waterloo student has pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault, one count of assault with a weapon and one count of assault causing bodily harm in the June 2023 stabbings.
The professor teaching the class was stabbed in the nose and arm, and required reconstructive surgery, court heard.
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One student tripped while trying to run away and was repeatedly stabbed in the back, while another was slashed on the arm and hand, court heard. Villalba-Aleman tried to stab another student but she escaped without injury.
His actions “not only terrorized members of the class, but left a lasting wound on the collective psyche of the community at large,” federal prosecutor Althea Francis said.
“It has left teachers afraid to teach, students afraid to learn in fear they could be the next target,” she said.
“This was his goal. His goal was shutting down social discourse and silencing a belief system that ran counter to his ideology.”
Prosecutors said they are seeking a sentence of 16 years.
Court watched a video of Villalba-Aleman’s statement to police earlier in the sentencing hearing. In the video, Villalba-Aleman said he went into the gender studies class because of the subject matter that was being taught.
He told police he felt colleges and universities were imposing ideology and restricting academic freedom, and wanted the attack to serve as a “wake-up call.”
An agreed statement of facts previously read in court said Villalba-Alleman’s manifesto seemed to reference and defend infamous mass killers in Norway and New Zealand.
Rather than embracing an established ideology, Villalba-Aleman described a world view that blends reactionary conservatism and “gender identity driven violence,” prosecutors said.
They cited, among others, the case of a man who pleaded guilty to the murder of a Toronto massage parlour employee — a killing the presiding judge ruled to be an act of terrorism due to its links to so-called “incel” ideology. Incel stands for “involuntary celibate,” a subculture dominated by men who blame women for their lack of sexual relations.
In that case, the judge rejected the idea that a set of beliefs must fit into some sort of “hierarchical, systemic or organizational structure” in order to be considered ideology, prosecutors argued Tuesday.
Villalba-Aleman, an international student who came to Canada from Ecuador in 2018, initially faced 11 charges in the case.
His sentencing hearing is set to continue Wednesday.
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