At UK, investigators know a little more about the profile of the man who fatally
stabbed Friday MP David Amess. According to British media on Saturday, the attacker had been referred to the national anti-radicalization program, but had not been diligent.
Police have until Friday to question the suspect, a 25-year-old man, after taking him into custody under the terrorism. The investigation also reveals, according to the first elements, “a potential motivation linked to Islamist extremism”, according to the police, who said they carried out searches at three addresses in the London area as part of an “investigation at a sustained pace ”.
A man “autoradicalized” according to the police
Tory MP David Amess, 69, father of 5, was receiving his constituents at a Methodist church in Leigh-on-Sea, about 37 miles east of London, when he was stabbed to death. The man arrested is said to be a British national of Somali origin named Ali Harbi Ali, according to the BBC.
Referred several years ago to the UK program for people at risk of radicalization based on volunteering, according to the broadcaster, he would not have been very diligent and was never officially a “subject of interest” for the national security agency. The police and security services believe that the assailant acted alone and that he was “autoradicalized”, according to the Sunday Times. It could have been inspired by Al-Shabab, Islamists linked to Al-Qaida in Somalia. 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 “very traumatized”.
Politicians united
On Saturday evening, hundreds of people attended a candlelight vigil at a sports field near the scene of the crime, observing a minute of silence in memory of the MP. As a sign of unity, Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson and opposition Labor leader Keir Starmer laid wreaths of flowers at the scene of the tragedy on Saturday morning.