'Abhorrent': Wellington County officials respond to video referencing targeted hit-and-run in London
Officials in Wellington County have issued a statement in response to a social media video they say makes “disturbing references” the targeted hit-and-run in London that killed four people earlier this week.
A joint statement from Warden Kelly Linton and Minto Mayor George Bridge said the video was posted in Harriston on TikTok, and included "disturbing references" to the attack.
Four members of the same family were killed, and London police said they believe the family was targeted due to their Muslim faith.
Twenty-year-old Nathaniel Veltman is facing four counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Salman Afzaal, his wife Madiha Salman, their daughter Yumna Afzaal and Afzaal’s 74-year old mother Talat. Veltman is also charged with attempted murder. Nine-year-old Fayez Afzaal survived, but remains in hospital.
“The anti-Muslim sentiment expressed in this disgusting video is abhorrent to the residents of Wellington County and the Town of Minto, and all efforts must be used to denounce hatred in all its forms. Islamaphobia and all forms of racism have no place in our community, and we must ensure that messages of hate and fear fall on deaf ears,” the joint statement from Linton and Bridge said.
They added the video has been viewed by municipal officials and Wellington County OPP.
Police said they are aware of the video and are investigating.
Linton said the video was brought to his attention on Friday morning. He told CTV Kitchener he hasn't seen the video, but it was described to him by others who had watched it.
"It's terrible to see (racism) in your community," he said. "We felt, because it was in our jurisdiction and in the County of Wellington and within the Town of Minto, that it was incumbent on the leaders to say something about it and make sure we did denounce it."
"Racism of any kind has no place in Wellington County," Linton added.
He said staff take incidents like this very seriously.
"Something like this is impactful for them and they hate to see it," Linton said. "We're welcoming to everyone in this county and we 100 per cent denounce any form of racism and any form of Islamophobia."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
Attempt to have murder charge quashed against alleged serial killer dismissed by judge
A motion filed by the man accused of killing four Indigenous women in Winnipeg to have one of those murder charges quashed has been dismissed by the judge – weeks before the start of his trial.