The Pro-Europe MP’s suspected killer, a 52-year-old neo-Nazi supporter, spent $620 to buy a handbook with instructions on how to make a gun
Birstall (UK): A 52-year-old man, named by media as local Thomas Mair, was arrested for the murder of pro-Europe MP Jo Cox. Described by neighbours as a loner, there were indications that he had extreme right leanings.
People place floral tributes and candles by a picture of slain Labour MP Jo Cox at a vigil in Parliament square in London yesterday. Pic/AFP
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Cox, a 41-year-old former aid worker and pro-EU campaigner known for her advocacy for Syrian refugees, was killed yesterday outside a library where she regularly met constituents in her home village of Birstall in northern England.
Witnesses told local media the petite mother of two had been repeatedly shot and stabbed.
US advocacy group the Southern Poverty Law Center reported that Mair, who had lived in the area for decades, was a “dedicated supporter” of National Alliance, once the primary neo-Nazi organisation in the United States.
It said he had spent over $620 on reading material from the group, which advocated the creation of an all-white homeland and the eradication of Jewish people. “Neighbours called him a ‘loner’ but he also has a long history with white nationalism,” the Southern Poverty Law Center said.
It added that Mair had purchased a handbook with instructions on how to make a gun, noting that witnesses told British media the assailant used a gun of “old-fashioned” or “homemade” appearance.
Campaign suspended
Campaigning for Britain’s EU referendum next week was suspended yesterday for a second day as the nation reeled from the murder at the height of a bitterly divisive debate.
Before Cox’s murder, opinion polls were pointing to the likelihood that Britain would vote to leave the EU, a prospect that sent the pound tumbling. The pound rose with Asian stocks yesterday after the previous day’s selloff, as investors judged the tragedy increased the likelihood of the “Remain” side prevailing.
Threats
The Times newspaper reported that Cox, who became the first British MP to be murdered since 1990, had “had been harassed in a stream of messages over three months”. Police were considering putting in place additional security, it said, adding there was no known link between the messages and yesterday’s attack.
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