U.K. police have charged a 25-year-old man with lawmaker David Amess’ murder

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Floral tributes and pictures of British lawmaker David Amess lie outside the Houses of Parliament in London on wednesday. Amess was killed on Friday during a meeting with constituents in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, England.

Matt Dunham/AP

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Matt Dunham/AP

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Police say the fatal stabbing of a U.K. lawmaker was a terrorist act

The death of Amess, who had served in Parliament for almost 40 years and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2015, has shocked Britain’s politicians, who pride themselves on being accessible to their constituents. It has prompted conversations at the highest levels about how the country protects its leaders and grapples with extremism at home.

The slaying came five years after Labour Party lawmaker Jo Cox was shot and stabbed to death by a far-right extremist. Cox was the first British lawmaker to be killed since a peace accord ended large-scale Northern Ireland violence almost 30 years earlier.

Amess, 69, was a social conservative who opposed abortion, campaigned for animal rights and strongly supported Britain’s exit from the European Union.

Matt Jukes, the Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner for Specialist Operations, said the force «will continue to build our case.» He said detectives had analyzed computers, searched several London addresses and reviewed CCTV footage as part of the investigation.

«It remains the case that no other arrests have been made and at this time we are not seeking anybody else in relation to this incident,» he said.