Defense to continue arguments at UWaterloo stabber’s sentencing hearing – CP24

COOK, Ont. — A defense lawyer for a man who stabbed three people in a gender studies class at the University of Waterloo last year argues the Crown has not proven the crimes were motivated by bias, bias or hate.

Cooper Lord argues at Geovanny Villalba Alemán’s sentencing hearing that although his client gave police reasons for the attack, he did not express hatred toward a specific group.

Villalba-Aleman pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault, one count of assault with a weapon and one count of assault causing bodily harm in the June 2023 attack.

Federal prosecutors have argued the crimes amounted to terrorism in this case because they were ideologically motivated and aimed at intimidating the public, while provincial prosecutors told court Thursday the crimes were motivated by hate.

The provincial Crown cited Villalba-Alemán’s hateful comments about feminists and members of the LGBTQ+ community in his manifesto among the aggravating factors that the court must consider in the sentence.

But the defense argues that Villalba-Alemán’s motivation was his belief that “left-wing thinking” was stifling his freedom of expression, and that the court should consider his statements to police as a more accurate reflection of his thoughts than words. which he wrote before the court. stroke.

The defense rejects the notion that the attack was driven by ideology and also said the federal Crown has not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that terrorist activity took place in this case.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 25, 2024.

The Canadian Press