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Jo Cox, Member of British Parliament, Is Killed in Attack

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Peter Burgess

Jo Cox, Member of British Parliament, Is Killed in Attack

Witnesses on Attack of British Lawmaker Video Witnesses on Attack of British Lawmaker

Witnesses described the attack on Thursday that killed Jo Cox, a member of Parliament, while the authorities gathered at the library where the attack happened. By THE NEW YORK TIMES on Publish Date June 16, 2016. Photo by Phil Noble/Reuters. Watch in Times Video » Embed ShareTweet

LEEDS, England — A member of Parliament was gunned down outside a library in northern England as she was wrapping up a meeting with constituents on Thursday afternoon, a rare act of gun violence in a nation that strictly regulates firearms.

The lawmaker, Jo Cox, 41, who was considered a rising star in the opposition Labour Party and a passionate advocate for victims of the civil war in Syria, was shot in Birstall, a town about six miles southwest of the city of Leeds. A 77-year-old man was slightly injured in the attack.

A 52-year-old man was arrested in Ms. Cox’s killing, and the police said they were not looking for any other suspects. No motive has been established, officials said.

The suspect was identified in the British news media as Thomas Mair.

On Thursday night, the Southern Poverty Law Center reported on its website that Mr. Mair was a “dedicated supporter” of the National Alliance, a neo-Nazi organization in the United States. The center, which tracks hate groups, said Mr. Mair bought a manual from the alliance in 1999 that included instructions on how to build a pistol. It based its reporting on invoices it said it had obtained, copies of which were published on its website.

According to the center, Mr. Mair sent just over $620 to the alliance for items from National Vanguard Books, its publishing imprint, including works that instructed readers on the chemistry of powder and explosives.

Photo A vigil in Parliament Square in London for Jo Cox, the member of Parliament who was killed in northern England on Thursday. Credit Daniel Leal-Olivas/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Mr. Mair’s brother Scott told The Daily Telegraph that he was “struggling to believe what has happened.” “My brother is not violent and is not all that political. I don’t even know who he votes for. He has a history of mental illness, but he has had help,” the newspaper quoted him as saying. Gun ownership in Britain has been tightly controlled since a 1996 massacre at a school in Scotland, and historians said it was the first time a sitting member of Parliament had been killed since 1990, when the Irish Republican Army assassinated a Conservative lawmaker, Ian Gow.

ENT COMMENTS Dairy Farmers Daughter 11 minutes ago What a terrible loss - for her family and her nation. It appears the reason for her murder isn't really known at this time - so people... T 18 minutes ago I see the Leftists on both sides of the Atlantic have wasted no time politizing the attack. Chris 27 minutes ago I come from Birstall it's a small quiet place on the outskirts of a large city (large for the uk) Yes the population is mixed, but i can't... SEE ALL COMMENTS WRITE A COMMENT The killing occurred one week before a referendum on whether Britain should leave the European Union, and both sides immediately halted campaigning out of respect for Ms. Cox.

“The death of Jo Cox is a tragedy,” Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain wrote on Twitter, describing Ms. Cox as “a committed and caring M.P.” and “a great star.” He said, “It’s right that we’re suspending campaigning activity in this referendum.”

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A forensic police officer inspecting a shoe outside the library in Birstall, England, where Ms. Cox was fatally attacked. Credit Oli Scarff/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the Labour Party, wrote on Twitter: “The whole of the Labour family, and indeed the whole country, is in shock and grief at the horrific murder of Jo Cox.” Ms. Cox, like most other Labour politicians, supported Britain’s continued membership in the European Union. In her maiden speech in Parliament last year, she spoke of the diversity of her district, which includes Irish Catholics and Indian Muslims. “We are far more united and have far more in common than that which divides us,” she said. Last week, she wrote on Twitter: “Immigration is a legitimate concern, but it’s not a good reason to leave the E.U.” On Wednesday, her husband, Brendan Cox, took part in a joust between campaigners from both sides, an event nicknamed the Battle of the Thames. Mr. Cox issued a statement on Thursday evening, saying: “Hate doesn’t have a creed, race or religion, it is poisonous.” In Birstall, where the last census recorded nearly 17,000 residents, the police cordoned off the area around Market Street, where the suspect was arrested. INTERNATIONAL By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 00:25 Jo Cox on Britain’s Actions on Syria Video Jo Cox on Britain’s Actions on Syria Speaking in Parliament on Nov. 26, the British lawmaker insisted that the country give a “diplomatic priority” to the Syrian conflict. By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS on Publish Date June 16, 2016. . Watch in Times Video » Embed ShareTweet The police were summoned at 12:53 p.m., and found Ms. Cox with severe injuries. She was taken by an air ambulance to Leeds General Infirmary, where paramedics tried to save her. A doctor pronounced her death at 1:48 p.m., Dee Collins, temporary chief constable of the West Yorkshire Police, said at a news conference. Constable Collins said that several weapons, including a firearms, had been recovered from the scene and were being analyzed. “This is a very significant investigation, with large numbers of witnesses that have been spoken to by the police at this time,” she said, adding, “We are not in a position to discuss any motive at this time.” Speaking at the same news conference, Mark Burns-Williamson, the police and crime commissioner for West Yorkshire, described the killing as “a localized incident, albeit one that has a much wider impact.” The BBC quoted a witness, Hithem Ben Abdallah, 56, who was in a cafe next to the library when the attack occurred, as saying he heard screaming and went outside. “There was a guy who was being very brave and another guy with a white baseball cap who he was trying to control and the man in the baseball cap suddenly pulled a gun from his bag,” Mr. Ben Abdallah said. Ms. Cox was shot while trying to intervene, he said. His account could not be independently verified. EUROPE By SKY, VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS 1:21 Police Describe Arrest in Cox Attack Video Police Describe Arrest in Cox Attack Dee Collins, the temporary chief constable of the West Yorkshire Police, said on Thursday that a man has been arrested after killing Jo Cox, a member of Britain's Parliament, and injuring another man. By SKY, VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS on Publish Date June 16, 2016. . Watch in Times Video » Embed ShareTweet News images showed the police tackling a man in a gray T-shirt and black pants after the attack, and officers searched a house in the area. In a telephone interview, Sanjeev Kumar, an employee at the Kwik Save store near the library where Ms. Cox met with constituents, said he saw the victim lying on the ground after her attacker fled. “She was lying on the floor and two girls were helping her,” Mr. Kumar said. “She was bleeding from the mouth and nose — the ambulance was on its way. She couldn’t talk, or move, or do anything. It looked serious.” Mr. Kumar said the attack was the sort of event that “never, never happened here.” John Rattigan, who works at the hospital where Ms. Cox died, said in an interview over email that he was leaving work when “armed police officers burst through the doors followed by an ambulance crew and trolley with a patient who had a serious head injury.” He was stunned to learn that the patient was his local representative, and drove home in a state of shock. Photo Jo Cox, who represented the West Yorkshire area of Batley and Spen in British Parliament. Credit Yui Mok/Press Association, via Associated Press “She was a Socialist, like myself, and always championed the cause of women, the disabled, immigrants, Syria, Palestine and other repressed groups,” he said. “She was also a very popular visitor to local primary schools and joined in classroom activities: making time to engage the young children.” Ms. Cox was elected to Parliament in May 2015 to represent Batley and Spen, a generally safe Labour seat. The district has a large number of retirees and a substantial population of people of South Asian origin. Ms. Cox’s colleagues have described her as an eloquent and effective lawmaker. She was to celebrate her 42nd birthday next Wednesday, and had been spoken of as a potential future minister. According to her personal website, Ms. Cox was born and raised around Dewsbury, England. She graduated from Cambridge in 1995, the first in her family to complete university. Ms. Cox was involved in pro-European causes. She was an aide to Joan Walley, a British member of Parliament who supported European integration, and to Glenys Kinnock, a former Labour member of the European Parliament. Today’s Headlines: European Morning Get news and analysis from Europe and around the world delivered to your inbox every day in the European morning. She also worked with Oxfam, the anti-hunger charity; with Sarah Brown, wife of the former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown, to reduce child and infant mortality; and with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to combat modern slavery. She was married with two children, and lived part of the time on a boat on the Thames. The campaigns representing the two sides in next week’s European Union referendum — Britain Stronger in Europe, which favors remaining in the European Union, and Vote Leave, which advocates departure from the 28-nation bloc — halted their campaigning. Opponent of Britain’s departure said they would suspend their campaign until the weekend. Mr. Cameron, the prime minister, called off plans for a trip to Gibraltar, the British overseas territory that borders Spain, where he had planned to rally residents to vote to remain in the bloc. The killing of Ms. Cox triggered an outpouring on Twitter by politicians, past and present. Although no member of Parliament has been assassinated since 1990, there have been two attacks on lawmakers meeting constituents, as Ms. Cox was doing. In January 2000, a mentally ill man attacked a Liberal Democratic lawmaker, Nigel Jones, with a samurai sword, killing an aide to Mr. Jones. In September 2010, Stephen Timms, a Labour member of Parliament for the East Ham district in London, was stabbed and critically injured by an Islamist extremist angered by his support for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Gabrielle Giffords, a former member of Congress who survived an assassination attempt in 2011 by a deranged gunman who killed six other people, wrote on Twitter that she was “absolutely sickened to hear of the assassination of Jo Cox.” Ms. Giffords added: “She was young, courageous, and hardworking. A rising star, mother, and wife.” Follow Stephen Castle on Twitter @_StephenCastle and Pauline Bock @PaulineBock. Stephen Castle reported from Leeds, and Pauline Bock from London. Steven Erlanger and Stephen Farrell contributed reporting from London, and Christopher Mele from New York. A version of this article appears in print on June 17, 2016, on page A4 of the New York edition with the headline: A ‘Star’ of British Politics Is Killed; E.U. Campaign Is Suspended. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe