Call for review of police policy - London tube shooting

[osaMABUSh]

"Muslim leaders have called for a review of police policy on apprehending suspects after the shooting of a man unconnected to the London bombings."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4711169.stm

Also, looks like this is more trouble for Blair:
"The last thing he needs politically is for an innocent man to be to be shot, and to be shot so publicly in front of so many horrified witnesses. "

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4711275.stm

[LeftCoast]

1. Witnesses saying he was held down and then shot

Anyone else hearing this?

[osaMABUSh]

3. Yes, I heard an eye witness (on NPR) say that

[WearyOne]

4. yes first witness reports say foot was placed on his back and five

bullets pumped into his head.

Those witnessess probably told to shut up by now.

[WearyOne]

2. I had a strange feeling this man was innocent but I think he was

deliberately shot anyway as a lesson to everyone else.

I hope his family back home sue the hell out of them.

[savemefromdumbya]

5. the guy probably knew too much

and was shut up?

[bassman79]

6. That's what it looks like

Probably was supposed to be a patsy, but didn't show up when and where he was supposed to. The police were staking out his house. Rather than arrest him they followed him to the tube and then shot him there to try to say they thwarted a bombing. The police said he was connected to an "anti-terrorism" operation.

[savemefromdumbya]

8. yes

I believe there is a more sinister plot going around and these guys are just 'fringe characters' Tony Baloney is having a terror summer in Britain. Wonder why?

[bassman79]

10. Don't forget they made the Patriot Act permanent...

on the day of the second bombing. Also, British parliament voted for their own patriot act when before the second bombing the vote was in doubt. Just like when the congressmen and senators got the anthrax in the mail right as they were debating the Patriot act the first time.

It's like every time Bush and Blair really could use a terrorist attack Al-Queda magically pops up and attacks on cue. Like remember when on the Friday before the election how Osama popped up and endorsed Kerry! This stuff would be hilarious if it weren't so serious.

[savemefromdumbya]

14. exactly

remember the bombings of Bali? I really don't know what the rest of the Labour Party in Britain is doing. I wonder are they adding something to the water supply over there? They should have ditched B-liar years ago! Smells of rotten fish!

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

20. They did NOT vote for their own "Patriot act"

Have you even read the text of the legislation, or are you simply assuming that US=UK? That legislation in NO WAY resembles the Patriot act, and it's foolish and wrong to suggest that they are identical.

[cire4]

11. Please...if British authorities were going to lie.

they certainly could do a much better job than this

[bassman79]

15. You'd think but...

I think the real problem is that only a very few of the police are involved in the conspiracy. When the good cops get to the scene they tell the reporters the way it is, "Military Explosives", "Recovered Timing Devices" etc...

Then the head of Scotland Yard B-liar2 gets up there and says "Homemade explosives", "Suicide Bombers"


Thus all the mixed messages.

[daleo]

17. It's true, they did a fair job when lying about the Iraq war.

So did Bush.

[TomClash]

7. HE WAS A FUCKING BRAZILIAN!

The man, who died at Stockwell Tube on Friday, has been named by police as Jean Charles de Menezes, 27.

Scotland Yard said Mr Menezes, who lived in Brixton, south London, was completely unconnected to the bomb attacks and added: "For somebody to lose their life in such circumstances is a tragedy and one that the Metropolitan Police Service regrets."

The Brazilian government has expressed its shock at the killing and Brazil's foreign minister Celso Amorim is on his way to London to get an explanation from foreign secretary Jack Straw.

The family of Mr Menezes told the Brazilian media there was nothing in his past which would give him a reason to run from police.

Mr Menezes' cousin, Alex Alves, told O Globo television: "I asked that the body be released as quickly as possible, we need to bring him to Brazil, which is what the family wants".

"He does not have a past that would make him run from police," he said.

Mr Alves said Mr Menezes, who was from the city of Gonzaga in Minas Gerais state, had lived in London legally for at least three years and was employed as an electrician. Civil rights groups have called for a full inquiry into the shooting.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4711021.stm

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

22. He does not have a past that would make him run from police," he said.

But the fact remains that he ran from the police, on the tube no less, and the reasons for that must be explored in order to prevent another tragedy like this from happening.

[TomClash]

27. How do you know he ran?

And the people who were chasing him were not in uniform. How would you know they were police?

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

9. Question:

Were those cops? I doubt it. Sounds a lot more like SAS to me.

[bassman79]

13. They were plain clothes..

and police in London don't carry guns. They weren't police.

[oscarmitre]

18. Some police do carry guns

in Britain. I would suggest that these were police officers. And they put the bullets into his brain because that's how they were trained to deal with suicide bombers. This is a tragedy but the police had no choice. There is sufficient independent oversight of the police in Britain for there to be no coverup. And remember much of the media is still free.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

21. I'm absolutely astonished by the response here on DU...

Everyone here is taking somethign that would have been in the fucking lifestyle section of the NYT and claiming that it's evidence that Britian is responding to terror in the same way the US does. I *thought* this was supposed to be a place where people didn't view other cultures through the lens of their own culture, but I'm finding out that this isn't the case at all. The people responsible for this act will most likely pay with their careers. This will be discussed ad infinitum in public forums, with no right-wing media screeching that they were patriots. It was a horrible mistake, and it will be dealt with. How many innocent people were killed by cops with guns in the US this year? More than one? Yet nobody seems to view THAT as a sign of creeping fascism.

I am disappointed in my country's reaction to this. For fuck's sake, stop acting like Britain is exactly like the US.

[leesa]

12. Such a tragedy, but maybe it will wake Brits up to the folly of these anti

terrorism tactics and wars, etc

[Bonescrat]

16. regrets...?

"For somebody to lose their life in such circumstances is a tragedy and one that the Metropolitan Police Service regrets."

Regrets?

uh...

Congratulations UK

Now we weep for you too...

[Matilda]

19. The "shoot-to-kill" policy was put in place by Lord Stevens.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4711169.stm

The troll who now writes for Murdoch in one of his trashiest papers.

That's good enough reason to throw it out and start reworking policy
fast.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

23. Maybe if we ask them nicely...

...they'll stop bombing the tube.

[Matilda]

24. Point is, an innocent man was quite brutally killed.

He had nothing to do with the earlier bomb attacks.

Bad enough to have to worry about suicide bombers without having
to worry about the cops too.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

25. But the fact remains...

If he hadn't run, he wouldn't be dead. If he had been a suicide bomber, the actions of the police might have saved countless lives. It's a hopeless situation with no moral high ground.

[Matilda]

26. I know, we don't know why he ran -

fear, confusion, or maybe he was even just running to catch the
train.

And I know that the police can't take unnecessary risks with a
suspected bomber, but five bullets to the head of a man who was
already restrained suggests a totally over-the-top reaction to
the situation, and excessive zeal seems to be the only explantion.

It's not a good situation - police should be the calming influence,
not the aggressive one.

[LisaL]

28. And if the moon was made of cheese...

He wasn't the suicide bomber, and the actions of police caused a death of an innocent man, not saved any lives.

[NorthernSpy]

29. apparently, the police were not in uniform

So: a group of armed men -- in ordinary civvies -- confront you in a subway station.

I think that a panicked realization that you are about to become a victim of violent crime, and a consequent attempt to escape as fast as possible, would be perfectly understandable reactions to such a situation.