British Politician Dies after Attack in Birstall

• By Sydny Shepard
• Jun 16, 2016

British Politician Jo Cox has died as a result of her injuries following an attack on June 16 in a village in her constituency. Another man was injured in the attack, but he has not been identified.

Police were called to a “report of an incident on Market Street in Birstall where a woman in her 40s had suffered serious injuries,” a statement said. Cox was outside the Birstall library after holding a regular public meeting with constituents before she was attacked. British media has reported that she was both shot and stabbed.

Police have arrested a suspect, a 52-year-old male, not far from the nearby town of Leeds.

Britain First, a fringe nationalist political party, issued a statement denying any connection in the attack. The statement said that reports that the alleged assailant shouted, “Britain First” during the attack were unconfirmed and added that the party, “would never encourage behavior of this sort.”

Details of the attack and investigation have not been released at this time.

Campaign groups on both sides of the debate on next week’s referendum over whether Britain should leave the European Union announced they were halting their operations Thursday in wake of the attack. Cox is a supporter of Britain voting to remain in the EU in the forthcoming referendum on the issue to be held next week.