Federal prosecutors argue statements made by a man who stabbed a professor and two students in a University of Waterloo gender studies class last year show the attack was ideologically motivated.
The federal Crown is making submissions at Geovanny Villalba-Aleman’s sentencing hearing, arguing the offences he pleaded guilty to amount to terrorist activity in his case.
One of the key components of terrorism under Canadian law is that the act must have been committed for a political, religious or ideological purpose.
Federal prosecutors say Villalba-Aleman laid out his “bespoke ideology” in a statement to police and a manifesto found on his phone.
The former University of Waterloo student has 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 stabbings.
Court watched a video of this statement to police earlier in the sentencing hearing.