Prosecutors said Friday that autism spectrum disorder could not be used as a legal defense in the mass murder of a Toronto man.
Alek Minassian is on trial for the death of 10 people on April 23, 2018, when Minassian fled over 10 people with his van.
Minassian confessed to the murder, so the facts of the mass murder are not disputed.
What is in dispute, according to ABC News, is whether the autism spectrum disorder diagnosed by the Minassian was enough to understand his trial on the day of the mass murder.
This is the Alek Minassian van used to kill ten people in Toronto in April 2018
Minassian is now on trial for 10 counts of murder and 16 counts of attempted murder. Pictured: a memorial at Nathan Phillips Square to commemorate those who died in the attack
Minassian, pictured, was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, a critical factor in his trial
Prosecutor Joe Callaghan said Friday that there should be no factor in convicting the Minassian.
“It’s about a person who committed mass murder who happened to have ASD, not that ASD made him commit crimes,” Callaghan said.
He also mentioned that Minassian had debated committing a mass murder for years and had been fixated on school shootings since he was a student.
Judge Anne Molloy, who presided over the judge’s video, was careful in her comments.
“Let me be clear, autism is not being judged, Alek Minassian is being tried,” Molloy said on Friday. “The question of this process is whether the specific impact of ASD on this person at this time was such that he should not be held criminally liable for his actions.”
Minassian, 28, pleaded not guilty to 10 counts of murder and 16 counts of attempted murder for his anger, killing eight women and two men between the ages of 22 and 94.
The defense claims that he cannot be prosecuted because of his autism spectrum disorder.
In November, the Toronto Star reported that a detained forensic psychiatrist said that “Minassian’s autistic thinking was severely distorted in a manner similar to psychosis” when he committed his anger, which is the essence of the defense’s argument.
A ruling will eventually focus on whether Minassian was aware of the moral wrongdoing of the crimes, which the prosecution claims Minassian touched on with mental health assessors.
“In essence, the Crown’s claim is that it had the ability to make a choice,” Callaghan said, according to CTV News. “And in this case, there is no evidence that he ever lost the mistake of his actions.
“Some of the reasons Mr. Minassian committed these crimes have nothing to do with his autism.”
The case and trial became notable around the world for a series of shocking revelations that took place.
The final arguments of the trial, held over Zoom without a jury, were heard on Friday
The prosecution claims that Minassian’s autism should not change the outcome of the trial. Pictured: Painful on a vigil after the 2018 attack
Meanwhile, the defense argues that Minassian should not be prosecuted, as his ASD may make it difficult to judge morals right and wrong. Pictured: Minassian’s house
Minassian told police he was a member of an Incel community, an online group for “involuntary celibacy” who are sexually frustrated. Sometimes, misogynistic violence stems from these groups, with at least six mass crimes being committed by those with the same ideology.
Minassian expressed doubts about his relationship with a woman with mental health assessors.
A machete attack in Toronto in February 2020, which killed one, was rarely linked.
The attack is the deadliest homicide in Canada’s history
The trial was marked by numerous revelations, including posts showing that Minassian was a member of the Incel community, made up of “involuntary celibacy” who sometimes resort to misogynistic means of violence.
Minassian’s fate will be decided by Judge Anne Molloy when he reigns on March 3
Minassian also told mental health assessors at one point that he was in love with another anonymous mass murderer.
During the case, it was revealed that Minassian intends to kill at least 100 people in an attack in a different location, just to launch his attack on the impulse of the moment, while sitting at a red light.
Eight of the ten people killed in the attack were women.
It was also revealed that Minassian had been fixated on the idea of school shootings because he himself was a high school student.
With closing arguments taking place on Friday, Judge Molloy will spend a few weeks deliberating on the case.
She is due to rule on the case on March 3.
What is an Incel?
“Incel” means “involuntary celibacy” and is a term used by a certain group of men who accuse their inability to form relationships and have sex with women.
Incel groups have been accused of inciting online violence and misogyny, and many communities and subreddits have been banned for their content.
A cryptic message on Facebook posted by Toronto suspect Alek Minassian, just before the incident, suggested that he was part of an online community upset because of their inability to form relationships with the opposite sex.
The now-deleted post greeted Elliot Rodger, a community college student who killed six people and injured 13 in shootings and stabbings near the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2014.
In 2014, Elliot Rodger killed six people and injured 13 in shootings and stabbings near the University of California, Santa Barbara
Calling Rodger “the Supreme Lord,” the Facebook post states: “The Incel Rebellion has already begun! We will overthrow all Chad and Stacys! ‘
Chad and Stacys are names used in online forums to refer to people with a more active sex life.
The reference to the term “incel”, meaning involuntary celibacy, was a term used by Rodger in online posts that were unleashed on women because they rejected him romantically.
The anti-women sentiment also recalled Canada’s 1989 massacre at the Ecole Polytechnique, an engineering college in Montreal, when 25-year-old Marc Lepine entered a classroom.
He then separated the men from the women, told the men to leave, and opened fire, killing 14 women before committing suicide.
In a suicide note, he accused feminists of ruining their lives.