Looks like Jo Cox MP was assassinated

[Cain]

BBC's not reporting it so far, but according to several eyewitness reports, the killer shouted "Britain First" repeatedly as he attacked her with the knife and what sounds like a home-made gun.

[Q. G. Pennyworth]

Man, fuck 2016.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Holy shit.

[Cain]

Britain First is denying any responsibility for this.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Britain First is denying any responsibility for this.

Expect a disaffected nut who was showing Britain First how things get managed.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Or maybe not.

Mr. Cameron told the BBC that "we've lost a star," and said, "It's right that we're suspending campaigning activity in this referendum."

[Junkenstein]

What the fuck? Very strange shit.

[Cain]

Britain First is denying any responsibility for this.

Expect a disaffected nut who was showing Britain First how things get managed.

Well Britain First does try to recruit military personnel, uses paramilitary uniforms and sets up "Christian patrols".  They also describe the EU as a godless, socialist, tyrannical superstate...so I wouldn't be surprised if this was a current member or admirer.

[Cain]

Her assassin, Thomas Mair, appears to have been a member of the Springbok Club, a group which...you may have guessed already...supported apartheid in South Africa.

He was also signed up to the Cyber Springbok Club Newsletter, which, among other tiresome subjects, ranted about the "tyrannical EU project".

[Lenin McCarthy]

https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2016/06/16/alleged-killer-british-mp-was-longtime-supporter-neo-nazi-national-alliance

And apparently he ordered neo-Nazi publications, including ones on DIY explosives.

[Vanadium Gryllz]

But the Leave campaign doesn't have any shady ties or ulterior motives right guys? We just want to Make Britain Great Again 

[Cain]

I don't think we can exactly tie this to the Leave campaign, except in the most general way, that their bullshit scare tactics give minor credence to the far-right's bullshit scare tactics which may have fed into this guy's thinking.

As Lenin McCarthy's link shows, the guy was subscribed to Neo-Nazi and South African white supremacist publications since the 1990s, both of which have highly negative views of the EU.  Even if Leave were running a completely sensible campaign, this probably would've happened.

[MMIX]

I don't think we can exactly tie this to the Leave campaign, except in the most general way, that their bullshit scare tactics give minor credence to the far-right's bullshit scare tactics which may have fed into this guy's thinking.

As Lenin McCarthy's link shows, the guy was subscribed to Neo-Nazi and South African white supremacist publications since the 1990s, both of which have highly negative views of the EU.  Even if Leave were running a completely sensible campaign, this probably would've happened.

When asked to confirm his name in court this morning he said "Death to traitors, freedom for Britain". If the temperature of political debate in this country becomes any more febrile we may well spontaneously combust.

[Cain]

True.  This is exposing a lot of nastiness.

I quoted this segment from my dissertation the other day on Facebook, which seems somewhat appropriate to the situation:

For Kundnani, a critical problem with handling counter-jihadist thinking is how elements of it are reflected in official statements and counter-terrorism policy of western nations, that "multiculturalism" and a conflict of values lie at the heart of the source of Islamic terrorism and counter-terrorism must reflect that. As such, the "central plank of a terrorist's narrative is shared by the heads of western governments", which has severe implications and repercussions for dealing with the ideological appeal of the counter-jihad. This strong emphasis on values, identity, culture and multiculturalism, as security concerns, clearly and directly parallels the arguments put forward by counter-jihadist writers – albeit in a generally less paranoid and more nuanced way by government agencies. Nevertheless, this focus, much like the mainstream media "supporting articles" mentioned by Lee, help lend credence to these views. These are then amplified by the media and thus lead to a situation in which the government's own position is being repeated back to them and appropriated by the far-right, creating "discursive opportunities for new far-right actors who ideologies significantly overlap with government discourse, and which are therefore harder to counter." Indeed, that they so closely hew to government policy means that these groups may be able to win a level of public support and acceptance that the Neo-Nazi far right would never be able to obtain. This could lead not only to the acceptance and growth of such groups, but also opens the possibility of "former" Neo-Nazis strategically moderating their message in order to gain more widespread appeal.

And crucially, as Kundnani makes very clear, these narratives and their focus on Muslim radicalisation also contribute to obscuring the sources of far-right terrorism, radicalisation and counter-radicalisation precisely because it roots terrorism discourse in a clash of identities and values, and where these problems are absent or significantly downplayed, the far-right as not seen as a concern, as was the case with the EDL and with the spectrum of groups in Rotterdam

[MMIX]

I am glad I am an old woman. I probably won't live long enough to see the worst excesses of the proletarian revolution that the smarmy pig-fucker has visited on us, but I am kinda sorry for my kids and grandkids. Oh, and you guys, too  . It is fascinating, in a grotesque way, to watch the "banality of evil" start to crawl across europe's face.

again

What a shame that Hannah Arend didn't live to see this. We are living in a social scientist's worst nightmare and wet-dream, watching helplessly [probably] as history repeats itself.