Nathaniel Veltman accused of killing Muslims was on drugs

A Canadian man accused of deliberately plowing his pickup truck into four members of a Muslim family said he had ingested “magic mushrooms” before getting behind the wheel — and could not resist the “urge” when he spotted the victims.  

Closing arguments in the murder and terrorism trial of 22-year-old Nathaniel Veltman were presented Tuesday in Windsor, Ontario, capping off 10 weeks of testimony, reported BBC News.

Veltman took the stand in his own defense, telling the jury that he had gotten high on a massive quantity of psychedelic mushrooms about 40 hours before climbing into his truck on June 6, 2021.

He admitted that the thought of mowing down Muslims occurred to him on two separate occasions after consuming the drugs, but he resisted.

But when he saw Salman Afzaal, 46, his wife Madiha Salman, 44, their daughter Yumna Afzaal, 15, and her 73-year-old grandmother, Talat Afzaal, 74, enjoying an evening walk together in London, Ontario, he could not stop himself, he said.  

Veltman previously said that he was in a “dreamlike state” at the time of the crash, which also seriously injured Salman Afzaal’s 9-year-old son.

The jury also heard from forensic psychiatrist Julian Gojer, who said that Veltman has been diagnosed with several mental health problems, including obsessive-compulsive disorder, severe depression, anxiety and a personality disorder.

Gojer testified that the psychedelic mushroom likely further degraded Veltman’s mental health issues.

Defense attorney Christopher Hicks said during closing arguments that his client’s state at the time of the incident was like “a runaway freight train headed for explosion.”

Veltman has pleaded not guilty to four counts of murder, one count of attempted murder, as well as multiple counts of terrorism stemming from the prosecutors’ assertion that the attack was motivated by the defendant’s white nationalist beliefs.

The jury was shown a video from the scene of the crash, which depicted Veltman wearing a bulletproof vest and an army helmet at the time of his arrest.

A bystander claimed he saw Veltman laughing when police officers arrived and pulled him out of his blood-spattered truck.

When interviewed by detectives, the then-20-year-old suspect identified himself as a white nationalist and said he struck the family “because they were Muslim.”

Prosecutors also played in court a recording of the 911 call made by Vetlman after the collision, on which he could be heard saying: “come over and arrest me, I did it on purpose.”

Federal prosecutor Sarah Shaikh said at the start of the trial that Veltman planned his attack for three months before driving his newly-bought Dodge Ram truck “pedal to the metal” directly at the Muslim family strolling on the sidewalk.

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

Veltman’s defense argued that he made those statements under duress, but a prosecutor maintained that his confession was “logical and coherent.”

“He hit exactly who he wanted to hit, exactly how he wanted to hit them,” Crown lawyer Fraser Ball said.

Veltman faces life in prison, if convicted of the charges against him.