A British MP has died after being shot and stabbed on the street in a ‘horrific’ attack in her constituency.
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Labour MP Jo Cox, 41, was assaulted around midday local time in Birstall, West Yorkshire, and was left bleeding while a 52-year-old man was arrested nearby.
A witness told BBC they heard the attacker yell “Britain first” twice before assaulting Cox.
Britain First is the name of a right-wing group that is also a common slogan that is used in the EU referendum campaign for support of Brexit.
She tragically died from her injuries an hour later. A man named Tommy Mair is in custody who had on him an old fashioned gun and long knife on him.
Acting Chief Constable Dee Collins said police believe Mair was acting alone, and his motive is not yet known.
Jo Cox
Cox’s husband Brendan said that his wife would want people to “unite to fight against the hatred that killed her.”
One eye witness Clarke Rothwell told The Telegaph he saw a man in his 50s with a white baseball cap on and holding an old fashioned gun.
“He shot this lady once and then he shot her again, he fell to the floor, leant over shot her once more in the face area,” he recalled.
“Somebody tried to grab him, wrestling with him and then he wielded a knife, like a hunting knife, just started lunging at her with a knife half a dozen times. People were screaming and running from the area.”
A candlelight vigil for Jo
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said Cox, who was elected in 2015, was a “much loved colleague”.
He continued: “Jo died doing her public duty at the heart of our democracy, listening to and representing the people she was elected to serve.
“In the coming days there will be questions to answer about how and why she died.
“But for now all our thoughts are with Jo’s husband Brendan and their two young children. They will grow up without their mum, but can be immensely proud of what she did, what she achieved and what she stood for.”
VIDEO: UK MP Jo Cox has died after a vicious attack
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