Self-described ‘incel’ convicted of 10 counts of first-degree murder and 16 counts of attempted murder. A Canadian man who killed 10 people when he drove a rental van on to a crowded Toronto sidewalk has been found guilty of murder, after a judge rejected defense arguments that he was unable to understand the consequence of his actions. Alek Minassian was convicted of 10 counts of first-degree murder and 16 counts of attempted murder in a hearing held online on Wednesday. (…) The court heard that on 23 April 2018, the suspect rented a cargo van and drove it along a busy Toronto street, deliberately striking pedestrians. His actions took the lives of Renuka Amarasingha, Betty Forsyth, Ji Hun Kim, Dorothy Sewell, Anne Marie D’Amico, So He Chung, Andrea Bradden, Chul Min “Eddie” Kang, Geraldine Brady and Munir Najjar. Molloy also listed the horrific injuries suffered by sixteen others. Yunsheng Tian, 28, suffered traumatic brain injury, a fracture to the spine, 24 broken vertebrae, facial fractures and a laceration to his left leg. Beverley Smith, 81, was forced to have both her legs amputated above the knee. (…) Speaking with police following his arrest in 2018, the accused told officers that he belonged to an online subculture of men who blame women for their sexual frustration – and that he drew inspiration from others who used violence as a form of retribution for “being unable to get laid”. But in her verdict, Molloy disputed the notion that he was motived to commit murder on behalf of the “incel” – or “involuntarily celibate” movement. “I am sure that resentment towards women who were never interested in him was a factor in this attack, but not the driving force,” she wrote. “Instead … he piggybacked on the ‘incel’ movement to ratchet up his own notoriety.” Instead, Molloy pointed out that Minassian was “profoundly lonely”, saw himself as a failure and spent hours looking at “depraved” internet sites.
via guardian: Canadian ‘incel’ killer found guilty of murder over Toronto van attack