A man identified as Alek Minassian by the Toronto Police department, has been reported to have allegedly ran his van into pedestrians injuring many and killing 10 for not being celibates, police had said.
According to the footage released online, Alek Minassian could be heard telling police that he was part of an online group for sexually frustrated men. Alek Minassian, 26, said that he was part of the involuntary celibates (incel) forum on 4chan. He is now facing 10 counts of murder in Canada and 16 counts of attempted murder following the attack on April 23, 2018. When asked about the deaths, he told police: ‘I feel like I accomplished my mission.’ When the incident happened, it brought attention to the online world of loneliness, rage and misogyny.
Metor news reported that Minassian said that he had contact with a killer in California who was angry at women who had rejected him. He stands accused of driving a rental van into crowds of pedestrians in a busy north Toronto neighbourhood. Eight women and two men ranging in age from 22 to 94 died.
Minassian has yet to enter a plea. His trial begins in February, but a publication ban on his interrogation by police was lifted today. The police interview took place just hours after the attack. Minassian, who said he never had a girlfriend and was a virgin, acknowledged he used the van as a weapon and said he wanted to inspire more attacks. He said: ‘I know of several other guys over the internet who feel the same way,’ but added that they are ‘too cowardly to act on their anger.’
Minassian calls himself an ‘incel,’ short for ‘involuntary celibate.’ The incel movement is an online subculture linked to the deadly attack in Toronto as well as attacks in California and Florida. It promotes the misogynistic idea that men are entitled to have sex with women. Over time, ‘incel’ has become a buzzword for certain men infuriated at being rejected by women and prone to float ideas for violent payback, according to sociologists and others who study them. Like-minded people in internet forums sometimes use ‘Chad’ and ‘Stacy’ as dismissive slang for men and women with more active sex lives.
Minassian said he discussed his sexual frustrations on the website 4chan, which has become notorious as a place for extremists to post their views, metro News had reported.