BATLEY, England — Almost a month after a British minister of Parliament was shot and stabbed outside a library near here before a town-hall meeting, crowds of constituents lined the streets in advance of her private funeral.
The services for Jo Cox, a Labor Party politician elected in May 2015, were delayed in part because of the post mortem necessary after a suspicious death. Her body was not released to her family for more than a week after her June 16 death.
Cox was killed in Birstall, about 200 miles north of London, six days before her 42nd birthday.
Well-wishers in Heckmondwike, less than 2 miles from Cox's hometown of Batley, applauded as her funeral cortege passed through the marketplace. Children from Norristhorpe Junior & Infant School in nearby Liversedge were among the first of the mourners to throw white roses in the path of the cars.
One woman walked into the road as the cars passed to lay a large bouquet on the bonnet of the gray hearse, which was strewn with roses and sunflowers. Cox's coffin could be seen in the back of the vehicle surrounded by white floral tributes.
In Batley, crowds also applauded and threw flowers in front of the procession.
The funeral was private at the request of Cox's husband, Brendan Cox. They have two children, ages 3 and 5.
"Jo wld ask us not 2 fight hate with hate but draw together 2 drain the swamp that extremism breeds in," Brendan Cox tweeted early in the day in the shorthand of Twitter. "Thinking of all victims of hatred 2day"
Commentators have blamed the killing of Cox — who had backed Britain to remain in the European Union — in part on the angry mood whipped up by the rhetoric of some in the “leave” camp. She was killed a week before the Brexit vote in which 52% of those in the United Kingdom voted to leave the E.U.
In the United States, people saw parallels between her death and the Jan. 8, 2011, attack on Rep. Gabby Giffords, D-Ariz., who was shot along with 18 others during a meeting with constituents in a shopping-center parking lot in suburban Tucson, Ariz. Giffords survived but has lasting difficulties with speaking and walking because of her injuries.
In Cox's killing, Suspect Thomas Mair, 52, of Birstall, has been charged with murder and is scheduled for trial in November. He also is charged with possession of a firearm with intent to commit murder, possession of a knife, and grievous bodily harm in connection with the assault of Bernard Carter-Kenny, 78, of Birstall, who was stabbed as he tried to stop the attack.
Carter-Kenny spent four days in an area hospital but now continues to recover at home.
Contributing: The Associated Press. Follow the (Bradford, England) Telegraph & Argus on Twitter: @Bradford_TandA
