2021 London, Ontario, truck attack

On the evening of June 6, 2021, 20-year-old Nathaniel Veltman drove a black Dodge Ram pickup truck into five members of a Pakistani Canadian family who were waiting to cross the road at the intersection of Hyde Park Road and South Carriage Road in London, Ontario. Veltman performed a U-turn upon seeing the family and accelerated toward them with the gas pedal fully depressed, striking them without braking. He then continued driving at high speed, weaving through traffic and running red lights, before stopping near a taxi at Cherryhill Village Mall about seven kilometres away, where he told the driver he had "just killed someone" and asked him to call police. He was arrested minutes later.

The victims were members of a single family who had immigrated to Canada from Pakistan, most arriving in 2007. Killed were Salman Afzaal, 46; his wife, Madiha Salman, 44; their 15-year-old daughter, Yumnah Afzaal; and Salman's 74-year-old mother, Talat Afzaal. The couple's nine-year-old son survived with serious injuries. Police described the attack as intentional and motivated by anti-Muslim hatred, and it was characterized as the deadliest mass killing in London's history and the deadliest mass killing in Canada that year.

In police interviews after his arrest, Veltman said his motives were "100% political" and described the attack as retaliation against what he characterized as crimes by minorities against white people, referencing white nationalist tropes about Muslims. He told police he had written a manifesto titled "A White Awakening" and had drawn on manifestos associated with the 2011 Norway attacks and the New Zealand mosque attacks. He was initially charged with dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, followed swiftly by four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder; by June 14, 2021, terrorism charges were added, making this the first Canadian murder trial to include terrorism charges.

The trial was moved from London to Windsor, Ontario, due to concerns about impartial jury selection amid intense local media coverage. It began September 5, 2023, with Veltman pleading not guilty to all charges. On November 16, 2023, after six hours of deliberation, a jury found him guilty of four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder. On February 22, 2024, Justice Renee Pomerance ruled that Veltman's crimes constituted terrorist activity, calling it a "textbook case," and sentenced him to five life sentences, four with no possibility of parole for 25 years. Veltman filed an appeal on June 6, 2025, challenging the admission of his manifesto as evidence, the admission of statements he made to police, and the denial of a mistrial motion over the Crown's closing statement.

The attack was condemned by Canadian and international leaders, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan, and Ontario Premier Doug Ford, all of whom described it as terrorism. Vigils, a public funeral, and later commemorative events were held in London in the aftermath.