An attacker fatally stabbed a British lawmaker on Friday while he was meeting constituents outside London.
“David Amess, a member of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s ruling Conservative Party, was attending a meeting Friday in his district in Essex, which is just northeast of London, when the attack happened around midday,” the Wall Street Journal reported. “His office said he was stabbed numerous times at the Methodist church where the meeting was being held. Essex police said a 25-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder. Two British lawmakers have now died in the past five years after being attacked by members of the public, raising questions about the protection afforded to elected representatives in the country.”
The police confirmed that Amess had died and announced that the suspected attacker had been arrested.
“A man has been arrested on suspicion murder after a man was stabbed in Leigh-on-Sea,” the police said in a statement. “We were called to an address in Eastwood Road North shortly after 12.05pm today (Friday 15 October). We attended and found a man injured. He was treated by emergency services but, sadly, died at the scene. A 25 year-old man was quickly arrested after officers arrived at the scene on suspicion of murder and a knife was recovered. He is currently in custody. We are not looking for anyone else in connection with this incident.”
The Wall Street Journal noted that there have been multiple recent attacks on British lawmakers.
“In 2016, a far-right extremist stabbed and shot lawmaker Jo Cox while she was walking into a meeting with her constituents. She died of her injuries,” the Wall Street Journal reported. “In 2010, Labour Party lawmaker Stephen Timms was stabbed while meeting with constituents by a woman who was associated with an Islamic extremist and who opposed Mr. Timms’s support for the Iraq war. Mr. Timms was stabbed twice but survived. In 2000, an aide to a Liberal Democrat lawmaker was killed defending his boss when a man armed with a sword stormed his constituency meeting.”
