A man has been arrested after a video appearing to show spit on a memorial to murdered MP Sir David Amess was shared on social media leaving the family ‘deeply upset’.
Essex Police said the man, in his 30s, is being questioned on suspicion of a public order offence and criminal damage.
In a now deleted video shared on TikTok, a man appeared to film himself spitting multiple times on a statue of Sir David on Southend seafront, days after the fifth anniversary of his death.
Sir David was stabbed to death at a constituency surgery on October 15 2021 by so-called Islamic State fanatic Ali Harbi Ali.
He was sentenced to a whole-life order for the murder the following year.
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The Conservative MP served for nearly 40 years until he was killed at the age of 69.
His said earlier this week that they were ‘deeply upset by what they have seen’.
Essex Police said they received a report about the video on Wednesday.
The family welcome the investigation, with a spokesperson saying: ‘David believed passionately in freedom of expression and the right to disagree.
‘He understood that people would hold different political views, sometimes profoundly so.
‘But disagreement should never be an excuse for abandoning basic standards of decency and respect.
‘David was murdered because of the extremism of another individual. Five years on, his family continues to live with the consequences of that terrible loss.’
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