LONDON (SD) – Ali Harbi Ali spoke for the first time about why he attacked and killed Sir David Amess, a Member of the UK Parliament.

The Somali-British man told a jury hearing his case that he had intentionally killed the lawmaker, noting that the lawmaker was one of the members who had voted to harm the Syrian people.

“He voted previously in Parliament, not just him,” he said. “I decided to do it because I felt that if I could kill someone who made decisions to kill Muslims, it could prevent further harm to those Muslims.”

He also said he killed the lawmaker as a message to fellow lawmakers, noting that Sir David would not vote again.

Ali Harbi said he wanted to be martyred after killing the lawmaker, but two unarmed soldiers arrived the murder scene.

The Somali man is the son of Harbi Ali Kulane, a former information officer in the office of the Prime Minister of Somalia.