The U.K. man accused of killing a member of British Parliament this week had ties to an American white supremacist organization, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) reported Thursday.
{mosads}Thomas Mair, 52, allegedly shot and stabbed the Labour Party’s Jo Cox on Thursday while yelling “Britain first!” Cox had been among those calling for the United Kingdom to remain in the European Union in next week’s “Brexit” referendum.
Mair was a supporter of the neo-Nazi group National Alliance, the SPLC said, purchasing a manual from the group in 1999 that included instructions on how to build a pistol. The National Alliance is perhaps most famous for the work of its founder, William Pierce, whose novels allegedly inspired Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.
The Daily Telegraph reported that Mair also subscribed to S.A. Patriot, a pro-apartheid South African magazine.
Cox was the first British lawmaker killed in office in more than 20 years. Her assassination drew comparisons to the 2011 attack on then-Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-Ariz.), who was among the U.S. leaders to swiftly condemn the slaying.