Members of the community will be honouring the lives of a family struck and killed in London in 2021 in a Walk of Solidarity on Tuesday.
This is the second anniversary of the deaths of the Afzaal family who were struck and killed by a white male in a truck, in what police called a hate-motivated attack because they were Muslim.
Talat Afzaal, 74, her son Salman Afzaal, 46, his wife Madiha Salman, 44, and their 15-year-old daughter Yumnah Salman died after bring struck while out for a walk.
The only survivor was a nine-year-old member of the family who suffered injuries after the attack.
Nathaniel Veltman faces four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.
His trial is set to proceed on September 5, 2023 at 10 a.m. at the Courthouse in Windsor, and is expected to take 12 weeks.
Speaking on the Dan MacDonald Show, Amna Masoodi, Organizer for the Walk of Solidarity, says the tragedy had a huge impact on her and her life.
"It definitely made me more aware of all the micro-aggressions that we face day-to-day. It made me realize that these can amount to something a lot bigger, and that when we're walking around we have to be, unfortunately, very vigilant of our surroundings."
She says many people attended last year, and they are hoping even more will show support this year.
"We do have speakers lined up for the event to speak on their own experiences, and also on behalf of the community and then the organizations that they're representing. And then after that we are going to walk from Bert Weeks Memorial Gardens to the Canadian flag."
Masoodi says it makes the situation that much more real now that Veltman's case will be heard in Windsor.
"It also is a very, very scary feeling that someone that's capable of that sort of attack is going to be in our city, that close. And I've also heard that he had some supporters in London and they may be following him to support him during the trial. So, it's definitely just very complicated."
The walk "In Honour of Our London Family" will start at Bert Weeks Memorial Garden starting at 7 p.m. on June 6.