blog.kennypearce.net

Independent Commission: London Police Lied About Jean Charles de Menezes

The New York Times passes along a report from British news outlet ITV (see also the longer article in The Observer) which obtained leaked documents from the Independent Police Complaints Commission suggesting that the London Police lied about the circumstances surrounding the death of Jean Charles de Menezes, the innocent Brazilian man who was executed without trial on the Tube last month in connection with the terrorist attacks of July 21.

If you are about to complain that the phrase "executed without trial" is excessive hyperbole, or somehow misrepresents the situation, don't bother. The new report states that Menezes was not wearing a heavy coat (only a thin denim jacket), did not react to being followed, did not flee from police, and was already seated on the train when the police boarded. He did not trip and fall to the ground as was previously suggested, nor did he jump the turnstile. The police shot him (no less than 8 times) because they mistook him for a suspected terrorist. According to the Times article, and unidentified police officer told the independent commission, "I grabbed the male in the denim jacket ... then pushed him back onto the seat where he had been previously sitting. I then heard a gunshot very close to my left ear ..." There does not seem to have been any evidence that Mr. Menezes was an imminent threat to the passengers on the train but, because he was mistaken for someone else who was wanted in connection with the terrorist investigation, he was shot to death on the spot. This is outrageous. I want to see criminal charges pressed against the police officers involved.