KITCHENER, ON — The man who stabbed three people during a gender studies class at the University of Waterloo last year expressed remorse for his crimes at the end of his sentencing hearing Friday. but acknowledged that his apology might ring hollow for some.

“Even though I committed a violent attack, I still don’t know what happened,” Geovanny Villalba-Aleman told the court. “Right now, I don’t know what’s going on in my head. I still have remorse for what happened.”

The 25-year-old 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 June 2023 attack that left a professor and two students with stabbings.

Federal prosecutors argued the offenses amounted to terrorism in this case because they were ideologically motivated and intended to intimidate the public. Provincial prosecutors argued that Villalba-Aleman was motivated by hatred toward members of the LGBTQ+ community and feminists. The defense rejected both arguments.

Villalba-Aleman said Friday that some people might not believe his apology since “the deed is done,” but he asked the judge to take his remorse into account.

“If there is any way to reconsider the situation, because I accept that violence is not good… my intention was not to promote more violence here,” he said after the Ontario Court Justice Frances Brennan offered him the opportunity to speak.

Provincial prosecutor Armin Sethi told the court Thursday that a manifesto written by Villalba-Aleman before the attack attacked transgender people, feminists and ideologies that he said led to censorship of his views.

Villalba-Aleman also told police that he specifically targeted a gender studies class, Sethi said, noting that he destroyed a pride flag during the attack, which took place during Pride month.

But the defense argued Friday that the Crown had not proven Villalba-Aleman was motivated by prejudice or hatred toward a specific group.

Attorney Cooper Lord said his client believed left-wing activism was becoming authoritarian and stifling free speech, suggesting Villalba-Aleman’s perceptions were rooted in delusions and “disordered thinking.”

Lord suggested that Villalba-Aleman’s more “tempered” comments to police after the attack should carry more weight than the manifesto he wrote before the crimes were committed, arguing that the short text should not at all be considered a manifesto and that there is no way of knowing what mental state Villalba-Aleman was in when he wrote these words.

Lord argued that Villalba-Aleman targeted the gender studies class professor — whom he called a “Marxist” before stabbing her — because she was “a stand-in” for his authoritarianism issues and the perceived limits of freedom of expression in academia.

He said Villalba-Aleman’s attack was not personal and “it is not clear that he chose Pride Month for this attack to take place.”

A psychologist who recently evaluated Villalba-Aleman told the court earlier this week that he appeared to be in a downward spiral and may have experienced a psychotic break in the weeks before the attack, although he there is no clinical evidence of psychosis.

The defense also said Thursday that the standard of proof of terrorist activity is high and that the federal Crown has not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the stabbings meet that standard because Villalba-Aleman does not attached itself to no specific ideology.

The federal Crown argued Friday that Villalba-Aleman’s personal beliefs can still be considered a motivating factor in deciding whether terrorism applies in this case.

But in response, the judge said she was concerned about applying a broad definition of ideology to arguments related to terrorism.

Villalba-Aleman, an international student who arrived in Canada from Ecuador in 2018, initially faced 11 charges in the case. The court heard he would eventually face a deportation order.

The federal Crown has asked for a 16-year sentence if the judge agrees the offenses constitute terrorist activity, while provincial prosecutors have asked for a 13-year sentence if the judge rejects the terrorism argument but finds the crimes were motivated by hatred. .

The defense argued Friday that an eight-year sentence, minus time already spent in custody, would be more appropriate if the judge accepted the terrorism argument. Otherwise, the defense is seeking a sentence of five to six years in prison, and even less time behind bars if the judge also finds the offenses were not motivated by hate.

The judge is expected to pronounce the sentence in January.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published October 25, 2024.

Sonja Puzic, The Canadian Press