The suspect in the 2021 car attack that killed a Muslim family in London, Ont., reflected on his mental health in the months leading up to Friday’s events during his testimony to the jury.
“My suicidal thoughts and desires for destruction became more and more intense,” Nathaniel Veltman told the jury, according to The London Free Press.
The 22-year-old revealed in detail the issues that allegedly drove him to action: his religious fanaticism, his suicide attempts, his obsessive obsession with far-right racist ideas and conspiracy theories, and his fascination with the dark web, which drives him to fear and anger.
He painted this portrait of his mental state in court on Friday when he claimed in his first interview of 2021 that he would not plead “insanity” because he wanted “people to know why” he killed those four people had.
The Crown is still trying to prove that this was a conscious and premeditated act of terror in the name of white nationalism.
An obsession with the dark web
He allegedly searched for the “political truth about society” on right-wing extremist networks and the dark web, local media reported. His life was reportedly marked by an obsessive obsession with these ideas, to the extent that he could spend 12 hours a day on the Internet reading about the subject.
He said he started watching increasingly violent content on these sites because he had “nothing left to lose.”
“This content began to confuse me,” he added.
This would have alarmed him about the inaction of Western governments in the face of the “threat” of Muslim immigration. During his arrest in 2021, he spoke about the existence of Muslim sex offender groups, the media’s silence on their activities, and the authorities’ inaction on violence against white people. He spoke of an “anger” he felt towards them.
“I really wanted to get out of this hell in my head,” said Veltman, who said he felt like “the world was ending around him.”
The defendant admitted that he targeted the Afzaal family because of their religion and because he wanted to send a message to other Muslims.
He repeatedly watched videos of the attack on the Christchurch mosque in New Zealand. He also cited the author as a big inspiration for him.
He claims to have believed he was the victim of a “demonic possession,” recalling his strict religious upbringing, but at the same time he also believed that he had an enlightened view of the world around him and that he was “strong had to stay.” “.
His desperation was so great in the months before his attack that he tried to take his own life twice, local media reported.
The trial continues on Monday.