'We are looking for justice': Terrorism trial starts in Windsor for crime committed in London

The trial of Nathaniel Veltman, 22, started Tuesday in Superior court in relation to the June 2021 deaths of four members of a Muslim family.

Salman Afzaal, his wife Madiha, their 15-year-old daughter Yumna and 74-year-old grandmother Talat all died. A nine-year-old member of the family survived his injuries.

They were out for a walk around 8:40 p.m. when they were struck by a pickup truck on Hyde Park Road.

One day later, Veltman was charged with four counts of first degree murder and one count of attempted murder; charges that would later be upgraded by the court as “acts of terrorism”.

“We want the trial to be victim centric,” said Abd Alfatah Twakkal, chair of the London Council of Imams. “We need to keep the family at the forefront of our thoughts because four people in our community were killed and we must never lose sight of that.”

He was speaking during a news conference organized by the National Council of Canadian Muslims and held outside the Windsor court before jury selection started Tuesday.

“We are looking for justice for our London family and for our community to feel protected, to feel safe and to know that our justice system will do what is necessary to deter this from ever happening again,” said Aasiyah Khan, NCCM’s Chief Operating Officer.

They told the media the Afzaal family would not be making any statements during the trial and that they asked for privacy.

Jury selection will continue on Wednesday.

Nathaniel Veltman,20, is pictured in this sketch from his virtual appearance in court on June 6, 2021.