Fortress London

Did he run from the police? Then I'd say yes. it's his fault.

Jellin,

<<Did he run from the police? Then I'd say yes. it's his fault.>>

It's now beginning to appear that the police were responsible for disseminating a false view of what actually happened.

The latest account is that he bought a paper, went through the barriers normally (didn't vault over), went down the escalator, got on a train, and was sitting on a seat when he was grabbed and pinned by one plainclothes policemen, who then claimed that he heard a gunshot 'close to my ear'. The other bullets were fired into Menezes' head as he lay on the floor.

The reason he was followed? He lived in the same apartment building as one of the bombers, and the policeman who was on surveillance at the time suggested 'he might be worth having a look at'.

The big problem with guns is that they are not suitable things for human beings to control. When it's possible to kill someone by the movement of a finger, innocent people are going to be killed. I do hope this poor man's death will cause a big shake up in the Metropolitan police so that such a senseless act can never take place again.

Agreed. It's been rather strange to be around DC since 9/11... seeing guys with machine guns, anti-aircraft guns near the freeway, and what I personally find to be the most chilling... those signs over the freeway that say "Report All Suspicious Activity" with the phone number for the homeland security department. *shudder* It all creeps me out in a big way. Personally I'd much rather accept increased risk in exchange for less Big Brother.

I'm sure you realise I'm not referring to genuine cases and I am referring to scroungers - in particular the kind who come to a country and work the system and then go about saying how badly treated they are just because they're foreign. Britain is about tolerance - not about lying down and getting trampled on.

Hmm, I feel completely the opposite about it. Then again, I work in one of those buildings that has heavily armed guards, which would also be one of the highest priorities for AA guns to protect, so maybe I'm biased. I mean...unless the AA guns are really secret telescopes or something, I'm not worried about Big Brother there.

Roberta,



Hope you can trace your ancestry back to William the Conqueror.

LONDON, England (CNN) -- A British television network has reported that an innocent Brazilian man shot dead by British police who mistook him for a London bombing suspect had been behaving normally before his death.

ITV News based its report on secret documents and photographs the network said it obtained about the death of Jean Charles de Menezes, an immigrant electrician who was shot eight times after being cornered in a subway car on July 22, a day after four failed attempts to bomb the city's transport system.

Police later admitted de Menezes had nothing to do with the terrorist attacks and apologized to his family and the Brazilian government.

ITV News, citing the documents and photographs, reported that de Menezes was not carrying any bags when he entered the Stockwell Tube station and was wearing a denim jacket, rather than a bulky coat as police had previously said.

De Menezes walked at a normal pace, did not vault any barriers and even stopped to pick up a newspaper, ITV News reported.

He descended to the train slowly on an escalator, then ran toward the open subway car and took a seat, according to ITV, which based its account on a document outlining what was captured on surveillance footage.

At about the same time, armed officers were provided with positive identification that de Menezes was either Hussain Osman, one of the suspected bombers from the day before, or another suspect, at which point he was shot, ITV News reported.

According to the network, the crucial mistake that led to de Menezes' death may have occurred that morning as he left his apartment and was spotted by surveillance officers, who misidentified him as a possible terrorist.

London police were authorized to shoot and kill suspects they believed might try to set off more subway bombs. Shortly after de Menezes' death, police justified their actions by saying he was acting suspiciously and tried to run from officers, forcing detectives to make a split-second decision to shoot him.

ITV News also reported that an autopsy showed that de Menezes was shot seven times in the head and once in the shoulder -- and that three other bullets missed.

Police declined to comment on the case while the investigation is continuing, ITV News reported.

In response to ITV's report, another British network, the BBC, reported that the Independent Police Complaints Commission, which is investigating de Menezes' death, was concerned about the leak of information about the case.

The IPCC released a statement to the BBC that de Menezes' family "will clearly be distressed" that they did not receive the information before it aired on television.

"The IPCC made it clear that we would not speculate or release partial information about the investigation, and that others should not do so. That remains the case," the commission told the BBC.