In Canada, a Judge Sentences an Incel Killer as a Terrorist

[IwantToRetire]

The teenager was lying next to his bloodied sword when the police captured him outside a Toronto massage parlor where one woman had been stabbed to death and another seriously injured.

The sword was inscribed with a sexist epithet and a note promoting an ideology of violence against women was found in the teenager’s pocket.

With the evidence stacked against him, he pleaded guilty to murder and attempted murder. But a Canadian judge ruled that the attacks were acts of terrorism, in part because the teenager wanted to send a message that he hated women.

On Tuesday, the judge, Justice Suhail Akhtar, sentenced the teenager — who was 17 at the time of the attack— to life in prison though he would be eligible for parole after 10 years. Under Canadian juvenile justice law, his name cannot be published.

The case represents the first time in Canada that the murder of a woman killed because of her gender has been prosecuted as an act of terrorism, a charge that increases the length of a prison sentence.

In a country that has grappled with recent, high-profile attacks against women, the case underscores how Canada is rethinking the classification of some violent acts as terrorism.

https://oxko.net/in-canada-a-judge-sentences-an-incel-killer-as-a-terrorist/

Mainly posting because as it says first of this type of sentence in Canada, but not sure that any other country has done this either.

I am so wary of this.

It's basically saying any ideologically motivated crime is terrorism. That's where it could go. And that's not what terrorism means.

The worrying thing with that is that terrorists do not necessarily have all the same rights under the law. So if this approach became widely used, you could have large groups of people, particularly those with ideological views out of step with the wider community.

Very good points.

I have been wary of the use of the term terrorism in relation to some acts of violence in this country.

I think that I was probably re-acting more to the fact that a court had recognised there are men who are attracted to / believe in the incel culture.

I've seen it argued that 'terrorist' offences should be abolished; these crimes will all be covered by other offences. Largely because of the dangers of 'mission creep', as suggested by PP.

Also, just generally suspicious of any 'good news' coming out of Canada at the moment! 😀

Of course if he decides that life in a male prison is too scary he can always change his "gender" and identify as female. Then the Canadian prison service will move him to a women's prison and he can entertain himself by terrorising all those smaller, weaker, female humans that Canada has benevolently decreed share his "gender" and must be housed alongside him.

Terrorism has a very specific definition, and an important one potentially because it affects how people are treated under the conventions of war. They aren't members of a national armed forces, and also they are different than rebels or insurgents - though there can be a lot of fudging and grey areas. But it all comes down to what is allowed and not allowed under various treaties.

Traditionally a terrorist was part of an organization with political aims, trying to apply pressure to a state by hitting civilian, non-military targets, in order to put the state into a position where they have to negotiate or otherwise placate the group. You can make some reasonable arguments that the definition could be widened somewhat, but if you make it anyone who does something violent and illegal for ideological reasons, it makes the whole concept pretty meaningless.