Trial of man accused in London, Ont. attack sees police station footage

Jurors at the trial of a man accused of murdering four members of a Muslim family in Ontario are watching more footage of him being held at a police station after his arrest.

Nathaniel Veltman is accused of deliberately hitting five members of the Afzaal family with his truck while they were out for a walk in London, Ont.

Jurors are watching video of Veltman pacing around in a small detention cell and sometimes briefly sitting on a concrete bench inside the cell before he continues walking around with his hands crossed or in his pants pockets.

Veltman is seen wearing a white T-shirt with what appears to be a hand-drawn cross on both the front and the back, along with dark-coloured pants.

The 22-year-old has pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.

Prosecutors have alleged his actions in June 2021 amount to an act of terrorism and have argued he was motivated by white nationalist beliefs.

Jurors began watching footage Wednesday of Veltman arriving at police headquarters in London shortly after the attack and are set to see more video of him being held there through the day Thursday.

Crown lawyer Sarah Shaikh told jurors in her opening statement earlier this week that Veltman allegedly planned his attack for three months.

She said Veltman told detectives that his intentions were political, that he’d left his home on the day of the attack looking for Muslims to kill and that he’d used a truck to send a message to others that vehicles can be used to attack Muslims.

Salman Afzaal, 46, his 44-year-old wife, Madiha Salman, their 15-year-old daughter, Yumna, and her 74-year-old grandmother, Talat Afzaal, were killed in the London attack. The couple’s nine-year-old son was also seriously hurt but survived.

The trial, which is taking place in Windsor, Ont., is expected to last eight weeks.