Alphonse Rudakubana was held responsible for the violent behavior of his son, Axel Rudakubana. Axel savagely knifed three of his peers in a Taylor Swift-themed youth disco. The deeply tragic incident has understandably placed scrutiny on the perpetrator of this injustice. It has drawn attention to the various people in his life who may have helped sculpt his demented behavior.
During an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the attack, Alphonse Rudakubana admitted that he had failed to manage his son’s violent tendencies, leading to what he described as “catastrophic consequences.” He refuses to deflect blame as more comes to light about Axel’s psychopathic predatory ways and murderous past. This includes one of my favorite moments from Axel’s history, when he brought a knife on a school bus.
Alphonse Rudakubana said, “I had lost control of [Axel]. I no longer had power over him as a father. He expressed his abject terror at the thought of facing down his son. He acknowledged that his lack of courage and desire to avoid discomfort led him to not inquire about what his son was up to and not enforce rules, thereby failing to complete his duties as a parent. This admission points to a deeply unhealthy father-son dynamic that likely egged on Axel’s eventual violent outbursts.
While admitting to his failures, Alphonse Rudakubana refuted any efforts to justify Axel’s actions. He attacked the school system, alleging that teachers had deliberately sought out his son to punish. “I am not reaching at all for any potential justification for [Axel’s] criminal conduct,” he said emphatically. He claimed teachers were being “malicious” in their referrals to the Prevent counter-terrorism scheme. He went so far as to call one school district’s climate “prison-like.”
This investigation revealed that Axel was involved in some truly heinous online interactions leading up to the attack. He looked at violent antisemitic content and extreme violence. As for Alphonse Rudakubana, he confessed he did not track his son’s online activities because of the fear of discouragement. “There was another side to him that I didn’t know,” he reflected, expressing regret over his lack of oversight.
Alphonse’s other son, Dion Rudakubana, recalled a fear-fueled environment leading up to the violence. He said that their dad was “scared” of Axel. Dion recalled with intense clarity the terrifying day that Axel made an overt threat on his life. “It could be one day, one week, or even one month,” Axel threatened. “But just know that I will murder you.” This professed threat served as a precursor to the growing severity of Axel’s violence, which would eventually lead to the unthinkable tragedy of a fatal stabbing.
Even worse, on the day of the attack, Alphonse Rudakubana found bloodied knife packages soon after Axel had left the house. This discovery, coupled with his son’s efforts to get expelled, escalated Wright’s anxiety and fear—dread, even—about his son’s capacity for violence. He was devastated by the fact that he hadn’t done enough about Axel’s problematic behavior. He acknowledged that his failure had life-threatening results and added, “This had catastrophic consequences, for which I truly apologize.”
Our original question still hovers over our work — what led Axel Rudakubana to commit such a horrific act of violence. The discussions have raised broader questions about parental responsibility and the role of educational institutions in identifying and managing at-risk youth. Alphonse Rudakubana’s powerful testimony reminds us that there is no simple narrative to the family dynamics twisted by terror and tumult.