

Chris Herhalt, CP24.com





WARNING: This story contains offensive and disturbing content.

The man accused of plowing a van into pedestrians along Yonge Street last spring and killing 10 of them, tells police he wanted to bring about a rebellion on behalf of involuntarily celibate men, known as incels.

As a court-ordered publication ban expired Friday morning, a police interview with Alek Minassian, conducted the day of the mass assault, was made public. In the interview Minassian tells a detective he prepared a plan in response to his long history of failings with women.

He told police he reserved a Ryder van about a month before the April 23, 2018 attack.

“And then I just simply wait, ah, until today,” he said.

He then allegedly posted a cryptic message on Facebook, and minutes later, the van slammed into at least 26 people, including eight women and two men who died from their injuries.

Minassian told police that as he drove, all he could think about was “retribution.”

“This is the day of retribution, that’s the only thing that’s in my mind, it’s just burning in my mind.”

He told investigators he wanted to drive down Yonge Street and had not chosen Yonge and Finch Street as his ultimate target.

“As soon as I saw pedestrians, I just decided to go for it. I floor the pedal, I speed the van toward them and I allow the van to collide with them. Some people get knocked down on the way, some people roll over the top of the van.”

The van came to stop at Poyntz Avenue, south of Sheppard Avenue West, where Minassian was arrested after rapidly drawing a cell phone out of his pocket and yelling for the first police officer who arrived at the scene to kill him.

Speaking to police after his arrest, Minassian said he only brought the van to a stop in that spot because a drink had splashed on the van’s windshield and he had limited visibility.

Minassian told police he had just completed a four year computer programming course and was dismissed from basic training in the Canadian Army in the months before the incident. He also described his problems with women, including a defining moment at a house party he attended on Halloween 2013, where he tried to strike up conversations with women.

“I walked in and attempted to socialize with some girls, however they all laughed and held the arms of the big guys instead,” court heard him tell police. “I was angry they would um, give their love and attention to obnoxious brutes.”

After that experience, Minassian told police he started connecting online with other men who shared his experiences and frustration over the inability to lose one’s virginity, becoming immersed in an online subculture that blames women for not gracing lonely men with affection and sexual contact.

In this subculture, sexually active women are called “Stacys” while attractive, sexually successful men are called “Chads.”

He told police he thought that the attack would inspire others, and confirmed that he had been in communication with Elliot Rodger, a California incel who killed six people in 2014.

“I was fairly confident that others would be inspired to repeat the same actions as me and basically just overthrow society,” Minassian told the detective.

The Facebook post he allegedly published before the assault 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!”

None of the allegations against Minassian have been proven in court.

For its part, the Toronto Police Service said Friday "it would be inappropriate for us to comment on the investigation and any matters related to it."

"This includes interview techniques and tactics."

His judge-only trial is scheduled to begin in Feb. 2020.