Incel-inspired Toronto massage parlour murder was act of terror, judge rules
The deadly attack at a Toronto massage parlour in 2020 was deemed to be an act of terror by Ontario's Superior Court Tuesday — marking the first time an accused in Canada has been found to have committed "incel-ideologically motivated terrorist activity," according to the Crown.
Justice Suhail Akhtar delivered his oral decision during a brief virtual hearing with the Crown and the defence, according to federal Crown counsel Lisa Mathews, saying his behaviour met the Criminal Code's definition of terrorism.
The ruling does not constitute a separate terror charge. Rather, the decision will factor into the accused's sentence, which has yet to be determined.
The judge's reasoning for the ruling will come at a later date, Mathews says.
The identity of the accused, who was a 17-year-old at the time of the February 24, 2020 attack, is protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
The now 20-year-old man pleaded guilty in the fall to two counts of murder and attempted murder for fatally stabbing of 24-year-old Ashley Noell Arzaga and injuring two other people.
Court previously heard that the killer found "inspiration" in the man responsible for Toronto's deadly van attack, considered himself an incel or involuntary celibate and that he stabbed Arzaga some 40 times with a sword inscribed with the term "thot-slayer" — "thot" being a derogatory term used against women.
The RCMP defines involuntary celibacy an "ideologically motivated violent extremist movement." Police say participants in the misogynistic online movement typically express frustration toward women over their own lack of sexual success, and sometimes threaten violence against them.
The Crown has applied to sentence the accused as an adult, Mathews says. The accused's defence argued he was neither an incel nor a terrorist, and hoped that he would be sentenced to juvenile detention for Arzaga's murder.
The accused is due to be back in court on July 18 to set a new date for a sentencing hearing.
