Man Accused of Murdering Sir David Amess Says He Killed British Politician to 'Help Muslims'

The suspected terrorist accused of murdering Sir David Amess told the court at the Old Bailey that he killed the Conservative Member of Parliament for voting in favour of air strikes in Syria and to “help Muslims”.

Ali Harbi Ali, 26, told jurors that he is a “moderate Muslim” but that he had no regrets for killing veteran lawmaker Sir David Amess during a public meeting in Leigh-on-Sea Church in Essex last October because he thought it would “help” Muslims in the Middle East.

“If I thought I did anything wrong, I wouldn’t have done it,” Harbi Ali said, according to the BBC.

“[Sir David] voted previously in Parliament, not just him… I decided if I couldn’t make hijrah, if I couldn’t help the Muslims [in Syria], I would do something here,” he explained.

While he previously admitted that the attack was terrorist in nature, Ali Harbi Ali retracted the characterisation, saying that if his actions were considered terrorism, then he would “expect the British politicians who bombed Syria to use that word on themselves.”

Harbi Ali did admit that he expected to be shot and killed as a Muslim “martyr” after killing Amess. Yet when two police officers entered the building without weapons, he dropped his knife.

He has also admitted that he “deeply” regretted not travelling to Syria between 2015 and 2017 to join and fight with the Islamic State, but that it was too “difficult”.

“I thought if I couldn’t go join Islamic State, I should try and do something here to help Muslims here,” he said. “As a Muslim, I was obligated to do something during that period.”

Ali Harbi Ali said that he targeted Sir David Amess so “he can’t vote again… so hopefully, he won’t be able to harm Muslims in that regard,” after the Conservative MP voted in favour of air strikes in Syria.

On top of that, Harbi Ali said that he had a “big problem” with Sir David’s membership in the Conservative Friends of Israel group.

The accused went on to say that he hoped his actions would have a chilling effect on other British politicians, telling the court: “If he had previous for doing votes like that he won’t do it in the future, and perhaps send a message to his colleagues.”

The court previously heard that Harbi Ali also had plans to attack government minister Michael Gove, as he believed the Conservative politician was “someone who was a harm to Muslims.”

The trial continues.

Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka

*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases