British Labour MP Jo Cox dies after being shot and stabbed

[webfact]

British Labour MP dies after being shot and stabbed



LEEDS: -- A British MP has died after being shot and stabbed near the English city of Leeds.

41-year-old Jo Cox was rushed to hospital in a critical condition after the attack in the town of Birstall in West Yorkshire.

A 52-year-old man was arrested following the attack. The motive for the killing is still being investigated. Police have confirmed that they are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident.

“Jo was attacked by a man who inflicted serious and sadly ultimately fatal injuries. Subsequently there was a further attack on a 77-year old man nearby, who has sustained injuries that are not life threatening. Shortly afterwards a man was arrested nearby by local uniformed police officers. Weapons including a fire arm have also been recovered, “ Dee Collins, Temporary Chief Constable for West Yorkshire Police.

Cox was elected in last year’s general election and was married with two daughters.

British Prime Minister David Cameron described the 41-year-old MP’s death as a tragedy, saying "we’ve lost a great star."

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn also expressed his deep shock over the nature of the MPs death.

Campaigning for Britain’s EU referendum has been temporally suspended following the attack.

On Wednesday, the 41-year-old MP’s husband and daughter took part in a flotilla between ‘In’ and ‘Out’ supporters on London’s river Thames.

-- (c) Copyright Euronews 2016-06-17

[webfact]

British Labour lawmaker dies after shooting attack
By JILL LAWLESS and GREGORY KATZ

LONDON (AP) — A British lawmaker who campaigned for the country to stay in the European Union was killed Thursday by a gun- and knife-wielding attacker in her small-town constituency, a tragedy that brought the country's fierce, divisive referendum campaign to a shocked standstill.

Jo Cox, a 41-year-old Labour Party legislator who praised the contribution of immigrants to Britain and championed the cause of war-scarred Syrian refugees, was attacked outside a library in Birstall, northern England, after a regular meeting with constituents. Police would not speculate on the attacker's motive.

Witnesses described a man shooting Cox several times and appearing also to stab her as she lay on the pavement. Police said they had arrested a 52-year-old man and were not looking for anyone else.

"Our working presumption ... is that this is a lone incident," said Dee Collins, acting chief constable of West Yorkshire Police.

British security officials said the shooting didn't appear to be related to international terrorism, but domestic terrorism has not been ruled out.

Residents identified the suspect to the BBC and other media as Birstall resident Tommy Mair. Neighbors said Mair was a quiet man who did gardening jobs for local people.

Violence against British politicians has been rare since Northern Ireland's late-1990s peace agreement. Cox was the first serving member of Parliament to be killed in a quarter-century, and figures from all parts of the political spectrum expressed deep shock.

Both the Vote Leave and Britain Stronger in Europe campaigns suspended activity ahead of next week's vote over whether Britain should remain a part of the 28-member bloc. Prime Minister David Cameron canceled a speech and rally in Gibraltar, and flags on British government buildings were lowered to half-mast.

"This is absolutely tragic and dreadful news," Cameron said. "We have lost a great star. She was a great campaigning MP with huge compassion and a big heart."

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said "the whole of the Labour Party and Labour family — and indeed the whole country — will be in shock at the horrific murder of Jo Cox today."

"Jo died doing her public duty at the heart of our democracy, listening to and representing the people she was elected to serve," he said.

It was unclear whether the attack was directly related to the referendum campaign, which has stirred deep passions as Britons argue over their place in Europe, the scale of immigration and the future of their country.

The rival sides in the referendum have been canvassing feverishly ahead of what is expected to be a close vote and Cox had been campaigning for the "remain" camp.

It wasn't clear whether Cox had been deliberately targeted. A 77-year-old man was also wounded, though it was unclear how he sustained his injuries.

Britain's Press Association news agency quoted a witness, Hithem Ben Abdallah, as saying Cox got involved in a scuffle between two men in Birstall, a small market town some 200 miles (320 kilometers) north of London.

Abdallah said one of the men was fighting with Cox and then a gun went off twice and "she fell between two cars and I came and saw her bleeding" on the ground.

Clarke Rothwell, who runs a nearby cafe, told the BBC he believed Cox had been shot and stabbed multiple times.

"Three times she was shot, the initial time which then she dropped to the floor and two more times," he said. "The third time he got close proximity, he shot her around the head area."

"In the meantime he was stabbing her as well. He was stabbing her with his knife."

Shopkeeper Sanjeev Kumar told the BBC he saw a woman lying on the ground "bleeding from the mouth and nose," with two women trying to help her.

Cox spent many years working for aid groups including Oxfam and Save the Children, visiting problem-plagued areas including Darfur and Afghanistan. She was elected to the House of Commons in the May 2015 general election and headed Parliament's Friends of Syria group.

She was one of the most outspoken lawmakers on the subject of the Syrian civil war, and was critical of Britain's reluctance to deepen its military involvement against the Islamic State group as part of efforts to end it. But she abstained last year when Parliament voted to launch air strikes on IS targets in Syria, saying a more wide-ranging solution to the conflict was needed.

In her first speech to Parliament last year, Cox spoke of how the area she represented had "been deeply enhanced by immigration, be it of Irish Catholics across the constituency or of Muslims from Gujarat in India or from Pakistan."

"While we celebrate our diversity, what surprises me time and time again as I travel around the constituency is that we are far more united and have far more in common with each other than things that divide us," she said.

Immigration has been a flashpoint in the referendum campaign, with many "leave" supporters eager to curb the number of migrants to Britain by leaving the EU, which operates on the principle of free movement of people between member states.

Cox was an enthusiastic supporter of the "remain" cause in the referendum, and on Wednesday campaigned on the River Thames in London with her husband and two young children. Her husband, Brendan Cox, posted images on Twitter of the family in an inflatable dinghy, waving a flag supporting continued British EU membership.

"Today is the beginning of a new chapter in our lives. More difficult, more painful, less joyful, less full of love," Brendan Cox, said in a statement after the slaying.

"She would have wanted two things above all else to happen now, one that our precious children are bathed in love and two, that we all unite to fight against the hatred that killed her," he said. "Hate doesn't have a creed, race or religion, it is poisonous."

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the killing was "an assault on everyone who cares about and has faith in democracy." German Chancellor Angela Merkel called the incident tragic, while French President Francois Hollande sent "condolences and compassion" to Cox's family and loved ones, and expressed his "full solidarity" with the British people.

No serving U.K. member of Parliament has been killed since 1990, when the Irish Republican Army killed Conservative lawmaker Ian Gow with a booby-trap bomb placed under his car outside his English home. A former lawmaker, Donald Kaberry, was injured in an IRA bombing in 1990 and died the next year.

In the past two decades, two other British lawmakers have been attacked during their "surgeries," regular meetings where constituents can present concerns and complaints.

A Labour legislator, Stephen Timms, was stabbed in the stomach and injured in May 2010 by a female student radicalized by online sermons from an al-Qaida-linked preacher.

In 2000, Liberal Democrat lawmaker Nigel Jones and his aide Andrew Pennington were attacked by a man wielding a sword during such a meeting. Pennington was killed and Jones injured in the attack in Cheltenham, England.

___

Associated Press writers Paisley Dodds in London, Shawn Pogatchnik in Dublin and Bradley Klapper in Washington contributed to this report.


-- (c) Associated Press 2016-06-17

[robertthebruce]

Shocking and Sad....

She had two young Children..........

[simple1]

Now being reported the killer was shouting "Britain First", assume this refers to the political party of the same name who have some supporters on this forum. Long overdue for recognition that extreme political language needs to be toned down.

Edited June 16, 2016 by simple1

[thaiduncankk]

Now being reported the killer was shouting "Britain First", assume this refers to the political party of the same name who have some supporters on this forum. Long overdue for recognition that extreme political language needs to be toned down.

It depends how you define 'supporters'.

I doubt very much anybody on here gave any financial support, but probably believed in some of their policies, a bit like every country worldwide.

However, a tragic death, leaving 2 young kids without a mother.

[Credo]

Now being reported the killer was shouting "Britain First", assume this refers to the political party of the same name who have some supporters on this forum. Long overdue for recognition that extreme political language needs to be toned down.

Rhetoric didn't kill her.

[Mosha]

Now being reported the killer was shouting "Britain First", assume this refers to the political party of the same name who have some supporters on this forum. Long overdue for recognition that extreme political language needs to be toned down.

The eye witness told BBC "He was shouting put Britain first, or Britain first". It was also reported he had mental health issues. Police knew of his far right views. Neighbours said he kept to himself.

Sent from my SMART_4G_Speedy_5inch using Tapatalk

[Orac]

Statement from her husband:

[OMGImInPattaya]

How did this happen...doesn't Britain have some of the worlds strictest gun control laws? Do you mean to tell me it actually is mentally ill people who kill people and not guns that kill people?

[chiang mai]

Tragic and frightening, RIP and condolences.

Note: I've rad that the gun was an antique device that was altered.

[mobiryder]

Time to ban guns in England! Oh.umm..

[canuckamuck]

People are getting desperate.

[Caps]

How did this happen...doesn't Britain have some of the worlds strictest gun control laws? Do you mean to tell me it actually is mentally ill people who kill people and not guns that kill people?

[Caps]

Tragic, RIP

[OMGImInPattaya]

How did this happen...doesn't Britain have some of the worlds strictest gun control laws? Do you mean to tell me it actually is mentally ill people who kill people and not guns that kill people?

Don-t-Feed-the-Trolls-biggerstaff-family-22675626-412-341.jpg

The regressive Left's ad-hominem attack strikes again. If you have a pertinent reply then state it...but name-calling is just juvenile.

FYI: Flaming other members or their post's is against Forum rules.

[slipperylobster]

How did this happen...doesn't Britain have some of the worlds strictest gun control laws? Do you mean to tell me it actually is mentally ill people who kill people and not guns that kill people?

We should be sympathetic. I think that, a person who wants to kill, can find a way. It sounds like there are people there who want to utilize "Homeland Terror" as a way to get their political message off (Brexit).

The politics involved must be brutal. Every Nation has their own dilemma. For the Brits, I suppose it's Muslim mayors and Brexit.

Sad for this woman..... It seems like violence is a worldwide phenomenon.....as they now realize, and that gun control means snot, if the lawless are not corralled.

[SgtRock]

RIP Jo Cox.

Condolences to your family, friends and loved ones.

[SgtRock]

Now being reported the killer was shouting "Britain First", assume this refers to the political party of the same name who have some supporters on this forum. Long overdue for recognition that extreme political language needs to be toned down.

Never make assumptions.

Name them or button your lip.

[chiang mai]

How did this happen...doesn't Britain have some of the worlds strictest gun control laws? Do you mean to tell me it actually is mentally ill people who kill people and not guns that kill people?

Don-t-Feed-the-Trolls-biggerstaff-family-22675626-412-341.jpg

The regressive Left's ad-hominem attack strikes again. If you have a pertinent reply then state it...but name-calling is just juvenile.

FYI: Flaming other members or their post's is against Forum rules.

The assailant was known to have serious long standing mental health issues, according to his family, he was apparently receiving treatment and care for them. Please let's not turn this event into an EU referendum issue.

[Caps]

How did this happen...doesn't Britain have some of the worlds strictest gun control laws? Do you mean to tell me it actually is mentally ill people who kill people and not guns that kill people?

Don-t-Feed-the-Trolls-biggerstaff-family-22675626-412-341.jpg

The regressive Left's ad-hominem attack strikes again. If you have a pertinent reply then state it...but name-calling is just juvenile.

FYI: Flaming other members or their post's is against Forum rules.

and of course you're not trying to bait people with your replies?

[soalbundy]

The news lately is just depressing, it seems the whole world has gone mad. A wonderful woman has lost her life for nothing, A mentally unstable white supremacist of questionable worth to society switched out the light of a good and valuable person,it seems that with violence the minority can rule the the good.

[SheungWan]

Now being reported the killer was shouting "Britain First", assume this refers to the political party of the same name who have some supporters on this forum. Long overdue for recognition that extreme political language needs to be toned down.

Rhetoric didn't kill her.

Just the raison d'etre.

[brewsterbudgen]

How did this happen...doesn't Britain have some of the worlds strictest gun control laws? Do you mean to tell me it actually is mentally ill people who kill people and not guns that kill people?

I think you'll find it was a gun that killed her.

Tragic. RIP

[al007]

How did this happen...doesn't Britain have some of the worlds strictest gun control laws? Do you mean to tell me it actually is mentally ill people who kill people and not guns that kill people?

What a sad unsympathetic post, from someone who hides behind anonymity

Cynicism like this is awful, and suggests its own sickness

I will pray for this poster as well as the family of this lady who must be devastated, R I P

[Mosha]

How did this happen...doesn't Britain have some of the worlds strictest gun control laws? Do you mean to tell me it actually is mentally ill people who kill people and not guns that kill people?

I think you'll find it was a gun that killed her.

Tragic. RIP

The guns irrelevant, he was also stabbing her as he shot. She'd maybe have died anyway.

Sent from my SMART_4G_Speedy_5inch using Tapatalk

[i claudius]

She campaigned for Britain to allow refugees to be allowed to come to Britain ,he was a mental patient who had just been let out , he shouted "put Britain first" this was reported by an immegrant , he was a loner, thats it .

[brewsterbudgen]

How did this happen...doesn't Britain have some of the worlds strictest gun control laws? Do you mean to tell me it actually is mentally ill people who kill people and not guns that kill people?

I think you'll find it was a gun that killed her.

Tragic. RIP

The guns irrelevant, he was also stabbing her as he shot. She'd maybe have died anyway.

Sent from my SMART_4G_Speedy_5inch using Tapatalk

"Maybe".

[RuamRudy]

How did this happen...doesn't Britain have some of the worlds strictest gun control laws? Do you mean to tell me it actually is mentally ill people who kill people and not guns that kill people?

Mentally ill person with intent and gun = much bigger concern than mentally ill person with intent minus gun. Is it really so difficult to understand?

[RuamRudy]

She campaigned for Britain to allow refugees to be allowed to come to Britain ,he was a mental patient who had just been let out , he shouted "put Britain first" this was reported by an immegrant , he was a loner, thats it .

Why did you feel the need to point out that the person who said he shouted 'Put Britain First' was an immigrant? I don't see the relevance.

[graemeaylward]

This young lady was killed doing her job as an MP. She was passionate about freedom of speech, democracy, human rights, the poor, the marginalised, the refugee, the migrant. She was prepared to stand up for what she believed in and work tirelessly for those beliefs as her work for Oxfam before she became an MP testifies. How many of us have done half as much as she did in her short life? She leaves behind two young children aged 5 and 3, and a husband who bravely made a moving statement. I urge all Thai Visa members, whatever your politics, to put aside your differences and treat the tragic death of a wonderful spirited Jo Cox MP with dignity and respect. Turn your thoughts and prayers, as I have, towards her family and friends. Pray also for the perpetrator. "Father forgive them for they know not what they do"