Well, he was assassinated all right, but it doesn't remind me of Fortuyn in any way.
I just saw the interview clip with Charles Barron repeated, and yes I know Barron's a madman, but if he's telling the truth it seems like Askew was seriously mentally ill.
Barron said that Davis had brought Askew over to introduce him. Barron went to shake his hand and was rewarded with a look so intense it made him draw back ("I was like, 'whoa'"). Davis shrugged it off, said it was no big deal, don't worry, "the guy's military but he'll calm down soon". As Davis and Askew were leaving he said to Barron, "By the way, this guy used to be against me, now he's with me." Apparently Askew had decided to withdraw his name from the race and join Davis' campaign staff instead. That's why he was there as Davis' guest.
Strangely enough, it's now come out that Askew filed a complaint with the FBI (!) a few hours before the shooting, claiming Davis was harassing him. The FBI turned the report over to the NYPD this afternoon, after they heard about the shooting. And that's all we know.
But it sounds like Askew and Davis knew each other all too well, as opposed to Fortuyn and the vegan.
FRom NY1:
http://www.ny1.com/ny/NY1ToGo/Story/index.html?topicintid=1&subtopicintid=1&contentintid=31940 The man who shot and killed City Councilman James Davis in an unprecedented attack at City Hall Wednesday was a one-time political rival of the councilman who may have held a grudge against him even as the two men appeared to reconcile their differences.
Davis, a first-term councilman from Brooklyn's 35th Council District, was gunned down by 31-year-old Othniel Askew during a routine hearing in the Council chambers shortly after 2 p.m. Tuesday.
Askew, who was shot by a plainclothes police officer, later died.
Askew had initially planned to run against Davis for his Council seat in the upcoming election, but the two men had recently decided to join forces. Sources say they began the day at Davis' Brooklyn office before going to City Hall together.
At an early evening press conference, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said that video cameras at City Hall recorded images of the two men speaking to each other as they entered the building. Both men walked around the building’s metal detectors, because Davis' position as a councilmember allowed him to bypass security measures.
Once inside the Council rotunda, Davis introduced Askew to several colleagues as a former opponent who was now working with him.
"This is the guy who was once against me, but now he's with me," Councilman Charles Barron quoted Davis as saying.
Councilman Kendall Stewart also said he had spoken with Askew before the shooting: "We had just had the conversation that he had made peace with his opponent and that he would be working with him."
However, Davis' relationship with Askew may not have been as close as it appeared.
An FBI official tells NY1 that Askew had filed a complaint against David with the bureau only hours before the shooting. According to the FBI, a man identifying himself as Askew phoned the New York City FBI office late Wednesday morning to report that Davis had been harassing him in connection with the upcoming primary election.
Askew made no threats of violence against the councilman.
The FBI official says that the information was forwarded to the bureau's Public Corruption Unit, and was later passed on to the New York Police Department after news of the shooting broke.
The NYPD is continuing its investigation of the incident.