London Officers Who Shot Brazilian Over Terrorist Fears Won't Be Charged

[LiberalHeart]

LONDON (AP) -- Police officers who shot and killed an innocent Brazilian they mistook for a suicide bomber will not face criminal charges, prosecutors said Monday in a decision a relative called "unbelievable."

Jean Charles de Menezes, 27, was killed by police on a London subway train last July 22 -- two weeks after four suicide bombers killed themselves and 52 commuters on three subway trains and a bus, and a day after a failed set of attacks. Police at the time apologized for the killing and said they had mistaken de Menezes for one of the suspects in the failed attacks.

More:
http://www.wtol.com/Global/story.asp?S=5161110

[truebrit71]

1. I agree with his relative...."unbelievable"....

Simply unbelievable..... :eyes:

[ShortnFiery]

3. Soldiers of The Empire(s) are never held accountable ...

Look at how many convictions that have been severe for murder, rape and other war crimes by the USA's Civilians and Military? <crickets chirping>

Don't cha know, little brown people from South America and Asia are highly expendable ... they're not really human. Our non-Muslim European religions, culture and peoples are all that matters. These terrorists hide under "brown skin" (& live in populated areas) so F**K them. We must kill these savages and the rest are guilty of being complicit. Let's bomb them into the Stone age? After all, it worked so well in Vietnam where GOOKS were considered today's TERRORISTS. :sarcasm:

New label, same propaganda tactics to make everyone who's against Britain, USA and Israel as *less than human.* That way we don't have to negotiate ... because these people are somehow LESS than human. Such bullshit, yet the sheeple continue to follow the warmongering murders we know as Our Dear Leaders. :(

[chelsea0011]

2. So it is now OK to chase down a citizen and kill them? WTF

[Bonobo]

5. Don't be so harsh. They apologized, didn't they!? Jeez!

[theHandpuppet]

4. Wow -- there's a surprise!

NOT.

[ikri]

6. Slightly misleading

The officers won't be charged for anything, however, the entire Metropolitan Police Force is facing charges for health & safety violations for failing to ensure the safety of the victim.

The entire episode was a colossal clusterfuck with communication failures at every level that led to officers believe that Jean Charles de Menezes was a danger.

There will be a public trial over this health & safety charge where the senior officers involved will be forced to justify their actions on the day.

[Warren Stupidity]

7. Oh screw that the charge ought to be murder and it ought to be

placed on the individuals who carried out the execution and the asshats who ordered it.

[Robb]

8. Ah, but it looks like we had to choose

...Individuals or asshats who ordered it? I vote for the asshats. ;)

[Solon]

9. Yeah, but for crying out loud did they even fire the guys who pinned him..

down and shot him in the head?

[MadHound]

10. Sorry, but if you put a five tap into an innocent man's head

For no good reason, and with no sort of provication, crazy me, I think you should face charges a bit more serious than health and safety violations. Crazy me, I think that justice would be served with a few murder charges for those officers involved. But sadly, this isn't going to happen. Instead with such a slap on the wrist, the cops are going to feel free to commit even more atrocities, and more innocents will die.

The law should apply to all, citizen or police officer, rich or poor. Sad to see Britain adapting America's two tier system of justice.

[bennywhale]

11. I think Manslughter due to gross negligence was being considered

which sounds fairly appropriate.

The atmosphere in the right wing press, tabloids and elsewhere at the time was frenzied. it was basically 'get these fuckers'. I think that filtered through to these firearms officers. They were whipped up to such an extent that when they sprinted onto the tube and got the guy the shot 11 times, 7 in the face. Something has gone seriously wrong there.

For firing that many times alone, they should be disciplined, its wholly unprofessional i imagine and reveals their state of mind. Nevertheless i'm not in the least bit surprised and Policemen never go to jail for anythiong ever. They are superhuman you see, live by different rules.

[ikri]

12. You're wrong here

The officers who actually shot De Menezes were led to believe he was a clear threat, and acted accordingly.

They did what they believed they had to do.

The people who need to be tried, and who will be examined most closely in the trial, are the senior officers who came to the conclusion that De Menezes was a threat. The health & safety charges are serious for the most senior officers who allowed the shooting to happen in the first place.

Do you really want to see two low level officers tried for murder and let the senior officers get off free? If the force itself isn't examined and forced to change its procedures then cases like this could happen again.

[magellan]

13. They ALL should be tried for murder and conspiracy to conceal a crime

Screw this health & saftey bollux.

That's my 2 pence.

[muriel_volestrangler]

14. The senior officers should be charged with manslaughter

The only 'evidence' that de Menezes was associated with terrorists was that he came from a shared building. The operation should have realised, right from the start of surveillance, that it was a shared building, and that innocent people would emerge from it. There was gross incompetance over a matter of hours.

What will happen to any policemen if the health and safety charges succeed? Will they be sacked, with no pension, for being so negligent? I hope they are already suspended from active duty, because they're a danger to the public, being so dumb.

[ikri]

15. I agree

And there's still hope that the police complaints commission will recommend that the senior officers involved in the incident, and more importantly any coverup, should be removed from their posts.

Not the best result at the end of the day, but if it leads to changes within the Met, then perhaps it won't all be in vain.

[IndianaGreen]

16. The life of a Brazilian has less worth than that of an Englishman

Yep, it's the old John Bolton philosophy about moral equivalency.