Community gathers to remember Afzaal family ahead of fifth anniversary of hate-motivated attack

Five years after the killing of a Muslim family in London, community members gathered in remembrance. CTV London's Reta Ismail has the details.

Community members gathered in London Tuesday evening to honour the Afzaal family, and reflect on efforts to combat Islamophobia and hate as the fifth anniversary of the family’s deaths approaches.

The event, titled Rooted in Remembrance and Growing Together as Allies, was organized by the London and Middlesex Local Immigration Partnership (LMLIP) in collaboration with the Al Ghazali Centre.

Attendees observed a moment of silence in memory of the Afzaal family, who were killed on June 6, 2021, while out for an evening walk in northwest London.

“We want, as we remember the family, as we remember their pain, we also want to know how we can move forward together as a community,” said Huda Hussein, manager at LMLIP.

The gathering focused on allyship, inclusion and ways to address discrimination and hate within the community.

Organizers said important conversations have taken place in the years since the attack, but challenges remain.

“There’s still a lot of hate that exists and many different incidences of Islamophobia, alongside other forms of racism and discrimination, continue to plague our communities,” said Imam Abd Alfatah Twakkal.

Twakkal said the family’s message over the past five years has centred on preventing similar tragedies from occurring in the future.

“The focus is on the work that needs to be done within the community in order to prevent this from happening anywhere else,” he said.

For many attendees, the responsibility to combat hate extends beyond the Muslim community.

“The broader community, the non-Muslim community, is committed to joining together, committed to individual actions to ensure that nothing of this sort ever happens again in London,” said Jill Tansley, a volunteer with LMLIP.

June 6 marks five years since Nathaniel Veltman deliberately drove a pickup truck into members of the Afzaal family because they were Muslim. Four family members were killed and a young boy survived with serious injuries.

In 2023, Veltman was convicted of four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder. The attack was deemed an act of terrorism motivated by anti-Muslim hate. His appeal is currently before Ontario’s Court of Appeal.

As London prepares to mark the fifth anniversary of the attack, organizers said remembrance must be accompanied by continued action to build a more inclusive community and prevent future acts of hate.