I wasn’t familiar with David Amess, but he was a Member of Parliament for almost three decades. First elected in 1983, he was re-elected in every election since, even after his original riding was was redistricted out of existence, and during the Conservative Party’s wilderness years during the Tony Blair era. From what I’ve been reading on this tragic day, he had a reputation as a strong representative for his constituency, and it showed in his election results.
Amess was murdered today while meeting with constituents at a Methodist Church. Ominously, his pinned tweet promoted the event:
As of this writing, we don’t know the identity of the killer, nor the reason why he carried out this crime. Sadly, I can think of a dozen possible religious or political motives off the top of my head. Or maybe the killer believes aliens told him to do it.
Amess is the second British Member of Parliament murdered in the past five years. In 2016, the killing of Labour MP Jo Cox shocked the country. Cox was killed by a right-wing extremist who targeted her for supporting Britain remaining in the European Union. Amess was a staunch Brexiteer.
Until we know more about the killer’s motives, there’s not much we can say about the case, except to express our sympathy and condolences to Amess’ friends and family, and think once again about how elected officials are putting themselves in potential danger.
The attempted murders of Gabby Giffords and Steve Scalise are still fresh in our minds, and in recent years it seems like more public officials - from school board members to Supreme Court Justices - are being targeted at their homes. There have always been fanatics trying to at least intimidate politicians, but it’s never been so easy for them to organize.
Here in Canada a terrorist attacked Parliament in 2014, killing a Canadian Forces guard, and the recent federal election campaign featured several acts of violence directed at Prime Minister Trudeau and other politicians. This time they weren’t armed with anything more than gravel, thankfully, but it is unnervingly easy to get close to prominent Canadian politicians. (Whether they deserved it or not depends on their political affiliation, according to much of #cdnpoli Twitter.)
To paraphrase the old saying attributed to the Irish Republican Army, the police and security officials have to be lucky every time. Terrorists and assassins only have to be lucky once.
We complain about politicians and their privileges all the time, but we also take for granted their courage in voluntarily taking on positions that can very easily make them targets for the dissatisfied, disaffected and unhinged. Merely running for office is, in itself, a very brave act.
A “surgery” is an event where the local MP meets with voters in the community. I’ve never heard a term so very British in my life. Such meetings are a long standing tradition, and it would be tragic if it becomes too dangerous for them to continue.