Pedestrians mowed down in North York

spaminator · May 29, 2019

Van attack accused appears in court before victims' families
Sam Pazzano Courts Bureau
Published:
May 28, 2019
Updated:
May 28, 2019 7:57 AM EDT
Alek Minassian, 25, of Richmond Hill (LinkedIn)
A Richmond Hill man accused of using a van to plow down pedestrians on Yonge Street appeared in court Monday while about 20 family members and friends of his alleged victims watched the proceedings.
Alek Minassian, 26, appeared engaged in court, speaking to his lawyer, Boris Bytensky, and taking copious notes during a pre-trial motion in front of Justice Anne Molloy at the Superior Court of Justice.
A routine publication ban covered Monday’s proceedings, which will continue Tuesday morning in a downtown court.
Minassian faces 10 counts of first-degree murder and 16 counts of attempted murder. On April 23, 2018, a van drove over pedestrians on a stretch of Yonge — between Finch and Sheppard Aves. — killing 10 people and injuring many more.
Case of Toronto van attack suspect Alek Minassian put over
MANDEL: Answers no closer in massacre on Yonge St.
Trial date set for accused in Toronto van attack that killed 10
At a one-year memorial of the mass killing, Mayor John Tory said the city remembers those who lost their lives in the van attack, and the other victims who suffered serious, in some cases, life-altering, injuries.
Minassian’s case is proceeding to trial — scheduled for February 2020 — at a brisk pace. Ontario’s deputy attorney general granted the prosecution’s request to skip a preliminary hearing late last year and go directly to trial.
spazzano@postmedia.com
http://torontosun.com/news/crime/alleged-van-killer-appears-in-court-before-victims-families

spaminator · Jun 21, 2019

MANDEL: Toronto van attack accused won't have to face his peers
Michele Mandel
Published:
June 20, 2019
Updated:
June 20, 2019 7:20 AM EDT
Alek Minassian, 25, of Richmond Hill, is charged in the deadly van massacre on Yonge St. in Toronto on Monday, April 23, 2018.LinkedIn
Accused mass murderer Alek Minassian will not go before a jury of his peers after all.
It is probably a wise move.
Instead, the alleged Yonge St. van attack killer will be tried by a judge alone when his murder trial begins next February.
Minassian’s lawyer, Boris Bytensky, told Ontario Superior Court Justice Anne Molloy on Wednesday that as a result, he was withdrawing his application to change the venue of the trial.
He no longer has to worry about a fair trial prejudiced by a pool of jurors drawn from a city still reeling from the worst terror attack we have ever witnessed.
Minassian faces 10 counts of first-degree murder and 16 counts of attempted murder in the terrifying April 23, 2018 incident where the driver of a white rental van mowed down pedestrians on a stretch of Yonge St. between Finch and Sheppard Aves.
“With the Crown consent to proceed without a jury, the case can remain in Toronto and can proceed without any change of venue,” Bytensky told reporters.
A damaged white Ryder van is seen after the attack that killed 10 pedestrians on April 23, 2018 in north Toronto. (Craig Robertson/Toronto Sun)
“The trial is going to proceed without a jury, with a judge. We have a very senior, experienced judge and I’m sure Mr. Minassian will receive the fairest trial possible.”
The Richmond Hill mass murder suspect, now 26, appeared gaunt and pale during the brief hearing in the downtown Toronto courtroom. His lawyer wouldn’t comment on his condition or what his defence will be when the trial begins in February 2020, but there is wide speculation Minassian will plead not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder.
Whatever his defence, it is a judge alone he will now have to convince.
Would Toronto jurors have been able to fairly try a man accused of this city’s first mass murder? Would they have been able to set aside the horror of seeing a spring day stained with the blood of innocent pedestrians simply enjoying the rare sunshine?
I believe they could have. I do have faith in our jury system. But Minassian obviously does not.
Minassian’s social media fingerprints revealed an awkward computer whiz and failed infantry recruit who allegedly fell under the spell of the women-hating incel (involuntary celibate) movement which idolized misogynist killer Elliot Rodger. Rodger murdered six people in Isla Vista, Calif., in 2014 before turning the gun on himself.
On the morning of the van attack, Minassian posted on Facebook: “The Incel Rebellion has already begun! We will overthrow all the Chads and Stacys! All hail the Supreme Gentleman Elliot Rodger!” Stacys are the women who reject them and Chads are the men whose active sex lives they covet.
When the van finally stopped after seven minutes of careening into pedestrians and sending their bodies flying into the air, all but two of the 10 dead were women.
Was that happenstance? Were they the target? We will have to wait until next year to possibly learn the motivation behind such senseless carnage.
MALCOLM: Former classmate describes Alek Minassian’s ‘weird noises’, ‘no friends’
VAN ATTACK ONE YEAR LATER: City still reeling
Public remains in the dark about Toronto attacks
What we do know is that there might not have been a trial at all.
When the driver got out of the van, videos show the suspect appearing to beg Toronto Police Const. Ken Lam to kill him. Instead of suicide by cop, he was arrested without a shot being fired.
Minassian’s long-awaited trial and the answers we seek are only months away.
mmandel@postmedia.com
http://torontosun.com/news/local-ne...toronto-van-attack-to-be-tried-by-judge-alone

spaminator · Jul 12, 2019

MANDEL: Media wants to publish police statement by alleged van attacker
Michele Mandel
Published:
July 11, 2019
Updated:
July 11, 2019 8:41 PM EDT
Alek Minassian, 25, of Richmond Hill (LinkedIn)
Accused Toronto van attack killer Alek Minassian gave a statement to police but it won’t be publicly disclosed — at least not yet.
Minassian, 26, will go on trial before a judge alone next February on 10 counts of first-degree murder and 16 of attempted murder in the horrific van-ramming murder spree on Yonge St. on the afternoon of April 23, 2018.
Last month, Minassian’s lawyer, Boris Bytensky and the Crown agreed to having the mass murder suspect tried before a judge alone. As a result, Bytensky dropped his motion to move the proceeding to another city.
Now that there’s no concern about tainting a jury, the media are seeking to publish pre-trial filings, including a police statement made by Minassian.
But his lawyer is seeking a ban on its publication — shockingly, until the trial is complete — because Bytensky contends it will taint the testimony of defence witnesses scheduled to testify at his trial.
Prosecutors agree there’s a danger of witness tainting and also want the pub ban, but only until Minassian’s statement is entered into evidence at his trial next year.
The Toronto Sun, along with other outlets, were in a downtown courthouse Thursday urging Justice Anne Molloy to allow publication of Minassian’s police interview.
Dressed in a white dress shirt and black pants and appearing pale and thin, Minassian listened to the extensive legal arguments that stretched throughout the afternoon.
Until now, the only statement attributed to the enigmatic Richmond Hill man was a Facebook message posted from his account just hours before a white Ryder van was driven into crowds of pedestrians walking on Yonge St., between Finch and Sheppard Aves.
“The Incel Rebellion has already begun! We will overthrow all the Chads and Stacys! All hail the Supreme Gentleman Elliot Rodger!”
The online women-hating incel (involuntary celibate) movement idolizes misogynist killer Elliot Rodger, who murdered six people in Isla Vista, Calif., in 2014 before turning the gun on himself. The Staceys are the subculture’s lexicon for the women who refuse to date them and the Chads are the undeserving jocks who they prefer.
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Lawyer Brendan Hughes, who is representing the seven media outlets, told the court that the families of the victims are still looking for answers and should be able to read Minassian’s statement to police.
Molloy has reserved her decision until Aug. 16.
mmandel@postmedia.com
http://torontosun.com/news/local-ne...lish-police-statement-by-alleged-van-attacker

spaminator · Aug 17, 2019

MANDEL: Public wins right to know Toronto van attack accused's words
Michele Mandel
Published:
August 16, 2019
Updated:
August 16, 2019 4:54 PM EDT
Alek Minassian, 25, of Richmond Hill, is charged in the deadly van massacre on Yonge St. in Toronto on Monday, April 23, 2018.LinkedIn
In a victory for the public’s right to know, a judge has agreed to unseal the lengthy police statement given by alleged mass murderer Alek Minassian in which he admits to being the van driver in the April 2018 attack.
But the statement won’t be unsealed until Sept 27.
Ontario Superior Court Justice Anne Molloy rejected a bid by Minassian’s defence team to seal the document as well as other pre-trial applications until the end of his trial next year before a judge alone. The Crown had supported the publication ban, but only until his trial began.
In her brilliant 24-page decision, Molloy sided with the compelling arguments made by media lawyer Brendan Hughes, who represented Postmedia and other news outlets fighting the proposed publication ban.
MANDEL: Media wants to publish police statement by alleged van attacker
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MANDEL: Toronto van attack accused won’t have to face his peers
Defence lawyer Boris Bytensky wanted a publication ban on Minassian’s police interview until the end of the trial to prevent it from tainting the testimony of any defence witnesses he planned to call to testify about the accused man before the incident.
The judge rejected that proposal as a “colossal affront to the concept of the openness of our judicial system.”
“Public respect for the administration of justice in this country cannot be enhanced by secrecy; it can only be damaged by it,” Molloy wrote.
She also said it would be hard to find a witness “who will not already know that Mr. Minassian drove a van down a Toronto sidewalk killing and injuring many people.”
Minassian, 26, will go on trial Feb. 10 on 10 counts of first-degree murder and 16 of attempted murder in the horrific van-ramming murder spree on Yonge St. on the afternoon of April 23, 2018.
“The people of Toronto deserve to know what evidence is being presented at trial and not months later when it comes to a close,” the judge said. “This is a matter that goes beyond prurient interest or idle curiosity.
“This was a tragedy with a wide and devastating impact within the Toronto community and beyond. People want to know why it happened. They are entitled to know what is happening at the trial devoted to finding an answer to that question.”
The judge has delayed the implementation of her order until Sept. 27 to give the defence time to pursue an appeal if they choose to do so and to allow them the opportunity to locate and interview prospective witnesses before Minassian’s statement is made public.
Until now, the only statement attributed to the Richmond Hill man was a Facebook message posted from his account just hours before a white Ryder van was driven into crowds of pedestrians walking on Yonge St., between Finch and Sheppard Aves.
“The Incel Rebellion has already begun! We will overthrow all the Chads and Stacys! All hail the Supreme Gentleman Elliot Rodger!” the post read.
The online women-hating incel (involuntary celibate) movement idolizes misogynist killer Elliot Rodger, who murdered six people in Isla Vista, Calif., in 2014 before turning the gun on himself. The Staceys are the subculture’s lexicon for the women who refuse to date them and the Chads are the undeserving jocks whom they prefer.
“The central issue at trial will be Mr. Minassian’s state of mind at the relevant times,” the judge wrote. “The Crown will need to prove that Mr. Minassian had the requisite state of mind for murder and attempted murder. His demeanour and words at the time of, and not long after, his arrest will be relevant evidence on those issues.”
Not at issue, she said, was whether he was the driver.
Toronto Police Const. Ken Lam, right, arrests alleged van attack driver Alek Minassian on April 23, 2018. (Screengrab)
“Mr. Minassian did confess to being the driver of the van, but this will not be a controversial issue at trial,” Molloy wrote.
“Mr. Minassian’s arrest beside the van he had been driving was broadcast on television moments after it happened and was viewed by thousands of people, likely including those prospective witnesses who knew him, as it was available on the Internet for all to see.”
Molloy said it would be surprising to find a witness who knew Minassian in the past who would “have their perception of him unchanged because of what he did, but then later have that perception tainted by what he said to the police about what he did.”
mmandel@postmedia.com
http://torontosun.com/news/local-news/public-to-learn-what-toronto-van-attack-accused-told-police

spaminator · Sep 28, 2019

MHz · Sep 28, 2019

spaminator said:
http://torontosun.com/news/local-news/rattled-van-attack-witness-shocked-by-killers-confession
http://torontosun.com/news/local-ne...ike-4chan-breeding-grounds-for-violent-incels
http://dynamic.postmedia.com/toronto-van-attack
http://torontosun.com/news/local-news/timeline-of-the-toronto-terror-attack
http://torontosun.com/news/local-news/i-floor-the-pedal-excerpts-from-minassians-statement
http://torontosun.com/news/local-news/minassian-ncr-defence-strategy-surprising-expert
http://torontosun.com/news/local-news/inside-the-terrifying-violent-world-of-incel-subculture
http://torontosun.com/news/local-news/witness-to-alek-minassians-horror-cannot-forgive
http://torontosun.com/news/local-news/mandel-impressions-of-monster-alek-minassian
http://torontosun.com/news/local-news/inside-the-mind-of-a-killer-van-attackers-chilling-confession
http://torontosun.com/news/local-news/van-attack-murder-weapon-anatomy-of-a-deadly-rental
http://torontosun.com/news/local-ne...-shouldnt-be-found-not-criminally-responsible
http://torontosun.com/news/local-ne...her-of-van-attack-victim-wont-give-in-to-hate

Well done Spammy, . . . cough.

spaminator · Sep 30, 2019

http://torontosun.com/news/local-ne...ire-others-online-to-join-his-incel-rebellion
http://torontosun.com/news/local-news/army-didnt-make-minassian-a-killer
http://torontosun.com/news/local-news/lessons-learned-can-toronto-prevent-another-vehicle-attack
http://torontosun.com/news/local-news/was-the-toronto-van-attack-terrorism

spaminator · Oct 2, 2019

http://torontosun.com/news/local-ne...andson-sickened-by-alek-minassians-confession
http://torontosun.com/news/local-ne...al-road-of-proving-not-criminally-responsible

spaminator · Nov 7, 2019

Tasteless TV scene of death and bloodshed nixed in Mel Lastman Square
Liz Braun
Published:
November 5, 2019
Updated:
November 5, 2019 9:41 PM EST
A violent scene for a TV show was scheduled to be filmed Wednesday in Mel Lastman Square.
Luckily, saner heads prevailed. Before the residents of the area — still reeling from the van massacre of last year — were subjected to scenes of bloodshed and death, Toronto Councillor John Filion stepped in.
The filming planned for The Boys, a show about superheroes who abuse their powers and the vigilantes who fight them, included a scene involving about 450 people.
According to the production company’s description, it would unfold as follows: “One of the rogue superheroes attacks the crowd. There will be people screaming and running in the scene as well as a considerable amount of fake blood.”
“I flipped out,” said Filion. “There are people who work in this building, who went out onto Yonge St. to try to help the van attack victims — many of them are still traumatized. And think about the families and loved ones of those victims.
MANDEL: Public wins right to know Toronto van attack accused's words
MANDEL: Toronto van attack accused won't have to face his peers
'FOCUS ON THE POSITIVES': Brother of van attack victim won't give in to hate
“So I made some phone calls and that second portion was cancelled.”
Was he worried about people being confused by what they saw being filmed?
“It’s not about confusion. It’s about people literally re-living those events. It’s disrespectful to even think of it. Even if nobody had seen anything, it’s still disrespectful. I guess somebody just wasn’t thinking.”
According to a statement from City of Toronto spokesperson Brad Ross, there were complaints from residents about the planned TV shoot.
On April 23, 2018, a van raced down a sidewalk at Yonge St. and Finch Ave., slaughtering people like they were so many bowling pins. When the carnage was over, 10 people were dead and 16 were badly injured, their lives forever changed.
Alek Minassian, 26, is charged with multiple counts of first-degree murder and attempted murder.
http://torontosun.com/news/local-ne...ath-and-bloodshed-nixed-in-mel-lastman-square

spaminator · Nov 8, 2019

WARMINGTON: City's decision to kill film shoot just grandstanding
Joe Warmington
Published:
November 6, 2019
Updated:
November 6, 2019 9:21 PM EST
Finally the City of Toronto stopped a shooting — even if the violence and blood in this one were not real.
Still, after pressure from Councillor John Filion — and out of respect for those still traumatized by the deadly Yonge Street van attack April 23, 2018 — the producer for the Amazon Prime TV show The Boys decided to abandon shooting a scene Wednesday with 450 actors at Mel Lastman Square.
“I flipped out,” Ward 18 Councillor John Filion told the Toronto Sun’s Liz Braun. “There are people who work in this building, who went out onto Yonge St. to try to help the van attack victims — many of them are still traumatized. And think about the families and loved ones of those victims.”
Point Grey Pictures, Original Film, and Sony Pictures Television listened and cancelled the shoot for the show about superheroes who abuse their powers. The scene to be filmed was to show a rogue superhero attacking a crowd and “people screaming and running in the scene as well as a considerable amount of fake blood.”
Somehow the worry was this fictional TV production with film props could trigger the horrors of 10 murdered and 16 wounded in the van attack — even though every other aspect of life, including more murders in the area, has carried on since.
Still Mayor John Tory agreed “the permit shouldn’t have been issued for that location.”
I suggested to Tory that Toronto now has politically-correct location scouting which could be problematic since there have been major shootings, stabbings and homicides on every major street.
But Tory explained at the opening of the amazing new Yonge St. location for the Toronto Film School that people witnessed real “dead bodies” at this very site and with that in mind there should be some other location found.
Added Filion: “It’s not about confusion. It’s about people literally re-living those events. It’s disrespectful to even think of it.”
No. It’s not disrespectful.
The van attack was not last night. It was 20 month ago. There have been many other shootings in this very area since then, including someone shooting up the councillor’s own car and house.
This is show business. It’s not real life.
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What the politicians are doing is sanctimonious, meaningless virtue signaling that puts the industry at risk while helping nobody. By strong-arming a film company, they created unnecessary red tape that could set precedent in the $2-billion-a-year industry that employs 30,000 people.
Time is money in that game and there are other cities who wouldn’t pull this kind of strange publicity stunt.
This was nothing more than a film set — the same as the others strewn in all parts of the city. The disturbing van attack has nothing to do with this series. It was just big government grandstanding to make flex some muscle and show who is boss.
While I think this is creating trouble where there was none, I felt Filion’s “heart” was in the right place.
“My heart and my brain,” he quipped, adding this whole thing could have been avoided if it had been stopped at the permit application process at the city’s film office.
So what’s the next film location to be deemed off limits? The Danforth? Yonge and Dundas? The Eaton Centre? Nathan Phillips Square? Union Station? The CNE?
Lots of gory murder scenes at all of those places.
The good news is Tory says the city will not be on the hook financially. Sources tell me they are going to shoot it at David Pecaut Square, on King Street W., near Roy Thomson Hall.
Not to spoil things but there have been a half a dozen murders/stabbings/shootings within three blocks of there since the van attack — including two I covered nearby in the past few weeks.
Hopefully nobody complains. We need those film jobs.

http://torontosun.com/news/local-ne...ecision-to-kill-film-shoot-just-grandstanding

Tecumsehsbones · Nov 8, 2019

Well, I surely do hope y'all don't have Shakespeare in the Park in Toronto. If y'all do, better put Midsummer Night's Dream on endless loop for the next three or four decades.

spaminator · Dec 1, 2019

Accused van attacker's locked electronics could delay trial
Michele Mandel
Published:
November 29, 2019
Updated:
November 29, 2019 10:52 AM EST
Alek Minassian is shown in a photo from his LinkedIn page.
Accused Toronto van attacker Alek Minassian made a brief court appearance in a downtown courtroom Thursday as lawyers discussed a possible delay for his upcoming trial
Minassian, 27, is charged with the first-degree murder of 10 pedestrians and the attempted murder of 16 others in a deadly Yonge St. van attack on April 23, 2018.
In his lengthy police statement unsealed by the court in September, he confessed to being the driver behind the wheel of the rental van.
Opting for a trial by judge alone, the accused mass killer is widely expected to plead not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder.
MANDEL: Impressions of monster Alek Minassian
MINASSIAN TRIAL PREVIEW: Mandel on what fate is possibly in store for Van Killer
Difficult legal road to prove Minassian not criminally responsible
With his trial slated to begin in February 2020, Ontario Superior Court Justice Anne Molloy was warned by both sides that they may need to push back the start due to a delay in the defence experts’ ability to unlock Minassian’s computers and cellphones.
Story continues below
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At the time of the deadly attack, Minassian was a computer whiz about to graduate with his bachelor degree in software development. He was so proficient in encrypting his devices that
Toronto Police were never able to crack his MacBook Pro laptop or two smartphones and he refused to turn over the passwords.
Minassian’s legal team won return of his encrypted devices in an earlier ruling but it appears they were also having a difficult time unlocking them.
“I thought Mr. Minassian had the passwords,” Molloy said.<
Defence lawyer Boris Bytensky could only shrug and say he’d assumed it would be a simple exercise, as well. All parties will be back in court Dec. 16.
mmandel@postmedia.com

http://torontosun.com/news/local-ne...rderer-alek-minassians-trial-could-be-delayed

spaminator · Dec 17, 2019

Toronto van attack accused finally hands over passwords
Sam Pazzano Courts Bureau
Published:
December 16, 2019
Updated:
December 16, 2019 6:21 PM EST
Alek Minassian is shown in a photo from his LinkedIn page.
Red tape and computer troubles delayed the trial for the man police say killed 10 pedestrians and seriously injured 16 others as he drove along a busy Yonge Street sidewalk in 2018, court heard Monday.
Accused murderer Alek Minassian’s trial, which was initially scheduled to begin on Feb. 10, has been tentatively set for March 2.
Minassian’s lawyer Boris Bytensky blamed the delay on problems receiving his client’s psychiatric assessments from St. Joseph’s Health Centre.
“We’re running up against red tape and being told different things by different departments,” Bytensky told trial judge Justice Anne Molloy, who’s conducting the judge-alone trial.
Molloy wasn’t pleased with the hospital’s response to providing important documents for the trial, and offered the court’s assistance to speed up the process.
She offered to issue subpoenas compelling hospital officials “to come here and explain why they have not done it.”
Minassian is charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder and 16 counts of attempted murder stemming from the April 23, 2018 attack.
His impulses were stoked by the involuntary celibacy (incel) community and previous rejection from women, he told police.
This case hinges on his state of mind at the time of the attack, not whether he was steering the vehicle, said Molloy.
Story continues below
Accused van attacker's locked electronics could delay trial
Difficult legal road to prove Minassian not criminally responsible
Computer-related problems are also stalling the trial, said Bytensky.
Minassian finally gave his lawyer and the police passwords to his electronic devices on Monday.
A few weeks ago, Bytensky informed the court that Minassian’s heavily-encrypted devices were not easy to navigate, even with a password.
“This is like looking for needles in lots of different haystacks,” said Bytensky.
Crown attorney Joe Callaghan agreed the twin roadblocks of computer issues and access to St. Joseph’s have made starting the trial on the original date of Feb. 10 “unrealistic.”
Minassian will be back in court on Jan. 16, 2020.
spazzano@postmedia.com

http://torontosun.com/news/local-news/trial-delayed-for-accused-in-toronto-van-attack

spaminator · Apr 23, 2020

http://torontosun.com/news/local-ne...niversary-of-van-attack-affect-victims-family

JLM · Apr 23, 2020

Tecumsehsbones said:
Well, I surely do hope y'all don't have Shakespeare in the Park in Toronto. If y'all do, better put Midsummer Night's Dream on endless loop for the next three or four decades.

This guy thinks he's a f**kin' comedian. Personally I don't appreciate the twit a whole heck of a lot.

Walter · Apr 23, 2020

JLM said:
This guy thinks he's a f**kin' comedian. Personally I don't appreciate the twit a whole heck of a lot.

Pretending to be a lawyer is funny.

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