Now incorporating The Sudbury Hill Harrow and Wherever End Times

Monday, July 25, 2005

Running to catch a train? Shot dead

Short walk and the No2 bus - a very ordinary journey to death

Could Jean Charles de Menezes have been shot because he ran to catch a train arriving in the station? He was late for his appointment in Kilburn, ran to catch the train, and as he reached the doors, was felled by detectives and shot. If there were any challenges*, he might not have been aware that they were for him, for example.

Somebody on Radio 4 just asked the question, why was he allowed to make a bus journey if they thought he was a suicide bomber? That's another puzzle. You can visualise the police not thinking of killing him till he started to run -- to catch a train?

*There are reports that the secret new Kratos guidelines police are operating under forbid any warnings to suspected suicide bombers. They are to be shot without warning. You can draw your own conclusions. Ed.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am sorry this happened, as is everyone who has watched the events of the past two weeks unfold. There is an independent inquiry in progress now. I think special police units are trained to shoot first, ask questions later. In Toronto several months ago outside Union Station (main transport hub for regular trains plus underground) there was an incident in which a man held his wife hostage. He had a gun at her head. Marksmen shot him on the spot, much to the horror of morning rush hour onlookers. Obvious threat levels are different in these cases, but the marksmen in Toronto had one purpose - it wasn't about negotiating. Maybe these "specialists" are ex-army and doubly programmed to use their weapons. ? I don't know.

Anonymous said...

We have since learned that he had taken his seat, was beckoned out of it, grabbed and shot in the head repeatedly. As bad a crime as some of the worst we ever hear about. And the killers were sent for a holiday.