The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales Wednesday sentenced Ali Harbi Ali, an ISIS follower, to life imprisonment for engaging in terrorist activities and murdering lawmaker David Amess.

Ali was sentenced for two crimes by the court. He was sentenced for engaging in preparation of terrorist acts between May 1, 2019 and September 28, 2021. He was also sentenced for the murder of Parliament member David Amess by stabbing him at least 20 times by knife.

The court in its factual analysis mentioned that Ali was recruited and radicalized by ISIS around 2014-2016 to carry out Jihad on behalf of the Islamic State in Syria. He was advised by an Islamic State spokesman over the internet to carry out a domestic act of terrorism.

He first targeted Michael Gove by researching his home address and drawing up written options for an attack upon him. Other than Grove, Ali researched four other members of Parliament and a member of the House of Lords. This included David Amess, Mike Freer and Stephen Timms.

Ali ultimately decided to attack Amess, stabbing him at least 20 times.  The police were then able to arrest him. During interrogation, he admitted that he committed the murder, that he was acting in revenge, and that he wanted to influence politicians.

The court sentenced Ali to a whole life sentence as the act was committed for the purposes of terrorism.