Terrorism ruling in Afzaal family murders can help Muslim communities heal, says family friend

The Current19:30Killer of London, Ont., Muslim family committed terrorism, says judge

When a judge ruled that the killer of the Afzaal family had committed terrorism, Dr. Javeed Sukhera felt a mix of emotions.

"I felt a sense of relief that the justice system affirmed what we all knew, that this was a terrorist act," said the child and adolescent psychiatrist. 

"But I also felt a lot of emotion because there's no verdict, there's no sentence that will bring back the lives that were taken," he told The Current's Matt Galloway.

On June 6, 2021, a man deliberately drove his truck into five members of the Afzaal family in London, Ont. Four members of the Muslim family were killed: Yumnah Afzaal, Madiha Salman, Salman Afzaal and Talat Afzaal.

The offender was convicted of four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder on Nov. 16. 

On Thursday, Superior Court Justice Renee Pomerance ruled that his actions also constituted terrorist activity.

"One might go so far as to characterize this as a textbook example of terrorist motive and intent," she told a packed courtroom.

Sukhera knew the Afzaal family members before their deaths. Here's part of his conversation with Galloway.

What went through your mind when you heard the judge's decision that what happened on the 6th of June, 2021, was indeed a terrorist act?

I think that it's more about what I felt in my heart than my mind in that moment. There was a lot of emotion, and I think there was a sense of relief.

But in hindsight, I keep reflecting that this was a slam-dunk case. There shouldn't have been any surprise about this verdict. But because of the ways in which Muslims are consistently demonized and stereotyped, we're not often privy to or have the luxury of thinking of things as a foregone conclusion. 

The judge was very explicit in saying that this was a "textbook example" of terrorism. And I wonder … if that will help this country rethink and redefine, if I can put it that way, what terrorism looks like.

I hope so, and I hope that just like this attack had global reverberations that were traumatizing, that it can have global reverberations that are healing, because what we know is Canada is a society … [that is] supposed to be built on the inherent dignity of all people. This act shook Canadians to their core. It shook me to my core. It still feels surreal and dystopian. 

So redefining the word terrorism — which has been very loaded and coded to mean something distant and foreign and associated with people like me — to mean something related to a white nationalist actually is a very deep, affirming and validating meaning that can help communities like ours heal and recognize our place and intrinsic worth and belonging in society.

You used that word relief, which is a really important word. What does that mean in the community … knowing that that designation has been applied here?

It's just such a straightforward thing. London's the place where they test things for the Canadian market. It's representative. It's a microcosm for Canada. 

So for people like myself or like anybody who might have a Muslim or South Asian faith background, they were shattered when a family like this — a family we knew — could be going for a walk and murdered by a terrorist in a pickup truck.

So relief comes because that message, what he tried to do, was say, "You don't belong, you shouldn't be here," and the attack made people question that. 

The justice system, affirming that he was a terrorist, that he was filled with hate, that he intended to do that … helps reinforce that we do belong and that we shouldn't be afraid to be ourselves.

WATCH: Mom of London, Ont., truck attack victim on terrorism ruling

Terrorism ruling acknowledges 'hate that fuelled this fire,' says mom of London, Ont., truck attack victim

9 months ago

Duration 10:33

Tabinda Bukhari, mother of Madiha Salman, who was one of four family members killed in a truck attack in London, Ont., says the life sentence and terrorism designation will not bring back what was stolen from their family. Standing alongside other relatives who also spoke, Bukhari says she will go on living, but carry memories that won't fade and with an ache in her heart.

The statement from Tabinda Bukhari, [mother of Madiha Salman] … I just want to read back part of what was said.

"The terrorism designation acknowledges that hate fuelled this fire, the ugliness that took the lives of Talat, Salman, Madiha and Yumnah. But this hate didn't exist in a vacuum. It thrived in the whispers, the prejudices, the normalized fear of the other. The hate hidden in plain view was normalized by the unchallenged belief that a racial hierarchy exists in Canada."

What do you take from words like that?

First of all, it's profound, and I just have to say, that she exemplifies the grace of the family and those that we lost. 

I think what she said in those words is a wake-up call to Canadians. That we as a society have been built on this denialism that somehow we're intrinsically better, or that we're not a place where we don't uphold people's dignity. 

But we know that in Canada, it's something that is normalized, that white nationalism is a belief that starts with the simple idea that there's foreign threats, there's foreign suspicion, and then … it's these tentacles that go out, and affect people and radicalize people. 

So it does thrive in Canadian society, and we need to stop pointing fingers anywhere else and really hold up the mirror to the ways in which we provide fuel and oxygen to these kinds of hateful ideas.

You and I also spoke about about the fact that you want your own kids not to feel that they have to fear their own Muslim identity in the wake of this attack.

What would prove to them that the words that followed this terrorist attack aren't just words, but that they will lead to action that will lead to meaningful change, that will address what was mentioned in that statement, the whispers that exist in plain sight?

I would hope that my kids [or] any young Muslim listening, doesn't need anyone else to reinforce or affirm for them how much they deserve to live and be deliberately, authentically themselves in their communities. 

But I also think that the actions that all levels of government can take really need to move beyond tokenization. They need to move beyond votes-pandering and think deeply about what it's like when humanity is under question. 

I think there's a lot of of back and forth and political posturing, but these young Canadians who watch this happen, they will hold their decision makers accountable, and they will make sure that there isn't just words out of this, but that there are meaningful efforts to build cohesion and not let this terrorist win.