Thursday, August 18, 2005

Outraged

That's how I feel when I read the new findings on the circumstances that lead to the gruesome killing of an innocent man mistaken for a suicide bomber. 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 apologised to his family and the Brazilian government.

It turns out 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. 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 Hamdi Issac, also known as Osman Hussain, one of the suspected bombers from the day before, or another suspect, at which point he was shot. The crucial mistake that led to de Menezes' death may have occurred that morning as he left his apartment, when surveillance officers spotted him and he was misidentified as a possible terrorist.

There are already calls for the London's police chief to resign over this unacceptable incident. Pressure was growing as a panel investigating the shooting death of de Menezes met with his family's lawyers. Once again, this shows that unfortunately, the terrorists have achieved their objectives.




2 comments:

  1. died for nothing! that's really sad

    ReplyDelete
  2. It's really worrying the direction the human populace is heading to...

    ReplyDelete