Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Suspected Killer of British Lawmaker Had History With US Neo-Nazi Group

The man whom authorities believe killed British lawmaker Jo Cox Thursday is said to have a history of involvement with an American neo-Nazi organization.

The New York Times Friday that hate group watchdog the Southern Poverty Law Center, said the suspect, who has been identified by neighbors and family members as Thomas Mair, 52, in 1999 purchased $620 worth of materials from a publishing imprint of then-leading neo-Nazi group the National Alliance.

Cox, 41, was shot and stabbed several times on the street in the northern English town of Birstall on Thursday. A member of Labour, she was a vocal advocate for Britain remaining in the European Union and openly criticized her party’s leadership for not doing enough to fight anti-Semitism within the party.

She was the first sitting member of Parliament to be killed since 1990, according to the Times.

What would have motivated her suspected murderer is still unclear.

In addition to his ties to the National Alliance, Mair was also on a 10-year-old list of subscribers to a South African magazine published by a pro-apartheid group, according to the UK’s Telegraph.

Mair also is believed to have a history of mental illness. He was quoted in a 2010 article in The Huddersfield Daily Examiner that identified him as a client at a program for adults with mental health problems.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at editorial@forward.com, subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.

Exit mobile version