The Labour MP for Batley and Spen was shot and stabbed after holding a constituency surgery in Batley, West Yorkshire, yesterday.
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The murder, which shocked residents in a country where homicides are rare, occurred just one week before Britons vote on whether to remain in the 28-member EU.
On Thursday, Jo Cox, a 41-year-old former aid worker and pro-EU campaigner known for her advocacy on behalf of Syrian refugees, was killed outside a library where she regularly met constituents in her home village of Birstall in northern England.
Neighbours were quoted by media as describing a man who had lived in the same house for at least 40 years and helped locals weed their flowerbeds.
British politicians paid tribute to Cox and expressed shock at the killing, as did leaders across Europe and the world.
Local police confirmed that a 52-year-old man had been arrested nearby, although no-one has been charged yet, and a large scale murder inquiry has been launched.
Another brother said: “I am struggling to believe what has happened”. In 2006, the online newsletter of far-right group the Springbok Club said Mair was “one of the earliest subscribers and supporters of SA Patriot”.
The handbook includes detailed instructions on constructing a pipe pistol using parts available in DIY stores.
“We are here in silent memory of her loss”, said Mr Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of Ms Cox’s centre-left Labour party, as rain began to fall.
Police said an investigation was underway to establish the motive for the murder, which halted campaigning a week before Britain’s referendum on whether to leave the European Union, a debate marked by divisions over immigration.
Witnesses said Cox’s assailant shouted “Britain first” as he attacked her. “Britain First” is the name of a far-right anti-immigrant group.
Chris Leslie, MP for Nottingham East, tweeted: “Utterly heartbroken my friend Jo Cox has died – killed when doing her duty. She dedicated her passion to those who needed it most, and she harnessed her limitless love, even and especially for those who allowed hate to consume them”, he said. “It was the well of hatred that killed her”, said Corbyn.
It has also emerged that three months ago a man was cautioned for sending the MP “malicious communications”.
Cox was the first sitting member of Parliament to be killed in office since 1990, when Conservative lawmaker Ian Gow was assassinated by a vehicle bomb planted by the Irish Republican Army.
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“She was very bubbly, five foot nothing and full of life”.
