Juan Cole says Suspect who was Shot in Britain was Unarmed

[Chicago Democrat]

(snip)

London plainclothes police were on the trail of a suspected member of a terror network when he bolted in a subway. He was wearing a thick coat in the middle of a humid summer day, and it appears that the police were afraid he might be concealing a bomb. When he tripped--or in some reports they tripped him-- they shot him several times. Eyewitnesses say that he had a "horrified" look on his face when he tripped and fell. He was not one of the four bombers police are seeking from the failed July 21 bombing attempts. He turned out not to be armed, and the incident has raised alarms among the British Muslim community.

For anyone who knows the UK, this incident is startling. Most British police are not armed, and the shooting of unarmed but suspicious persons is infinitely less common there than in the United States.


(snip)

http://juancole.com/

[Chicago Democrat]

1. I heard reports he had a 'bomb on with wires showing'

this stinks

[Canuckistanian]

2. But he was PLANNING to arm himself

Well, he may not have had it down on paper, but there were arming-related activities.

[enid602]

3. UK

". . .and the shooting of unarmed but suspicious persons is infinitely less common there than in the United States." As if centuries of slavery, colonialism and classism would make them immune from any sort of unseemly racism. Indeed.

[malaise]

4. What frightened me from the BBC eyewitness reports

was that the man was on the ground and they shot him five times. Seems mighty strange to me.

[Chicago Democrat]

5. Yeah, dont wear bulky cloths STUPID!

obviously the police are not at fault

[malaise]

7. Well one shot to the leg might have worked just as well

five shots when the person is already on the ground sounds a little excessive unless the plan was to kill. I'll wait for reports because it is very unusual for this to happen in England.
<edit -sp>

[Chicago Democrat]

8. Die! Terrorist! Die!

totally stupid...like bullets wont set off a bomb.

[dmkinsey]

6. "Don't shoot it's just a wallet"

Oh, sorry, got stuck in a time warp for a second there

[AuntieM1957]

9. Killed for wearing a coat and not speaking English

what a sad, sad day for all of us.

The terrorists won this one resoundedly. They created such fear in those police officers that they saw what WASN'T there.

A brown face in a long coat. This story made me cry several times today.

[malaise]

10. Turns out he was also innocent

and not connected to any bombing. He is not linked to any inquiry. So they're sorry now but he is dead.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4711021.stm

[malaise]

11. The innocent was a Brazilian

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4711021.stm

[Chicago Democrat]

12. Notice Juan Cole had the earliest reports of the the truth....

Go Juan...