Prosecutors argued Friday that an autism spectrum disorder cannot be used as a legal defense in the mass murder case against a Toronto man.
Alek Minassian is on trial for the deaths of 10 people on April 23, 2018, when Minassian drove his van over 10 people.
Minassian confessed to the crime, so the facts of the mass murder are not in question.
The bottom line, according to ABC News, is whether Minassian’s diagnosed autism spectrum disorder was a factor enough to cloud his judgment on the day of the mass murder.
This is the one from Alek Minassian who reportedly killed ten people in Toronto in April 2018
Minassian is now on trial for 10 murders and 16 attempted murders. Pictured: A memorial in Nathan Phillips Square in memory of those killed in the attack
Minassian, in the photo, has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, a crucial factor in his trial
Prosecutor Joe Callaghan argued Friday that it should not be a factor in whether Minassian is being convicted.
“This is about a person who committed mass murder who happened to have ASD, not that the ASD made him kill,” Callaghan said.
He also noted that Minassian had debated committing mass murder for years and had been fixated on school shootings since he was a student.
Judge Anne Molloy, who presided over the video case that was for judges only, was cautious in her comments.
“Let me be clear, autism is not on trial, Alek Minassian is on trial,” Molloy said Friday. “The question in this trial is whether the specific impact of ASD on this specific person at this specific moment was such that he should not be held criminally responsible for his actions.”
Minassian, 28, pleaded not guilty to 10 murders and 16 attempted murders for his chariot disaster, in which eight women and two men, ages 22 to 94, were killed.
The defense argues that he cannot be held criminally responsible because of his autism spectrum disorder.
In November, the Toronto Star reported that a forensic psychiatrist detained by the defense said Minassians ‘autistic mindset was severely distorted in a way akin to psychosis’ when he committed his frenzy, which is the crux of the argument of the defense.
A verdict will ultimately address whether Minassian was aware of the moral inaccuracy of the murders, which the prosecution alleges Minassian has touched on with mental health assessors.
“In essence, it is the Crown’s submission that he had the capacity to make a choice,” Callaghan said, according to CTV News. And in this case there is no evidence that he ever lost the fact of the inaccuracy of his actions.
“Some of the reasons Mr. Minassian committed these murders have nothing to do with his autism.”
The case and trial have become notable around the world for some shocking revelations that have occurred.
Closing arguments in the trial, which was held without a jury about Zoom, were heard Friday
The prosecution argues that Minassian’s autism should not change the outcome of the trial. Pictured: mourners during a vigil after the attack in 2018
Meanwhile, the defense argues that Minassian should not be held criminally responsible, as his ASD can make it difficult to judge moral right and wrong. Pictured: Minassian’s home
Minassian told police he was a member of an Incel community, an online group for “involuntary celibates” who are sexually frustrated. Sometimes women-unfriendly violence stems from these groups, with at least six mass murders committed by people of the same ideology.
Minassian expressed doubts about ever having a relationship with a woman to mental health assessors.
A machete attack in Toronto in February 2020 that killed one has been linked to obsolete.
The attack is the deadliest vehicle murder in Canada’s history
The trial was marked by many revelations, including reports revealing that Minassian was a member of the Incel community, made up of “involuntary celibates” who sometimes resort to misogynists.
Minassian’s fate will be decided by Judge Anne Molloy when she 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 planned to kill at least 100 people in an attack at another location, only to carry out his attack on a whim while sitting in front of a red light.
Eight of the ten killed in the attack were women.
It was also revealed that Minassian was fixated on the idea of school shootings as he was a high school student himself.
With closing arguments on Friday, Judge Molloy will now spend the next few weeks deliberating on the case.
She will decide on the case on March 3.
What is an Incel?
‘Incel’ stands for ‘involuntary celibacy’ and is a term used by a particular group of men who blame women for their inability to form relationships and have sex.
Incel groups have been accused of inciting violence and misogyny online, and numerous communities and subreddits have been banned for their content.
A cryptic Facebook post posted just before the incident by Toronto suspect Alek Minassian suggested he was part of an online community angry about their inability to relate to the opposite sex.
The now-deleted post was a tribute to Elliot Rodger, a community college student who killed six people and injured 13 in gunfire and stabbing attacks near the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2014.
In 2014, Elliot Rodger killed six people and injured 13 people in gunfire and stabbing attacks near the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Called Rodger ‘the Supreme Gentleman’, the Facebook post stated: ‘The Incel Rebellion has already begun! We will overthrow all Chads and Stacys! ‘
Chads and Stacys are names used on internet forums to refer to people with more active sex lives.
The reference to the term ‘incel’, which means involuntary celibacy, was a term used by Rodger in online messages furious with women for romantically rejecting him.
The anti-woman sentiment also recalled Canada’s 1989 massacre at Ecole Polytechnique, a technical 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 killing himself.
In a suicide note, he blamed the feminists for ruining his life.