Jo Cox, a 41-year-old former aid worker and pro-EU campaigner known for her advocacy for Syrian refugees, was killed on Thursday outside a library where she regularly met constituents in her home village of Birstall in northern England.
Witnesses told local media the petite mother of two had been repeatedly shot and stabbed.A 52-year-old man, named by media as local Thomas Mair, was arrested. Described by neighbours as a loner, there were indications that he had extreme right leanings.
With just six days left before the historic vote, rival groups campaigning for Britain to leave or remain in the European Union ceased campaigning and politicians joined as one to condemn the killing. But some commentators questioned whether the murder could be linked to a campaign that has stoked high tension by touching on issues of national identity and immigration.
The Times newspaper reported on Friday that Cox, who became the first British MP to be murdered since 1990, had “had been harassed in a stream of messages over three months”.
Police were considering putting in place additional security, it said, adding there was no known link between the messages and Thursday’s attack. Before Cox’s murder, opinion polls were pointing to the likelihood that Britain would vote to leave the EU in the June 23 referendum, a prospect that weighed on financial markets and sent the pound tumbling.