Jo Cox accused ‘accessed anti-Semitic websites’ before murder
Thomas Mair visited the Wikipedia page of an online publication 'that covers politics and society from a white nationalist perspective'.
The man accused of killing MP Jo Cox accessed the Wikipedia page of an anti-Semitic online publication “that covers politics and society from a white nationalist perspective,” a court has heard.
Gardener Thomas Mair, 53, allegedly murdered the 41-year-old outside her constituency surgery in Birstall, near Leeds, on June 16.
Opening his Old Bailey trial, Richard Whittam QC told jurors how mother-of-two Mrs Cox had supported the Remain campaign leading up to the referendum on June 23.
On the afternoon of Thursday June 16 2016, she was to hold a surgery in the library in Market Street, having visited a local school and a care home.
Mr Whittam told jurors: “As she arrived she was brutally murdered by one of her constituents, this defendant, Thomas Mair.
“It was a cowardly attack by a man armed with a firearm and a knife. Jo Cox was shot three times and suffered multiple stab wounds. During the course of the murder Thomas Mair was heard by a number of witnesses to say repeatedly ‘Britain First’.”
During the attack, a 77-year-old local man risked his own life in an effort to save hers, the court heard. He was stabbed once by Mair with the same knife that he used to stab Mrs Cox.
Emergency services arrived within minutes and she was given an emergency thoracotomy as she lay in the street, the court heard.
In May, the prosecutor said, Mair accessed the Wikipedia page of an online publication called the Occidental Observer. Wikipedia described it as a “far-right” publication “that covers politics and society from a white nationalist and anti-Semitic perspective”.
In the days immediately before the killing he returned to view more online material, the court heard.
On June 13, he looked at the Twitter and Wikipedia pages for Mrs Cox, and the Wikipedia page for Conservative Ian Gow, whose killing by the IRA made him the last sitting MP to be murdered until that point, jurors were told.
He went on to view information about former foreign secretary William Hague, another Yorkshire-based Remain supporter.
Mr Whittam said Mair also looked at information on .22 gun ammunition, including answers to the question: “Is a .22 round deadly enough to kill with one shot to a human head?”
The next day, Mair returned to look at websites on “matricide” – the murder of your own mother – Nazi material, the death penalty in Japan, political prisoners and the human liver and spinal column.
Jurors saw CCTV footage from the library showing Mair arriving to use the computers on June 15, the eve of the attack.
The prosecution alleges that late that afternoon he researched right-wing politicians as well as the Ku Klux Klan and civil rights activists killed by its supporters.
Mr Whittam said Mair also accessed sites covering “Israel and prominent Jewish individuals”, Palestine, coffins, the Waffen SS and more information on .22 ammunition.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
