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Update on the Case of the Trigger-Happy Police Officers Who Killed a Terror Suspect (September 2005)

Since the shocking shooting of an innocent Brazilian man at Stockwell Tube Station in London, the Metropolitan Police Force has made a number of admissions which clearly (in my opinion) demonstrate terrible wrongdoings on their part. It was originally believed Jean (the deceased) was wearing a padded jacket. This allowed those who supported the police to claim that officers could have made the mistake of believing he was concealing a bomb under the jacket and was intent on blowing himself, and the tube train, up. This has since been shown to be a myth; the police have admitted he was wearing a thin denim jacket.

Jean was, it has been revealed, shot EIGHT times; seven times in teh head and once in the shoulder. Was this necessary?

It has also been shown to be untrue that he was seen running from the police, jumping over a barrier. The police have admitted he did not do this. Presumably the person who provided the story to the media was just tryting to cash in on this tragedy. He was simply followed to the tube station after a police officer, who was relieving himself at the time and did not get a good look at Jean, saw Jean leave a building being kept under surveillence for POSSIBLY being involved in terrorist activities. Jean was only approached by the police, who followed him a considerable distance unknown tot he deceased, as he was about to step on the tube train. Within moments he was shot once in teh shoulder and then held down where he was shot (with the gun touching his head) seven more times. Is it any wonder that after entering the tube train he looked like a terrified rabbit?

Why did they shoot this man who was not carrying a bag and only wore a thin jacket? He could not possibly have been seen to be a suicide bomber by any individual who was acting in a calm, professional manner. It is understandable the police would be acting emotionally because a number of people had died in suicide bombings weeks earlier but this paranoia has had a costly price and I look forward to the officers responsible being brought to justice; life imprisonment. Nothing less will be acceptable.

The following is what I wrote on this page on the day of the incident:
Trigger-happy officers from the Metropolitan Police Force today (22 July 2005) killed a man at a London tube station in what can only be described as a highly worrying occurrence.

The man, who has not yet been identified, was seen being pursued by a number of plain clothes police officers. He was seen running though the station and he jumped over a barrier. He then ran onto a tube train, tripped but did not fall, and then was pushed over by the officers. Two held him down and restrained him while the third shot him five times from very close range. A witness who was stood just three or four feet away described the police “pumping” bullets into the man.

The police have publicly stated that the man did not respond to requests to stop. Officers therefore, apparently, had no choice but to kill him. Is this true? Two officers, pinned him down, with a third officer present, and so he was outnumbered. Instead of shooting the man could they not have handcuffed him, taken him into custody and questioned him? The police say they could not but was it really necessary to shoot five times, killing him outright? Could they not have adopted some other approach?

What was the man’s crime? It has not been determined he did anything wrong. It has been said that he was being targeted in connection with the attempted bombings in London yesterday. However, it is known without doubt he was not one of the bombers (photographs of the men responsible have now been released). The man was a suspect in terrorist activity but only a suspect. Was it right to kill him without giving him the proper opportunity to defend himself? In this country we are all supposedly innocent until proven guilty. I understand that emotions are high at present but this does not justify extreme methods of dealing with people who are only suspected of terrorist activity.

The man did not have any bag and was holding nothing. He was wearing a padded coat, which seemed suspicious to one witness although people do wear thick clothing even at this time of year. Today was not particularly hot. It was quite warm but not hot enough to prevent someone from wearing a jacket.

Even if the man was a terrorist, which has yet to be proven, this is terribly worrying for the British public. Under terrorism legislation it is perfectly legal for officers to shoot to kill if they suspect someone of being a suicide bomber. After Harry Stanley (the man murdered by Metropolitan Police Officers when he was shot dead for carrying a table leg, which was mistakenly believed to be a shotgun) one would have hoped lessons had been learnt. If I was walking through a London tube station and suddenly three men came running at me, I would probably run fearing that they were trying to mug me. As they would be in plain clothes I would have no way of knowing they were police officers. No witnesses of today’s incident heard the officers saying they were police officers. They merely told the man to “Get out” (i.e. get out of the train). If three men shouted at me to get out of a train how would I know they were police officers? Could I too be pushed to the ground and have bullets pumped into me without me having a chance to defend myself?

I have already heard real life examples of how police officers have searched black people, and people with beards, under legislation. They only seem to target those whose appearance indicates they could be a follower of Islam, which is reassuring for me because I often use the Underground, but not good news for our large Muslim community, the majority of whom are totally innocent and good members of society. It is worrying that anyone who could be targeted by police officers and who, for whatever reason, decides to run, could find themselves being shot dead unnecessarily. It would be far more appropriate to make an arrest so that valuable information can potentially be gleaned from the suspect. I fear that many people could die needlessly as a direct result of trigger-happy police officers. There is nothing to prove this man was intending to blow up the train and so without proof he should not have been killed. Killing someone is a high price to pay simply because three policemen had a hunch.

What are your views on this dramatic event? I would be interested in hearing from you. If you share my views I would urge you to contact your MP to request that urgent reconsideration be made of the right for police officers to kill suspects.

UPDATE (23 July) The man executed by police officers at Stockwell Tube Station was not involved in terrorist activity, it has now been confirmed. He was a Brazillian man staying in Britain and was totally innocent of any crime. The police have announced their "regret" at killing him. I sincerely hope other innocent people do not lose their lives as a consequence of the actions of the Metropolitan Police Force. This is a deeply worrying matter.
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