Crown to continue submissions in case of University of Waterloo stabber

KITCHENER, Ont. – Prosecutors are expected to continue their submissions today at a sentencing hearing for a man who stabbed a professor and two students in a University of Waterloo gender studies class last year.

Federal prosecutors began their arguments Tuesday at the hearing for Geovanny Villalba-Aleman, who pleaded guilty to four charges in the June 2023 campus attack.

They argued Villalba-Aleman’s statement to police, and a manifesto that was found on his phone, show his actions were motivated by ideology and meant to intimidate those whose views he disagrees with.

Villalba-Aleman pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault, one count of assault with a weapon and one count of assault causing bodily harm.

A video of his statement to police was shown in court earlier in the sentencing hearing.

In the video, Villalba-Aleman told police he felt colleges and universities were imposing ideology and restricting academic freedom, and he wanted the attack to serve as a “wake-up call.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2024.

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