Status: 10/16/2021 3:12 a.m.
The British Tory MP Amess was stabbed at a citizens’ clinic and died on the scene. Investigators rate the act of a 25-year-old loner as an act of terrorism.
The fatal knife attack on British Tory MP David Amess has been classified as a terrorist act. The police announced this at night, as the British agency PA reported. The anti-terrorism unit of the British police had started the investigation earlier.
Amess was stabbed by an attacker in the English county of Essex on Friday. Initial investigations have shown “a possible motivation in connection with Islamist extremism,” the police report said. As part of the investigation, there are also searches at two locations in London. The 25-year-old attacker is in custody at a police station in Essex. According to the investigators, he is considered a lone perpetrator.
Politicians are shocked
Amess was stabbed to death around noon on Friday during a citizens’ clinic in a constituency in the English county of Essex. Despite all the efforts of paramedics, he died on the scene. The police arrested the suspect and secured a knife.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson was deeply affected by the fatal attack on the 69-year-old party friend. Everyone’s hearts are filled with “shock and sadness,” Johnson told reporters. Amess was one of the “most lovable and friendliest people in politics”. Opposition leader Keir Starmer of the Labor Party wrote on Twitter: “Terrible and deeply shocking news. Think of David and his family and his co-workers.”
Case recalls the murder of Jo Cox
The fatal knife attack caused horror even in the royal family. “We are shocked and saddened by the murder of Sir David Amess, who sacrificed 40 years of his life to serve the community,” said Prince William and Duchess Kate on Friday evening on Twitter. Their thoughts and prayers go to the family, friends and colleagues of the killed MP, the couple said.
The case is reminiscent of the murder of Labor MP Jo Cox in 2016. Cox was also attacked by a right-wing extremist with a gun and a knife during a public consultation in her constituency. She died shortly afterwards from her injuries. Cox’s murder happened just weeks before the Brexit referendum.
Tory MP David Amess dies after knife attack
Imke Köhler, ARD London, October 15, 2021 4:35 p.m.