It has been confirmed that Labor MP Jo Cox has died after being brutally attacked in Birstall, Leeds. Jo Cox died within an hour of the attacks as doctors fought to save her life. She was pronounced dead at 1.48pm.
Jo was truly one of a kind, and a brilliant mind. She was also a mother-of-two. The attacker reportedly shouted ‘Britain First’ after the attack, and is now in custody. Jo Cox is obviously an MP campaigning to keep Britain in the EU, and the attack itself is an attack on British diplomacy. She had been due to hold a meeting with constituents in Birstall on Thursday. British Prime Minister David Cameron cancelled a planned speech in Gibraltar because of the shooting.
Jo Cox worked towards finding a solution to the Syrian civil war a top priority and was critical of Britain’s reluctance to deepen its military involvement against the Islamic State extremists. In October 2015, she co-authored with Conservative MP Andrew Mitchell, an article arguing that the British military forces could help achieve a solution to the conflict in Syria, including dealing with the President Bashar al-Assad. During that same month, Cox launched the All Party Parliamentary Friends of Syria group, becoming its chair.
The groups on both sides of the referendum on whether Britain should leave the European Union have now suspended the campaign. Both sides have been feverishly campaigning of what is expected to be a close vote. Cox represented a constituency in Yorkshire, northern England, for the main opposition of the Labor Party. Her most recent work included campaigning for Britain to remain in the European Union ahead of the country’s June 23 referendum. Two other British lawmakers have been attacked within the past two decades during regular meetings where constituents can present concerns and complaints. A Labor legislator was stabbed in the stomach and injured in May 2010 by a female student, who was radicalized by online sermon from an Al Qaeda-linked preacher. Cox supported the ‘Remain’ campaign during the 2016 referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union, following her death.
Politicians worldwide and neighboring the death of Jo Cox are utterly distraught and confused to why the life of such a strong woman figure had to be taken away. The line between violence and politics has surely become a lot thinner, and it seems that gun violence and murder may just be the most powerful form of expression. Embarking on a civil war, in contrast, to putting an end to a civil war is an equation that may just become completely undeserving for an answer.
