Accused killer of British lawmaker says his name is 'death to traitors'

A memorial for British lawmaker Jo Cox
(Image credit: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

The man charged with fatally shooting and stabbing British lawmaker Jo Cox said in court Saturday his name is "death to traitors, freedom for Britain." His actual name is Thomas Mair, and he reportedly has ties to neo-Nazi and white supremacist organizations in the United States.

Particularly after this statement, Mair's actions are believed to be politically motivated, as Cox was a visible opponent of Britain exiting the European Union and a supporter of Syrian refugees. Mair's "freedom for Britain" phase echoes the language of Brexit proponents, whose cause has the backing of about half of the British public.

Cox had just finished leading a town hall event when she died. She was 41 years old and the mother of two small children.

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Bonnie Kristian

Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.