A newly released video shows a man who allegedly used a van to kill 10 pedestrians in Toronto telling police that he belonged to an online community of sexually frustrated men who plot attacks against people who have sex.
Alek Minassian faces 10 counts of first-degree murder and 16 counts of attempted murder in connection with the April 23, 2018, attack.
It drew attention to an online world of sexual loneliness, rage and misogyny after the suspect invoked an uprising by “involuntary celibates” and said he had contact with a California killer who seethed at women for rejecting him.
Minassian is 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.
The 26-year-old has yet to enter a plea. His trial begins in February, but a publication ban on his interrogation by police was lifted Friday. The police interview took place just hours after the attack.
“I feel like I accomplished my mission,” Minassian said when asked by the detective how he felt about the death of 10 people.
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.
“I know of several other guys over the internet who feel the same way,” he said, adding 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.