The murder of British Conservative MP David Amess, 69, this Friday in the town of Leigh-on-Sea has been considered a terrorist incident, the London Metropolitan Police reported early this Saturday.
"The murder of David Amess in Essex earlier today has been declared a terrorist incident, and the Met Counter-Terrorism Command will lead the investigation."Scotland Yard announced in a statement on Twitter.
Amess died after being stabbed during a meeting with voters from his constituency in eastern England.
A 25-year-old man was arrested at the same crime scene, inside a Methodist church in the coastal town of Leighton-on-Sea, and is being held at an Essex police station.
The investigation is being led by the Met’s Counter-Terrorism Command, which is working closely with colleagues from the Eastern Region Specialized Operations Unit (ERSOU) and Essex Police, the official note adds.
"The senior national coordinator of police surveillance against terrorism, Deputy Commissioner Dean Haydon, formally declared the incident as terrorism. The initial investigation has revealed a possible motivation linked to Islamist extremism"says the statement.
As part of the investigation, officers are conducting two-way searches in the London area and are ongoing, according to police.
"It is believed that he acted alone and we are not seeking anyone else in connection with the incident at this time. However, investigations continue into the circumstances", informs the police note.
All parties have expressed consternation at the crime, which has evoked the memory of Labor MP Jo Cox, shot dead by a man linked to the far right in June 2016, days before the Brexit referendum.
The British Home Secretary, Priti Patel, has ordered that the security measures of all MPs be reviewed, who in the United Kingdom usually organize public events on Fridays in which citizens of their constituencies can come to express their complaints and requests.
Amess, a member of the right wing of the Conservative Party, has stood out in recent years for his Euroscepticism. He was one of the proponents of Brexit before the 2016 referendum, when only a minority of the "establishment" Westminster politician defended the break with the European Union (EU).
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a television intervention that his party partner was "one of the kindest, kindest and gentlest people in politics".
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