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Nathaniel Veltman returned to the stand for the sixth day on Thursday for the continuation of the Crown's cross-examination.
Assistant Crown attorney Jennifer Moser picked up where she left off on Wednesday, going point-by-point through Veltman's police interviews with London police Detective Micah Bordeau in the hours after the attack that killed four members of a Muslim family and seriously injured another.
On June 6, 2021, Talat Afzaal, 74, her son Salman Afzaal, 46, his wife Madiha Salman, 44, and their daughter Yumnah, 15, were all killed when they were hit by Veltman's truck while out for an evening walk . Their son, who was nine at the time, was the only survivor.
"You knew you committed a terrorist attack on June 6, 2021, in your mind Sir," Moser suggested.
Veltman denied that it was a terrorist attack, saying "I knew how extreme the event was when [Det. Bourdeau] told me four people were killed." He added that he knew "major events like this" were often classified as terrorist attacks.
Moser then read a passage of the interview transcript for the jury that had Veltman telling police that his action "probably does qualify as terrorism." He also explained that he had been inspired by other proven acts of terrorism, such as Brenton Tarrant's mass shooting in Christchurch, New Zealand.
On Thursday, Veltman told the jury that those statements were "nonsense" and "loose talk."
"I'm going to put to you, Mr. Veltman, that your end goal was to overthrow Western governments," Moser said.
"No," Veltman denied. "Crashing into Muslims doesn't overthrow governments," he added.
Moser again turned to his police interview, reading out a passage that had Veltman telling Bordeau that overthrowing governments was, indeed, the main goal.
"That's silly. I'm just repeating stuff I read on the internet," Veltman said.
Moser then turned her attention to a mental assessment of Veltman by Dr. Julien Gojer, a forensic psychiatrist, in July 2021.
At this point, Justice Renee Pomerance asked the jury to leave for a legal discussion.
When the jury returned in the afternoon, Moser picked up with Gojer's assessment.
She started by asking whether the statements Veltman made to Gojer were true. Veltman answered "yes."
Moser then reminded the jury that, while on the stand, Veltman said that he left his apartment around 7:30 p.m. on June 6 to get food.
Moser then read a statement that Gojer wrote in his report, saying "I left the house at about 7:30 p.m. or 7:45 p.m. with thoughts of killing Muslims, but it still did not become a plan that I wanted to execute." She then asked Veltman if that's what he said to Dr. Gojer.
Veltman denies that it was a direct quote, saying that it's a summary by the doctor.
When Moser asked which part of the statement was true Justice Pomerance once again asked the jury to leave for legal arguments.
When the jury returned, Moser asked her question again.
"It's more difficult for me to remember my exact statements to Dr. Gojer," Veltman said.
Moser then moved on and reminded the jury that, during his police interview, Veltman had mentioned fantasizing about a "White Utopia," while on the stand he said he'd never had fantasies like that.
In Gojer's report, the doctor wrote that Veltman told him he "acted on the fantasies he had for so long" when crashing into the Afzaal family.
Veltman again denied that he'd had fantasies about killing Muslim people.
Moser then read several passages from different interviews between Veltman and Gojer describing the attack, none of which had any mention of Veltman changing his mind or trying to turn away.
Veltman admitted that in his first interview, he didn't mention turning away. He added that, later on, "I specifically thought I remembered" trying to turn away.
Moser told the jury that Dr. Gojer reported Veltman saying he put on his bulletproof vest and helmet on June 6, 2021 because he thought he was "going to war."
Once again Veltman responded by saying he doesn't know if that's a quote or a summary of what he said.
Justice Pomerance then asked the jury to leave the courtroom again to bring up a concern with the lawyers. Following this discussion Pomerance released the jury for the day.
The Crown's cross-examination will resume at 10 a.m. Friday.
Veltman has pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted murder, and corresponding terrorism charges.