Several thousand individuals joined an interfaith marched on Friday night honoring the 4 members of a Muslim family who have been killed in an assault that has shocked Canada.
The procession began on the website the place three generations of a family out for a Sunday night stroll — 46-year-old Salman Afzaal, his 44-year-old spouse Madiha Salman, their 15-year-old daughter Yumna Salman and her 74-year-old grandmother, Talat Afzaal — have been killed in London, southern Ontario, as they have been ready to cross the road.
The couple’s nine-year-old son Fayez suffered critical however non-life-threatening accidents. The march towards racism and Islamophobia culminated at London’s mosque, about 7 kilometers (4.5 miles) away.
The demonstrators, who included households with youngsters, banged on drums whereas others sang John Lennon’s “Give Peace a Chance.”
They held posters with messages like “Hate kills” and “We’re all human.” After a moment of silence marking the time of the tragedy, representatives from several religions gave speeches denouncing hatred and saluting the outpouring of support for London’s 30,000-strong Muslim community.
Other rallies or vigils in Canada on Friday took place in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec, where a shooting in a mosque left six dead in 2017.
The Afzaal family’s funeral is scheduled for Saturday afternoon. Nathaniel Veltman, 20, has been charged with four counts of first degree murder and one count of attempted murder in the truck attack. If found guilty he faces life in prison.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called the assault in which Veltman’s truck mounted a curb and struck the Afzaal family a “terrorist attack.”
Detective Superintendent Paul Waight, who’s main the investigation, has stated there was proof “that this was a deliberate, premeditated act, motivated by hate.”
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