An Ontario court has found that an attack at a University of Waterloo gender studies class nearly two years ago was not terrorism but constituted a “particularly grave” hate crime.
The judge sentencing Geovanny Villalba-Aleman says that hatred was “the primary motivation” for the June 2023 stabbing, which is a significant aggravating factor.
Villalba-Aleman, an international student who came to Canada from Ecuador in 2018, initially faced 11 charges in the case.
An agreed statement of facts previously read in court said Villalba-Aleman told police he carried out the attack because he believed post-secondary institutions were “forcing ideology” on people.
It said he told police he went into the gender studies class because of the subject matter being taught and specifically targeted the professor.
A 38-year-old female professor, a 20-year-old woman and a 19-year-old man – both students, were stabbed inside a classroom at the university’s Hagey Hall on June 28, 2023. All three were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The University of Waterloo professor later said the incident left her in a state of perpetual vigilance while teaching and stoked fears that others may be inspired to commit similar acts of violence on campus.
Police said there were roughly 40 students inside the classroom when the stabbings took place.
One student tripped while trying to run away and was repeatedly stabbed in the back, while another was slashed on the arm and hand, court heard during the trial. Villalba-Aleman attempted to stab another student, but she escaped without injury.
With files from The Canadian Press
