LONDON — Newspapers in Britain led with tributes to Jo Cox, the assassinated member of the U.K. parliament, on their front pages Friday.
The 41-year-old lawmaker, a mother of two, was shot and stabbed on the street in the town of Birstall, West Yorkshire on Thursday.
The suspect, named locally as Tommy Mair, 52, has links to a far-right group. The motive for the attack remains under investigation.
The Guardian made reference to the MP’s humanitarian work in the headline ‘She believed in a better world and she fought for it every day.’
The Yorkshire Evening Post, which covers the county Cox grew up in and her parliamentary constituency of Batley and Spen, paid tribute to “OUR JO.”
The Times of London said Cox had faced a ‘string of security threats.’
The Independent wrote ‘Shot dead in the street: MP who lived to serve.’
The Sun and the Daily Mail attracted criticism on social media for referring to the suspect as a “loner” with mental health issues.
British media reported that Mair had connections to the Springbok Club, a group that defended South Africa's apartheid regime while the Southern Poverty Law Center, claimed that Mair was a longtime supporter of the neo-Nazi National Alliance. Mair has not been charged in connection with Cox’s death.
In response to the Sun's tweet of its front page, Antony Warren referred to the shooting attack in Orlando, Fla. on Sunday that killed 49 people. He tweeted to the paper, owned by media mogul Rupert Murdoch: “Murdochs US media have been saying Orlando attack was ISIS. If Thomas Mair was Muslim this would definitely be described as terrorism.”
Andrew Atter tweeted to the Daily Mail: “He also had history of right wing political associations...did you forget?”
Here are some other front pages:
