UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer visited the church Saturday where lawmaker David Amess was fatally stabbed while meeting with constituents, hours after his killing was declared a terrorist incident.
The murder has shocked the nation and prompted calls for a review of security measures for lawmakers carrying out constituency work.
Amess, 69 and a member of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s ruling Conservative Party, died after being stabbed several times at around midday Friday at Belfairs Methodist Church in Leigh-on-Sea, England.
A 25-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder and a knife was recovered, police said. He is believed to have acted alone.
“The early investigation has revealed a potential motivation linked to Islamist extremism,” the Metropolitan Police said in a statement overnight. Two addresses in the London area are being searched, the force said.
The man arrested is believed to be a British national with Somali heritage, official sources have told UK news agency PA Media. The UK’s Counter Terrorism Command is leading the investigation into the killing, police said Friday.
A somber-looking Johnson carried a wreath of pale roses Saturday morning to leave in front of the church where Amess was attacked.
He and Starmer were accompanied by Home Secretary Priti Patel, whose government department is responsible for policing and counter-terrorism efforts in the UK. Chief Constable of Essex Police Ben-Julian Harrington and other dignitaries also carried flowers to the scene.
Patel tweeted Friday that questions were “being rightly asked” about the safety of lawmakers, adding she “will provide updates in due course.”
MPs in Britain typically meet with residents in their constituencies face to face during “surgeries,” and it is uncommon for them to have a security detail.
This was the second murder of a sitting British lawmaker in five years, after Labour MP Jo Cox was killed in her constituency in 2016 by a man with extreme right-wing views, and has reignited discussions about the safety of the UK’s elected officials.
Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood, who tried to save the life of a wounded police officer during a terror attack on Westminster in 2017, tweeted Saturday that MPs’ engagement with the public was a “vital part of our work” but that there was now, understandably, “huge anxiety” among his colleagues.
“Until the Home Secretary’s review of MP security is complete I would recommend a temporary PAUSE in face to face meetings,” he said.
