(Warning: Strong languages ahead)
Researching about an internet movement known as those who are involuntarily celibate (incel) is an interesting one, as this particular movement, first known as a channel to vent about one's loneliness, turned into a radical and borderline terroristic group, with all of the members inside this exclusive movement being someone who desires a 10, but they themselves is basically a 0 or 1, 5 if they are lucky enough. Lest we forget about the tendency of violence that these men are capable of, even one of them gained instant infamy for carrying out a deadly attack as the way to "avenge" himself for not getting any romantic relationship. In this piece, I'll be talking about another killer incel, who had some connection to the one previously mentioned in a separate article, but they are actually one the same, a heartless individual capable of absolute evil.
From Isla Vista, California, we turn into Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to meet Alek Minassian (I know I spelt his name wrong in the previous piece. So, this is my way to make it up to it). Minassian was born on 3 November 1992, from an Armenian-Iranian family settled in Canada. His father worked as a software developer, while his mother held a job at an IT company. Young Alek himself was an aspiring software and mobile app developer. His formal education history included Sixteenth Avenue Public School, an elementary school in Richmond Hill, where he was assigned in a special education class. The move was done because of Minassian's Asperger syndrome diagnosis, as told by his mother in 2009, which is a high-functioning form within the autism spectrum disorder. He then attended Thornlea Secondary School in Thornhill, where his former classmates described him as "not overly social" and "harmless". By his LinkedIn profile, he attended Seneca College in North York and resided in Richmond Hill. In 2017, he tried his luck enlisting in the Canadian Army for two months, but never made it out of training stages after 16 days. One senior military official stated that Alek at that stage "wasn't adapting to the military life, including in matters of dress, deportment and group interactions in a military setting".
During his school days, particularly in Seneca College, he tried to befriend some of his classmates, but always come across as annoying, as he often cuts into conversations midway, but on group projects though, he has proven that he can be a responsible team member. But during 2017 to 2018, his behavior changed. He started harboring anger towards his peers. Hell, he was involved in a fight in one of his classes in March 2018. And by the time of his graduation, he actually posted a message read "Finally finished college. Fuck you all and good riddance". It is disputed when did exactly Minassian came into contact with the incel ideology, but in 2014, back when Elliot Rodger was still alive, Minassian befriended him over their shared hatred and contempt of not having a romantic partner. They met at an incel subreddit, and started to communicate, revealing that they actually had more things in common than it actually seemed. Their friendship lasted until Rodger's rampage (he referenced it as "an important mission", and that he "might not make it out alive") that took 6 innocent lives, as well as his own. After the incident, Alek remained active in the incel community, particularly in 4chan's r9k forum. Unlike reddit, 4chan's level of moderation is low enough, that someone could be talking about the most heinous ways to end another person's life, and easily get away with it. Days leading up to his own "revenge plans" he remained active on that forum, while stoking his anger and frustration to the point of no return. He has failed multiple jobs, failed at the army, and even failed at socializing.
And just like what Rodger did, He hatched his own plan for revenge. On the 23rd of April 2018, He went to a local car rental service 16 km (10 miles) from his home and rent a Chevrolet Express Van. He was cleared to rent after his background check came up clear. After he acquired the keys though, he sat inside the van for 20 minutes, and a cryptic Facebook post followed suit, read:
"Private (Recruit) Minassian infantry 00010, wishing to speak to Sgt. 4chan please. C23249161. The incel rebellion has already begun! We will overthrow all the Chads and Stacys! All hail the supreme Gentleman Elliot Rodger!"
For some context, C23249161 was his recruit number back when he was enlisted in the army, and "the incel rebellion" mentioned in the post refers to the violent response to sexlessness, sometimes used interchangeably with phrases like "beta uprising". "Chads" and "Stacys" are terms used by incels to refer to conventionally attractive men and women who (in their mind) had no trouble finding romantic partners and eventually sex, due to their attractive appearance. And of course, the post about a supposed "incel rebellion" would not be completed without mentioning the sick unsub who did it the first time, with all of his infamy.
After that creepy move, he released the vehicle's handbrakes, and sped away southward towards the city with clear intention for harm. The first 9-1-1 call reporting pedestrians being hit was received at 1:25 p.m. Eastern Time. At Finch Avenue, the van, rented by Minassian, ran a red light, then drove southbound on the west-side sidewalk of Yonge Street, striking multiple pedestrians. The van continued along the sidewalk for several more blocks, hitting additional pedestrians. Security camera video from a local business shows the van reaching Tolman Street, which is one block south of Finch Avenue, at 1:24 p.m. At one point, the van re-entered the roadway due to the narrowness of the sidewalk, but at Park Home Avenue, the van again drove onto the sidewalk, hitting pedestrians in front of Mel Lastman Square, a civic plaza on the west-side of Yonge Street, 1.4 km (0.87 miles) south of Finch Avenue.
The damaged van kept speeding with reckless abandon, and was spotted by one police officer, being TPS constable Ken Lam, who then intercepted it. The van stopped on the north sidewalk on Poyntz Avenue, just west of Yonge Street and two blocks south of Sheppard Avenue, about 2.3 km (1.4 miles) south of where the attack began. Lam stopped his cruiser near the van and confronted Minassian, standing near the opened driver-side door. During the confrontation, Minassian repeatedly drew his hand from his back pocket and pointed a dark-colored object toward the officer as if it were a pistol (in reality, Alek was not armed at all, one defining difference from the Rodger case). Lam ordered Minassian to drop to the ground, while Minassian tried repeatedly to provoke the officer to kill him, demanding he be shot "in the head!" when the officer warned him he may be shot. Lam then went to his cruiser and turned off its siren. As Minassian and Lam advanced towards each other, he realized that the object in Minassian's hand was not a gun, but his wallet. Armed with this knowledge, he holstered his pistol, and took out his baton to avoid the use of unnecessary lethal force. Minassian then dropped the object from his hand, lay down on the ground and surrendered to Lam. He was arrested at 1:32 p.m. (Elliot didn't got this treatment, as he already put a bullet to his head by the time police arrived).
The devastation left by the van was massive. At the time, 9 people lost their lives due to the reckless rampage, with the tenth victim announced at 8:15 p.m. One initial survivor from that day, 65-year-old nurse Amaresh Tesfamariam succumbed to her injuries three years after the incident that left her paralyzed neck down, on 28 October 2021. Here is the list of all victims killed on that day, beside the fallen nurse who passed away recently:
1. Beutis Renuka Amarashinge, 45, Female, Nutritionist
2. Andrea Knafelc Bradden, 33, Female, Slovenian Canadian account executive
3. Geraldine Brady, 83, Female, Saleswoman
4. Chung So-He, 22, Female, University of Toronto student
5. Anne Marie D'Amico, 30, Female, Financial analyst
6. Mary Elisabeth Forsyth, 94, Female, Retiree
7. Kang Chul Min, 45, Male, Chef
8. Kim Ji-hun, 22, Female, South Korean Seneca College student
9. Munir Najjar, 85, Male, Jordanian retiree visiting family
10. Dorothy Sewell, 80, Female, Retiree
In addition to the fallen ones, additional 16 victims were injured as the result of the rampaging virgin with a van.
During the interrogation stages, conducted by Toronto PD senior detective Rob Thomas, when it comes to the involuntary celibacy movement that Alek allegedly adheres to, he uncovered important, but disturbing information regarding Minassian's motive of the attack, including the earlier attacks done in Isla Vista. And the way Alek delivers his confessions is quite frankly, harrowing to say the least. He actually stated that the movement's goal is to purge all the "Chads" in order to force "Stacys" to have sex with the incels. There is also person of normal statuses, which was nicknamed "normies". By Minassian's accounts, the incels don't wish to harm the "normies", but instead, they want to "subjugate" them. He also referenced the Pepe the Frog meme, which is a mascot (apparently) of 4chan. By his own admission, he did this as a way to stand up to the "Chads and "Stacys", and that he had "accomplished his mission" by running over those innocent bystanders with the van. That statement alone sent chills down my spine, due to the sheer coldness of the delivery. And just like the sick bastard that he dared to call his friend; Alek Minassian was praised by the incel community. Hell, the sick fuck was even SAINTED (yes, you read that right) alongside Rodger for pulling those deadly stunts that left a trail of devastation in their wake.
As the result of his deadly shenanigans, Minassian was charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder and 16 counts of attempted murder. He was originally scheduled to stand trial on 10 February 2020, but later postponed as the pandemic hit Toronto. The trial officially began 10 November 2020 and was conducted online via Zoom meeting. Despite admitting to all the heinous things he's done; he pleaded not guilty by insanity due to his autism diagnosis. During testimony on 12 November, a psychiatrist retained by Minassian's defense team stated in a report that Minassian's "autistic way of thinking was severely distorted in a way similar to psychosis." For this plea to work, one must be confirmed medically to have psychosis or similar mental illness where he couldn't distinguish right and wrong, and clearly, Minassian technically is not psychotic. This legal stunt pulled by Minassian and his team garnered criticism from autism rights advocates, stated concerns that the trials might worsen stigmas towards autistic people. In the end, Ontario Superior Court Justice Anne Molloy believed that Minassian is motivated by the desire of notoriety and avoid giving him further recognition by refusing to refer him by his real name. She also inclined to accept the assessment of the experts that he lied to the police about much of the incel motivation he talked about and that the incel movement was not in fact a primary driving force behind the attack. To hammer the final nail in the coffin, she rejected his attempt to use autism as a defense. On 3 March 2021, Alek Minassian was found guilty of all charges, and sentenced to life in prison without a possibility of parole for 25 years on 13 June 2022. By the time his parole chance came about, which might be his only chance, is in 2047, and by that year, he would be around 54 years of age. Technically, he would spend the rest of his days in prison, with no chance of ever communicate with the incel community. But even after the conviction, this virgin with rage has the audacity to file an appeal over the apparent "misapprehension" of expert evidence and made unreasonable findings. If this is just another ploy to use autism as an excuse, well, let me tell you, as someone with similar mental disorder, that shit would only gone up in flames once again.
Like I said earlier, news about violent acts done by those who are unlucky enough to find a romantic partner is, to be perfectly honest, boils my blood the most. These people have this warped mindset that they are entitled to a romantic relationship, and those who reject them are deemed responsible for crimes against humanity. What Elliot Rodger and Alek Minassian did were despicable at best, and this must serve as a lesson to never underestimate mental illnesses and disorders, coupled by the fact that today's dating culture is too harsh even for normal members of society, not much less to those with some limitations. For all 11 victims who had their lives snatched away by that white van of doom, rest in eternal peace, you innocent souls. And for Alek Minassian, there is a special place in Hell exclusively for you. Until then, rot in jail, you virgin lunatic.
