A member of Parliament was gunned down in the streets of Britain today. The MP, from the Labour Party, was a supporter of staying in the EU in the upcoming referendum, but she was not out campaigning. Instead, she had been at a weekly meeting to hear from constituents. The killer is someone who had been treated repeatedly for mental illness; he is apolitical and no one is sure what his motive for the killing was.
Those are the facts. Elements of the British press, however, reported that the killer had shouted "Britain first" before firing and had been acting in support of Brexit. Less than two hours after the first reports were spread across much of the media, the witness to whom the story of "Britain First!" was attributed said two things of importance: 1) he never heard the killer say anything at all and certainly not Britain first; 2) he never told any member of the media that he had heard those words uttered.
Put this together and it means that the story in the British press blaming the killing on a Brexit supporter is completely false. One has to wonder how, if at all, this will impact the vote in the Brexit referendum. Most likely, since the vote is not for another week, the phony story will backfire in the face of the media and help the Leave side.
On a more American note: the UK has among the strictest gun control laws in the world. Even British police do not normally carry guns. Despite that, a mentally ill man managed to get a weapon and kill a member of Parliament. If you wanted an example of the futility of most gun control measures, this is it.
Those are the facts. Elements of the British press, however, reported that the killer had shouted "Britain first" before firing and had been acting in support of Brexit. Less than two hours after the first reports were spread across much of the media, the witness to whom the story of "Britain First!" was attributed said two things of importance: 1) he never heard the killer say anything at all and certainly not Britain first; 2) he never told any member of the media that he had heard those words uttered.
Put this together and it means that the story in the British press blaming the killing on a Brexit supporter is completely false. One has to wonder how, if at all, this will impact the vote in the Brexit referendum. Most likely, since the vote is not for another week, the phony story will backfire in the face of the media and help the Leave side.
On a more American note: the UK has among the strictest gun control laws in the world. Even British police do not normally carry guns. Despite that, a mentally ill man managed to get a weapon and kill a member of Parliament. If you wanted an example of the futility of most gun control measures, this is it.
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