Stabbings in gender studies class was ‘motivated by hate’

The university graduate who stabbed a gender-studies professor and two of her students was “motivated by hate” over “gender identity,” according to Canadian cops.

Geovanny Villalba-Aleman, a 24-year-old recent graduate originally from Ecuador, was hit with multiple charges on Thursday for the triple stabbing a day earlier at the University of Waterloo.

Police declared it “a hate-motivated incident” as the university confirmed the targeted professor was Katy Fulfer, 38, a “feminist philosopher” whose courses have also included “Adventures in Queer Studies.”

“Investigators have reason to believe that this was a planned and targeted attack motivated by hate related to gender expression and gender identity,” Waterloo Regional Police Chief Mark Crowell said.

“The 2SLGBTQ+ community, we believe, was targeted sort of broadly and at large here,” Crowell said, using an extended acronym for two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning and additional sexual orientations and gender identities.

“We believe that the class subject was of interest to the subject and that was the origins of what transpired here.”

One witness, student James Chow, told Global News how the attacker came in near the end of the class and seemed “happy” when the professor confirmed it was about gender.

“While the man was listening to a reply, he put down his backpack in front of him at his feet, and he pulled out a knife,” Chow said.

“The thing that disgusts me the most is this vile, mischievous smile that he had on his face and immediately the professor’s face just turned to like pure fear,” he said.

“The fact that his body language changed when the professor answered that this is the gender philosophy class, I think this was motivated by hatred of transgender people and queer people in general.”

Chow said he was one of the students who threw a chair at the knifeman who stabbed Fulfer and two students, only identified by cops as a 19-year-old male and a 20-year-old female.

All three were left with non-life-threatening injuries, police said. Villalba-Aleman was busted while trying to blend in with other students hiding in hallways, police said.

After a moment of silence at the university, Dean of Arts Sheila Ager praised injured professor Fulfer as a “loved and respected member of our community,” according to CTV News.

“I know many of you know her, the other two students who were injured, and those in the class who witnessed the horrific act,” she said, addressing the crowd.

“Our campus is meant to be a safe place for our students, faculty and staff and yesterday that sense of safety was violated.”

A friend of the Villalba-Aleman, meanwhile, told Global News that the suspect would tell them he was against university initiatives like drag storytime or painting the road in Pride rainbow colors.

“He was very opposed to certain UWaterloo initiatives,” the pal said — while claiming it was “mild” and like a “normal Conservative man.”

“To my knowledge, he had no hatred towards anybody,” he maintained of the “really shy, kinda held back” student.

“Geo just had something go wrong; a few screws go loose,” he said — saying: “I really don’t think it’s hate-motivated.”

Villalba-Aleman, who does not have a criminal record, is charged with three counts of aggravated assault, four counts of assault with a weapon and two counts of possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose.

Crowell, the police chief, called it part of “a troubling trend that we’ve seen, especially during Pride month.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the stabbings “heinous” and “absolutely despicable.”

“It is another reminder that we can never let misogynistic, anti-2SLGBTQI+ rhetoric escalate – because these words have real-life consequences,” Trudeau tweeted.

“In this case, that hate escalated into violence — forever changing the lives of the professor and two students who were attacked, as well as the lives of all the students who attended their gender studies class.”