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Flowers for the murdered Tory MP David Amess
Photo: ANDY RAIN / EPA
According to British media reports, the alleged murderer of British MP David Amess took part in a radicalization prevention program.
As reported by the BBC, among others, the 25-year-old was referred to the prevention project "Prevent" a few years ago.
However, it was therefore not part of the voluntary program for long.
However, he was not under observation by the domestic secret service MI5.
Tory MP David Amess was the victim of a knife attack on Friday during a public consultation in his constituency in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex.
Amess suffered several stab wounds and died on the spot.
The 25-year-old suspect, who is said to have sat down after the crime and waited for the police, was arrested on site, initially on suspicion of murder.
The Briton of Somali origin is now being held on suspicion of terrorism.
According to the police, initial investigations had shown "a possible motivation in connection with Islamist extremism".
His father, a former advisor to the Somali prime minister, told the Times that he felt "very traumatized" by the crime.
He never expected something like that.
The police assume that it is a lone perpetrator.
As Scotland Yard announced on Saturday evening, three house searches took place in the London area in connection with the case.
Hundreds commemorated the 69-year-old victim on Saturday evening at a lights vigil in Leigh-on-Sea.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and other political leaders laid wreaths at the crime scene on Saturday.
In addition to Johnson, opposition leader Keir Starmer of the Labor Party, Interior Minister Priti Patel and the Speaker of Parliament Lindsay Hoyle took part in the funeral ceremony.
Other people also laid wreaths and flowers in front of the crime scene, a Methodist church.
A bouquet of flowers read: “RIP Sir David.
You don't deserve that «.
It was the second murder of a British politician in five years. In 2016 Labor MP Jo Cox was killed by a right-wing extremist in the run-up to the Brexit referendum. Cox's widower described the attack on Amess as "as cowardly as it gets". Several MPs called for security measures at public events to be improved and for measures to be taken against the increasing violence against politicians.
Labor MP Chris Bryant wrote in a guest post in the Guardian that "sensible measures" are necessary not only in parliament, which is usually guarded, but also in the constituencies. There, MPs often stayed in public places such as meetinghouses or on the street. “We don't want to live in fortresses. But I don't want to lose another colleague to a violent death, ”he said. "We MEPs must take our own security more seriously."
Interior Minister Patel ordered a police review of the security arrangements for all 650 MPs.
However, she stressed that the attack would not prevent MPs from holding face-to-face meetings with residents of their constituencies.
"We don't let anyone intimidate us," said Patel after the wreath-laying ceremony for Sky News.
"It could affect any of us"
Amess' party colleague Tobias Ellwood, known for his courageous first aid after a terrorist attack on parliament in 2017, called on Saturday, however, to temporarily suspend physical meetings of members of the public.
British MPs, who are all directly elected in their constituencies, offer regular consultation hours with citizens, which can also be attended at short notice. The so-called "surgeries" are usually held once a week and are an important part of democratic culture in Britain. Jo Cox was also murdered at one of the citizens' consultations.
Amess leaves behind a wife and five children. The devout Catholic from a working-class family was considered an arch-conservative Brexit supporter who campaigned against the right to abortion and for animal rights. He was also a staunch opponent of fox hunting. Amess sat for the Tories in the British Parliament since 1983, first for the constituency of Basildon and later for Southend West. He was an ardent supporter of the "Iron Lady" Margaret Thatcher. In 2015 he was knighted.
In a book published last year, Amess complained about how the increased security measures since the murder of Cox made "the great British tradition" of meeting citizens more difficult.
“We all like to make ourselves available to the residents of our constituencies, and we often have to deal with people with mental health problems.
It could affect any of us «, Amess said at the time.
kry / dpa / AFP
