Court finds UWaterloo stabbing was a hate crime, not terrorism in sentencing attacker

A mass stabbing at a University of Waterloo gender studies class was not a terrorist attack but a “particularly grave” hate crime meant to make people feel unsafe in those spaces, an Ontario judge ruled Monday in sentencing the attacker to 11 years in prison.

The judge sentencing Geovanny Villalba-Aleman told a Kitchener, Ont., court that the evidence in the case does not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that his hatred toward the LGBTQ+ community had crystallized into an ideology. One of the elements of terrorism under Canadian law is that the offence must have been committed for a political, religious or ideological purpose.

However, Ontario Court Justice Frances Brennan found hatred against that community was “the primary motivation” for the June 2023 stabbing, which is a significant aggravating factor.

“Mr. Villalba-Aleman planned this attack. He posted a boastful and hateful statement of his intention and committed the offence in a university classroom, no doubt to draw widespread attention to his crime,” Brennan said.

“This was not an impulsive act by any definition. Mr. Villalba-Aleman was deliberate and calculated. He intended to inflict, and did inflict, widespread fear.”

Villalba-Aleman, 25, had pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault, one count of assault with a weapon and one count of assault causing bodily harm in the attack that left a professor and two students with stab wounds.

With deductions for time already spent in custody, he faces nearly seven years and seven months behind bars. Brennan ordered that he serve no less than half his sentence before becoming eligible for parole.

The judge said a hate crime planned in advance is considered more aggravating than one carried out on impulse, and one planned in order to capture public attention is “extremely aggravating.”

Villalba-Aleman’s youth and lack of a criminal record are counted as mitigating factors, as were his guilty pleas and the fact that he expressed remorse for his actions, which Brennan said she accepted as genuine.

The federal Crown had sought a sentence of 16 years if the offences were found to be terrorist activity, while provincial prosecutors had asked for a 13-year sentence if the judge rejected the terrorism argument but found the attack was hate-motivated.

The defence meanwhile, previously argued a sentence of eight years, minus credit for time already spent in custody, would be more appropriate if the judge accepted the terrorism argument, or five to six years if the offences were found to be hate-motivated.

Court has heard Villalba-Aleman went into a classroom that afternoon and asked what subject was being taught. When he heard it was a gender-studies course, he pulled out two eight-inch kitchen knives and attacked the professor, stabbing her in the face and arm, according to an agreed statement of facts previously read in court.

Some students threw objects at Villalba-Aleman to distract him while many tried to run away, court heard. Two students were stabbed, and another student Villalba-Aleman tried to stab managed to escape without injury, it heard.

The professor, Katy Fulfer, required reconstructive surgery and told the court the attack has left her in a state of constant vigilance.

In a statement Monday, Fulfer said she is thankful for the outpouring of support she received after the stabbing, from those in the community as well as academics abroad and strangers.

“This support was vital to me, especially in the initial months following the attack,” she said.

“Sentencing marks an end to the legal process, but our community work to cultivate inclusive spaces of belonging continues. No one should experience what my students and I did on June 28, 2023.”

Court has heard Villalba-Aleman initially posed as a victim when police arrived at the scene, but then admitted he was behind the attack. He initially faced 11 charges in the case.

Part of his interview with police was shown in court during the sentencing hearing last fall. In it, Villalba-Aleman said he chose that class because of the subject matter being taught, but didn’t know the professor or students.

The attack was “nothing personal,” but aimed to send a message to progressives he believed were silencing others, he said.

Villalba-Aleman told police he was not prejudiced against the LGBTQ+ community and didn’t care how people identified, but was concerned that they were indoctrinating others, court heard.

Police also found a manifesto on his phone that the judge described Monday as “expletive-laden” and containing “highly derogatory language” against a number of groups, including feminists, transgender people, social justice advocates and China.

Though he claimed to not hold any bias based on sexual orientation or identity, his other comments and the manifesto underscore his disdain and hate for that group, Brennan said in her ruling.

“He chose this class because it taught views about gender identity he clearly abhorred,” she said. “The fact that he attempted to moderate this language in his police statement does little to detract from the unfiltered vitriol in his manifesto.”

Still, the evidence falls short of proving his views formed an ideology, the judge said, adding his manifesto is “as much a statement of a comprehensive worldview as a broken plate is a mosaic.”

The judge rejected the defence’s argument that mental illness contributed to Villalba-Aleman’s actions, finding that a psychologist who assessed him as part of the sentencing process lacked key information, including his medical records and video of his statement to police.

Dr. Smita Vir Tyagi testified that Villalba-Aleman appeared to be in a downward spiral and may have experienced a psychotic break in the weeks before the attack.

The judge said that in her view, his personal circumstances — living an isolated life with few friends and no family nearby, with mounting academic stress and financial pressure — provide “a better understanding of why he committed these offences.”

Villalba-Aleman came to Canada from Ecuador as an international student in 2018 and will eventually be subject to a deportation order, court has heard.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 17, 2025.

Paola Loriggio, The Canadian Press