British Labour MP Jo Cox was brutally assaulted and shot three times while being repeatedly stabbed to death in her home constituency late last week by Thomas Mair, also stylishly known as "death to traitors, freedom for Britain."
Mair is known to be associated with "Britain First," a far-right anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant, anti-multiculturalism, anti-[insert colour] party created by members of the now largely irrelevant British Nationalist Party. He also has an infatuation for Nazi swag, poring through neo-Nazi reading material and making homemade guns.
This is the same organization whose leader, Paul Golding, embarrassed himself on national TV earlier this year by turning his back to the newly elected Muslim mayor of London Sadiq Khan during his victory speech. This is the same organization that has announced a "direct action campaign against Muslim elected officials" targeting "where they live, work, pray." This is the same organization that "invades" mosques, halal butcheries and Muslim communities to provoke, instigate and inflame tensions against British Muslims.
Thomas Mair was inspired by the hatred of Britain's equivalent to ISIS.
Most notably, the organization referred to the Labour Party as "criminals" and "traitors." Even Britain First founder, Jim Dowson, quit the group over its racist and violent tendencies.
Let's be clear: this was a politically motivated, targeted, planned, calculated, conscious, deliberate, premeditated and intentional assassination of a sitting parliamentarian by a man who had extremist, white supremacist tendencies. Cox's consistently progressive voting record that fought for the sick and disabled, a multicultural society, a peaceful foreign policy and her most vile crime of all -- bringing Britain into disrepute by choosing to remain in the European Union -- had everything to do with why she was tragically murdered.
Unfortunately, Mair felt he had to "protect" Britain from being overrun by barbaric immigrants who bring with them cultural diversity that makes unemployed "loners" like him uncomfortable. He had to make a statement to demonstrate his commitment to preserving true English culture by taking the life of not just a politician, but a wife, a daughter and a mother of two young children. Thomas Mair was inspired by the hatred of Britain's equivalent to ISIS.
A prison van holding Thomas Mair leaves Westminster Magistrates' Court in London, Britain June 18, 2016. Mair appeared at court on Saturday charged with the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox. (Photo: Reuters/Neil Hall)
Yet given the overwhelming evidence of Mair's past activities, the term "terrorism" didn't even enter into the equation. British media quickly branded Mair as a quiet, peace-loving soul suffering from the mental anguish of obsessive compulsive disorder. To overcome this, Mair took an interest in following horticultural pursuits by tending his neighbours' gardens.
How very touching.
To be fair, the coverage did eventually begin discussing Mair's racist sympathies, but not before humanizing him as a community-minded, daffodil-planting individual suffering from mental illness. Still, any discussion of terrorism was notably absent. Such humanization and labelling restraint is rarely afforded to other ethnic and religious backgrounds who may commit acts of crime, but this is not surprising.
Thomas Mair isn't branded a terrorist because it's a label we only use for those who are different, who we are taught to fear, who may live amongst us, but aren't seen as one of us, who we use to deflect our social ills because it's convenient and politically expedient.
Thomas Mair is from West Yorkshire. He lived with his grandmother. His war cry was "Britain First," not "Allahu akbar." He does not come from a background or practices a faith that could be "otherized," made alien or feared.
Thomas Mair, the gardener, is one of us.
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