Europe 1 with AFP 1:06 p.m., October 17, 2021

The suspect in the murder of British MP David Amess, a 25-year-old man, has been taken into custody under the Terrorism Act, allowing police to extend his detention.

A Briton of Somali origin, he had been referred to the anti-radicalization program.

The suspect in the murder of British MP David Amess, an act described as terrorist by police, had been referred to the national anti-radicalization program but did not follow it for long, according to British media. Investigators have until Friday to question the 25-year-old after detaining him under the terrorism law, which allows them to extend his detention.

The investigation, entrusted to the anti-terrorism department, reveals according to the first elements "a potential motivation linked to Islamist extremism", according to the police who said they were carrying out searches at three addresses in the London area.

Tory MP David Amess, 69, father of five, was receiving his constituents at a Methodist church in Leigh-on-Sea, about 37 miles east of London, when he was stabbed to death shortly after Friday midday.

The man arrested is said to be a British national of Somali origin named Ali Harbi Ali, according to the BBC.

Follow-up for "risk of radicalization"

Oriented several years ago towards the Prevent program, a device intended for people at risk of radicalization and based on volunteering, it would not have been very diligent according to this media and has never been officially considered as a " subject of interest "for the national security agency. 

Police and security services believe the assailant acted alone and was "self-radicalized," according to the

Sunday Times

.

It could have been inspired by Al-Shabab, Islamists linked to Al-Qaeda in Somalia.

Ali Harbi Ali's father, Harbi Ali Kullane, a former adviser to the Somali Prime Minister, confirmed to the

Sunday Times

that his son was in detention and said he was "very traumatized".

An organized candlelight vigil

John Lamb, a local Conservative adviser, told British media outlets that the young man waited patiently for his turn before pouncing on the MP and repeatedly stabbing him in front of two MP's assistants.

"I was told he stabbed Sir David and just waited in the church hall until the police arrived,"

association vice president Kevin Buck

told The

Telegraph

on Saturday.

constituency.

He had made an appointment a week in advance, according to the

Daily Mail

.

On Saturday evening, hundreds of people attended a candlelight vigil at a sports field near the scene of the crime, observing a minute of silence in memory of the MP.

As a sign of unity, Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson and opposition Labor leader Keir Starmer laid wreaths of flowers at the scene of the tragedy on Saturday morning.

"Fill gaps"

This murder rekindles the still recent trauma of the assassination of Labor MP Jo Cox in June 2016. The 41-year-old was shot and stabbed several times by a right-wing extremist, Thomas Mair, 53, a week before the UK referendum on EU membership.

These two dramas question the security arrangements surrounding deputies when they are in contact with the public in their constituencies. "We have to fill the gaps" in terms of security, Interior Minister Priti Patel told SkyNews. Asked about the establishment of police protection for deputies in their constituencies, the minister said that "all options were currently being considered". She said a "series of measures" had already been put in place since Friday.

David Amess himself had written about public harassment and online abuse in his book published last year.

"These growing attacks have rather spoiled the great British tradition which wants the people to openly meet their elected politicians," he said.