British police on Friday said that they were probing the link of right-wing extremism in the murder of lawmaker Jo Cox, after the police arrested a man with suspected neo-Nazi links and a history of mental illness.
The 41-year-old Cox was a supporter of Britain staying in the EU. She was shot and stabbed on Thursday by a man who witnesses said shouted “Britain first”. Cox was attacked in her own electoral district near Leeds in the county of West Yorkshire in northern England.
Police arrested a 52-year-old man, named by British media as Thomas Mair, near the murder scene. Mair is still in custody where he is being questioned by detectives. He has not been charged.
“We are aware of the speculation within the media in respect of the suspect’s link to mental health services and this is a clear line of enquiry which we are pursuing,” West Yorkshire Police Temporary Chief Constable Dee Collins said in a statement.
“We are also aware of the inference within the media of the suspect being linked to right-wing extremism, which is again a priority line of enquiry which will help us establish the motive for the attack on Jo.”
Meanwhile, Britain First, a far-right nationalist group, denied any links with Mair but a US civil rights group claimed he had been associated in the past with a neo-Nazi organisation.
“It is a vile act that has killed her,” Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the opposition Labour Party which Cox represented, said. “We will not allow those people that spread hatred and poison to divide our society.”