Key Takeaways:
- Local Toronto people congregated electronically on Saturday, the fourth anniversary of the horrific Yonge Street van attack.
- Minassian was found guilty of 10 counts of first-degree murder and 16 counts of attempted murder. He will be sentenced on June 13th.
On the fourth anniversary of the tragic Yonge Street van attack, local Toronto residents gathered electronically on Saturday.
Alek Minassian, enraged by women who refused to sleep with him and radicalized online, drove a van down a crowded Toronto sidewalk in 2018, murdering ten people.
The 11th victim was a woman who never left the hospital and died more than three years after the attack. Fifteen other victims suffered life-altering injuries as a result of the accident.
Minassian was convicted of 10 first-degree murder counts and 16 attempted murder counts. On June 13, he is set to be sentenced.
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“We must remember…the efforts of the first responders who served on this day four years ago,” said Omar Hassan, a member of the Yonge Street Tragedy Commemorative Group, who helps organize the yearly vigil.
The event was considered to occur in person, but the pandemic’s sixth wave forced it to move online. The group said it intends to hold an in-person tribute next year when the terrorist act will be five years old.
“Astonishingly, truly remarkable, we pulled together as a community on that day, and in the days that followed, to ensure that it did not break our city’s spirit,” Toronto Mayor John Tory said in a video, condemning “senseless violence” fueled by “toxic misogyny.”
In honor of the tragic anniversary, the lights in front of Toronto City Hall have been lowered.
People should remember the names of those who died in the “horrific and deadly terrorist assault,” according to Andrea Horwath, leader of the Ontario NDP. Steven Del Duca, the leader of the Liberal Party, said that the victims and their families were on his mind.
Stan Cho, a Progressive Conservative MPP, was among the few in attendance for the live-streamed ceremony.
“Loved ones, neighbors, friends, and colleagues whose precious lives were cruelly and horrifically ended four years ago today,” said Jesse James, co-founder of We Love Willowdale.
Source: Global News
