Jo Cox, British MP murdered by a "lone wolf"
British politics is reeling after the murder yesterday of Jo Cox, a Labour MP, for a West Yorkshire seat, by a loner armed with a gun and a knife - who attacked her in the street outside her constituency surgery. He wounded a 77yr old man who intervened. A BBC six minute film clip on the reaction today:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-36560895
This is the first MP murdered for a long time; the last was by a Irish terrorist group in 1990 using an IED under his car. It reminds me of the Arizona shooting in August 2011 of a lady Congresswoman Gifford, by a loner. See:http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...ad.php?t=12229
Much is being made how divisive British politics has come during the EU Referendum campaign, notably a poster used UKIP. Jo Cox was well known for her opposition to the "politics of fear":http://eaworldview.com/2016/06/brita...d-kill-jo-cox/
There are three witnesses who state the murderer shouted a political slogan, akin to 'Britain First' (a tiny extreme right, nationalist group):http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016...-of-mp-jo-cox/
More background:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/17/jo-cox-murder-suspect-thomas-mair-bought-book-on-how-to-make-han/
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016...ed-after-thre/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-36558386
The murderer walked away and was arrested nearby by two unarmed police officers. He remains in custody being interviewed.
It appears that the murderer was a loner, with extreme right wing views, including support for a South African group. With a history of mental illness. No-one locally saw him as a threat.
A murder or an act of terrorism?
Yesterday there was no mention of this murder being terrorism or a "lone wolf", which did lead to some criticism. Amidst the reporting there is a clear reluctance to use those words. No-one in the limited reading just has drawn parallels with the USA after the Orlando mass shooting.
Here is one "fringe" left-wing columnist:https://www.opendemocracy.net/uk/ada...ist-terrorism?
From the other side of the spectrum:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016...an-act-of-far/
Raffaello Pantucci, at RUSI, is the UK's leading SME on "lone wolves" and has a very short video clip:http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...ad.php?t=12229
His work and others at RUSI is here:https://rusi.org/projects/lone-actor-terrorism
There are several relevant threads:
1) UK CT:http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...ead.php?t=7768
2) Lone Wolves inside the USA:http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...ad.php?t=17199
3) Lone Wolves outside the USA:http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...ad.php?t=16226
How illegal firearms find their way onto British streets despite tough laws
A careful, considered short research article in 'The Conversation', a daily mainly UK academic newsletter:https://theconversation.com/how-illegal-firearms-find-their-way-onto-british-streets-despite-tough-laws-61239?
The author has had help from UK policing (via NABIS) and the ingenuity of those who seek lethal firearms is well explained. She ends with:
Quote:
Without a doubt, so long as there remains a demand for firearms in Britain, the criminal underworld will use all its ingenuity to meet that demand and continued research into their methods and the vigilance of police forces will be required to keep them out.
How far-Right extremists draw vulnerable people into their poisonous delusions
An article by an ICSR researcher, one of the few articles lately that have "stood back" and "looked at the forest":http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016...o-their-poiso/
Traditionally law enforcement and sometimes the intelligence agencies have been more than enough to contain the dangerous on the extreme right, when they are a group. Loners are very different and there are quite a number of examples of lucky escapes. The best open source has been a small group of "lefties" in Searchlight magazine, who published in 2011 IIRC a 160 pgs report:http://www.lonewolfproject.org.uk/re...lete-final.pdf
At the end her own voters disagreed
In a little noticed way the voters in Jo Cox's constituency (Batley) voted against her:
Quote:
The counting area of Kirklees, which incorporates Batley, voted Leave by a margin of fifty-five per cent to forty-five per cent.
Link:http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-d...der-in-britain
I say little noticed as no-one here has drawn attention to this fact. Some portrayed her - wrongly IMHO - as a martyr for the Remain cause.
Jo Cox's murder was an act of terrorism
The trial of Thomas Mair concluded today, after he pleaded not guilty and he was found guilty. He was sentenced, on his first conviction, to a 'whole life' sentence i.e. unless the Home Secretary intervenes he will die in jail.
From a statement by the prosecutor (known here as CPS):
Quote:
Mair has offered no explanation for his actions but the prosecution was able to demonstrate that, motivated by hate, his pre-meditated crimes were nothing less than acts of terrorism designed to advance his twisted ideology.
Which is within this backgrounder on his Nazi and his other interests:http://tellmamauk.org/neo-nazi-terro...jo-cox-murder/
The judge's sentencing remarks are noteworthy:https://www.judiciary.gov.uk/wp-cont...homas-mair.pdf
The Jo Cox Murder and the Role of Ideology in Violent Extremism
A RUSI commentary on the wider implications of Jo Cox's murder; sub-titled:
Quote:
The murder of the Labour MP has highlighted the rise of neo-Nazi terrorism. The police, intelligence and security services are increasingly concerned – and with good reason.
Link:https://rusi.org/commentary/jo-cox-m...nt-extremism-0
In the UK there has been a history of violent acts by the XRW before, although several planned attacks have been thwarted - often as the lone suspect has been incompetent - shown in a 2011 research document 'Lone Wolves: myth or reality?' via:http://lonewolfproject.org.uk/