British Lawmaker Assasinated

Seems we aren’t the only country with whack-jobs. Just that ours are better armed with military weapons and can kill dozens.

British lawmaker dies following shooting and stabbing attack that stuns nation

A member of Britain’s Parliament was shot and stabbed to death Thursday in an attack that stunned the nation and brought to an immediate halt the country’s European Union referendum campaign just a week before the vote.

Police did not provide a motive for the killing. But British media organizations including the Guardian and Sky News quoted witnesses as saying that the assailant shouted “Britain First!” during and after the attack — a slogan linked to anti-immigrant groups.

Police officials in the northern English region of West Yorkshire said Jo Cox, a 41-year-old member of the center-left Labour Party who has been outspoken in advocating for civilian victims in Syria, was pronounced an hour after she was assaulted outside a library near the city of Leeds.

Police officials said they believed that a 52-year-old man who was taken into custody was responsible for the attack, and they did not believe there were accomplices.

Witnesses told British media that the assailant appeared to have been waiting for Cox outside a library in the town of Birstall where she had been meeting constituents. He targeted her with a gun that was either homemade or antique, as well as with a knife. He continued to stab and kick her even after she had fallen to the ground, bleeding.

Cox was taken by helicopter to a hospital in Leeds. Before her death was announced, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt tweeted that staff members at Leeds General Infirmary were “doing everything possible.”

The killing shook Britain to the core, and prompted an outpouring of grief from across the political spectrum.

Gun attacks in Britain are rare, and members of Parliament do not customarily have security protection. British gun control restrictions are extremely tight, and firearms are considered difficult to obtain.

Britain First is the name of a far-right group that stages provocative anti-Muslim demonstrations. Following Thursday’s attack, the organization posted a statement on its website denying involvement, and saying it “would never encourage behavior of this sort.”