Toronto van attack suspect said he "accomplished my mission"

A newly released video shows a man who allegedly used a van to kill 10 pedestrians in Toronto telling police that he's part of an online group of sexually frustrated men who plot attacks against people who have sex.

Alek Minassian faces 10 counts of first-degree murder and 16 counts of attempted murder in connection with the April 23, 2018 attack.

The deadly van rampage trained attention on an online world of sexual loneliness, rage and misogyny after the suspect invoked an uprising by "involuntary celibates" and gave a shoutout on social media to a California killer who seethed at women for rejecting him.

File-This April 24, 2018, file photo shows Duty counsel Georgia Koulis, left to right, Alek Minassian, Justice of the Peace Stephen Waisberg, and Crown prosecutor Joe Callaghan in court in Toronto. A newly released video shows Minassian, accused of driving a van into pedestrians in Toronto and killing 10 people, telling police he accomplished his mission and that he’s part of an online group of sexually frustrated men who plot attacks against people who have sex. (Alexandra NewbouldThe Canadian Press via AP, File)

Minassian, 26, is accused of driving a rental van into crowds of pedestrians in a busy north Toronto neighborhood. Eight women and two men ranging in age from 22 to 94 died. Minassian has yet to enter a plea. His trial begins in February, but a publication ban on his interrogation by police was lifted Friday. The police interview took place just hours after the attack.

"I feel like I accomplished my mission," Minassian said when asked by the detective how he feels about the death of 10 people.

Minassian, who said he never had a girlfriend and was a virgin, acknowledged he used the van as a weapon and said he wanted to inspire more attacks.

File-This photo taken May 10, 2018, shows defense lawyer Boris Bytensky, left to right, Justice Ruby Wong, Alek Minassian and Crown prosecutor Joe Callaghan in court as Minassian appears by video in Toronto. A newly released video shows Minassian, accused of driving a van into pedestrians in Toronto and killing 10 people, telling police he accomplished his mission and that he’s part of an online group of sexually frustrated men who plot attacks against people who have sex. (Alexandra NewbouldThe Canadian Press via AP, File)

"I know of several other guys over the internet who feel the same way," he said, adding they are "too cowardly to act on their anger."

Minassian calls himself an "incel," short for "involuntary celibate." The incel movement is an online subculture linked to the deadly attack in Toronto as well as attacks in California and Florida. It promotes the misogynistic idea that men are entitled to have sex with women.

Over time, "incel" has become a buzzword for certain men infuriated at being rejected by women and prone to float ideas for violent payback, according to sociologists and others who follow incel circles

Like-minded people in internet forums sometimes use "Chad" and "Stacy" as dismissive slang for men and women with more robust sex lives.

Minassian said he discussed his sexual frustrations on the website 4chan, which has become notorious as a place for extremists to post their views.

Minassian said he was in contact with Elliot Rodger, a community college student who killed six people and wounded 13 in shooting and stabbing attacks in 2014 near the University of California, Santa Barbara before apparently shooting himself to death.

Rodger had railed in a manifesto and online videos about women who shunned him and called for an incel "overthrow" of what he saw as feminist domination.

Minassian said he "radicalized" around the time of the Rodger attack.

"I felt it was time to take action and not just sit on the sidelines and just fester in my own sadness," he said.

Minassian also said in 2013 he went to a Halloween party and was laughed at by women with whom he tried to socialize. He said he was upset the women gave affection to bigger men.

"I was angry that they would give their love and affection to obnoxious brutes," he said.

He called himself a "supreme gentlemen" and said he felt "very angry" women would not date him.

Minassian said he planned the attack for a month before he carried it out. He said he wanted a van that wasn't too big, one he could maneuver.

"The van was the perfect medium size to use as my weapon," he said.

Minassian said in the police interview he wished he had had an intimate relationship but only once asked a girl out in 2012.

"I did ask a girl out once but she rejected me," he said. "I felt crushed at that point."

Boris Bytensky, his lawyer, declined comment when reached Thursday ahead of the tape's release.

Justice Anne Molloy, who will oversee the trial next year, said in August the police statement will be one of the prosecution's most important pieces of evidence at trial. Malloy said Minassian's state of mind will be the relevant.

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Richard “Dick” Codey, a former acting governor of New Jersey and the longest serving legislator in the state's history, died Sunday. He was 79.

Codey’s wife, Mary Jo Codey, confirmed her husband’s death to The Associated Press.

“Gov. Richard J. Codey passed away peacefully this morning at home, surrounded by family, after a brief illness,” Codey's family wrote in a Facebook post on Codey's official page.

"Our family has lost a beloved husband, father and grandfather -- and New Jersey lost a remarkable public servant who touched the lives of all who knew him," the family said.

Known for his feisty, regular-guy persona, Codey was a staunch advocate of mental health awareness and care issues. The Democrat also championed legislation to ban smoking from indoor areas and sought more money for stem cell research.

Codey, the son of a northern New Jersey funeral home owner, entered the state Assembly in 1974 and served there until he was elected to the state Senate in 1982. He served as Senate president from 2002 to 2010.

Codey first served as acting governor for a brief time in 2002, after Christine Todd Whitman’s resignation to join President George W. Bush’s administration. He held the post again for 14 months after Gov. Jim McGreevey resigned in 2004.

At that time, New Jersey law mandated that the Senate president assume the governor’s role if a vacancy occurred, and that person would serve until the next election.

Codey routinely drew strong praise from residents in polls, and he gave serious consideration to seeking the Democratic nomination for governor in 2005. But he ultimately chose not to run when party leaders opted to back wealthy Wall Street executive Jon Corzine, who went on to win the office.

Codey would again become acting governor after Corzine was incapacitated in April 2007 due to serious injuries he suffered in a car accident. He held the post for nearly a month before Corzine resumed his duties.

After leaving the governor’s office, Codey returned to the Senate and also published a memoir that detailed his decades of public service, along with stories about his personal and family life.

“He lived his life with humility, compassion and a deep sense of responsibility to others,” his family wrote. “He made friends as easily with Presidents as he did with strangers in all-night diners.”

Codey and his wife often spoke candidly about her past struggles with postpartum depression, and that led to controversy in early 2005, when a talk radio host jokingly criticized Mary Jo and her mental health on the air.

Codey, who was at the radio station for something else, confronted the host and said he told him that he wished he could “take him outside.” But the host claimed Codey actually threatened to “take him out,” which Codey denied.

His wife told The Associated Press that Codey was willing to support her speaking out about postpartum depression, even if it cost him elected office.

“He was a really, really good guy,” Mary Jo Codey said. “He said, ‘If you want to do it, I don’t care if I get elected again.’”

Jack Brook contributed reporting from New Orleans.

FILE - New Jersey State Sen. and former Democratic Gov. Richard Codey is seen before New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy delivers his State of the State address to a joint session of the Legislature at the statehouse, in Trenton, N.J., Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)