An attack has rekindled questions about the security of members of Parliament.
The police searched for answers on Sunday about what might have motivated a 25-year-old British man of Somali heritage, the suspect in the brutal slaying of a Conservative Party lawmaker during a meeting with his constituents that has shaken Britain’s political establishment. Scotland Yard has not yet publicly named the suspect, though British news organizations, including the BBC, have identified him as Ali Harbi Ali. Mr. Ali’s father, Harbi Ali Kullane, told The Times of London that his son was being held in custody and described himself as “very traumatized” by the accusations. Referring to the accusations, Mr. Kullane, who once served as an adviser to Somalia’s prime minister, said in the interview with The Times, “It’s not something that I expected or even dreamt of.” The BBC reported that several years ago, Mr. Ali had been referred to a government program known as Prevent, which aims to keep people from being drawn to extremist ideas on social media. But his name has not been on any terrorism watch lists, according to the broadcaster. The Metropolitan Police said on Saturday that they had been granted a warrant under the Terrorism Act to keep the suspect in detention for six extra days in connection with the killing of the lawmaker, David Amess, on Friday in Leigh-on-Sea, England. On Sunday, the police guarded a red-brick rowhouse on a tree-lined street in North London where the suspect is believed to live with his family. It was one of three addresses in London that were being searched by the police. A next-door neighbor, Tilly Gerrard, said three young men and a woman lived in the second-floor apartment. She described them as a neighborly presence in a community where most residents recognize one another and that recently threw a street party. The sudden and very public nature of the attack evoked memories of previous lone-wolf assaults that rattled Britain.
