British MPs pay tribute on Monday to one of their own, David Amess, fatally stabbed during a parliamentary duty, in what police consider a terrorist act potentially linked to Islamism.
David Amess, a 69-year-old Tory MP and father of five, was stabbed to death on Friday as he spoke to his constituents at a Methodist church in Leigh-on-Sea, about 37 miles to the east of London. A 25-year-old suspect, who according to British media had followed an anti-radicalization program, was arrested on the spot.
This drama shocked the country, recalling the recent trauma of the assassination of Labor MP Jo Cox in June 2016 by a right-wing extremist and prompting calls to strengthen the security of elected officials.
On Monday afternoon, prayers will be said and a minute’s silence observed in memory of David Amess in the House of Commons, where he has sat since 1983. Members will then be able to take the floor to pay tribute to him.
After these tributes are over, a procession led by Speaker of the House of Commons Lindsay Hoyle will head to St Margaret’s Church, next to Westminster Abbey, for a mass which will begin at 5 p.m. (1 p.m. in Quebec).
“It will be very hard today”, tweeted Labor MP Jess Phillips who confided that it reminded her of her return to Parliament after the death of Jo Cox: “I was trying to hide my tears on the train”.
David Amess’ family explained that they could not “understand why this horrible thing happened”.
“No one should die this way. Nobody, ”she said in a statement sent by the police on Sunday.
Describing David Amess as a “man of peace”, his family called for “putting aside hatred and working for unity”.
Online radicalization
The first elements of the investigation, entrusted to the anti-terrorism department, reveal “a potential motivation linked to Islamist extremism”, according to the police.
The man arrested at the scene of the tragedy is a British national of Somali origin named Ali Harbi Ali, according to the BBC.
Ali Harbi Ali’s father, Harbi Ali Kullane, a former adviser to the Somali prime minister, confirmed to the Sunday Times that her son was in detention and said he was “traumatized”.
Investigators have until Friday to question him after detaining him under the terrorism law.
Among the avenues being considered, investigators are examining David Amess’s ties to the state of Qatar, according to the Times who cites sources explaining that the “clear reason why he was targeted has not been established.”
Mr Amess was chairman of the cross-party parliamentary group on UK-Qatar relations and his last visit to the country was this month, according to images posted on the group’s Twitter page.
Other media like The Telegraph claim that he was targeted at random and that the suspect in his murder had considered killing other MPs. The diary says he was seen using his phone after the drama, possibly to record a message or chat with someone.
According to one of his friends quoted by the tabloid The Sun, “He became completely radicalized on the internet” and admired the preacher Anjem Choudary, a figure of the radical Islamist movement in London.
“He admired Anjem, said he was right and his cause was right. It disgusted me. We were all very, very worried, ”said this friend.
This murder called into question the security arrangements surrounding MPs.
Interior Minister Priti Patel has promised to “fill in the gaps”, considering providing police protection, on a case-by-case basis, to deputies.
But the Minister of Justice Dominic Raab warned Monday against the risk of creating a “gap” between the population and their elected officials if they can no longer receive them freely.
The minister also denounced the level of insults and threats online against elected officials, saying he had become “out of control”.