assassinated by Scotland yard

[planetit]

I was using the word accident in is older form, i.e. when two cars collide at a cross roads it is called "an accident".

I see. And you're sure you don't mean "mistake"?

[threaded]

No, I meant accident.

[BobTheCrate]

What made me/makes me suspicious was not so much the mistaken identity, but the reasoning & fashion in which this kid was killed.

It smacked of over excited, badly trained police officers who panicked. Not the highly trained material we are constantly being told of.

The suspect had been physically restrained and bore no threat to anyone's life. But still the Police shot him 7 times in the head at point blank range. Not because he posed a threat to life - but because it had been pre-ordered And that makes it an unmistakable execution.

Worse still. They deliberately mis-informed the public about the suspect in the belief that the station CCTV was not working

Mind you ... the IPCC enquiry hasn't concluded yet.

If he is not connected to terrorists then he is too fecking stupid to live, he is bound to make Darwin's awards of this year.

I could tell them [Menezes family] this in straight face -- what he did (if he is not related to terrorist attacks) is completely stupid and he deserved to get shot.

Yes .. very good. Something to be proud of there.

[AtW]

Yes .. very good. Something to be proud of there.

If the information reported in paper turns out to be true then my opinion holds. However if the info was incorrect (as it appears now) then I change my opinion accordingly -- would you have prefferred me to stick to my guns despite new evidence? Now that would be seriously wrong.

Clearly this incident teaches not to jump to conclusions until after investigation concludes.

[Churchill]

They shot him seven times in the head, once in the shoulder and missed with three rounds.

[BobTheCrate]

My grief with you original assumptions AtW was your acceptance that terrorist events should allow the Police to act with complete impugnity.

The fashion in which this kid was killed (described at the time) indicated a cold blooded execution; not a shoot to protect policy by well informed command and highly trained frontline officers.

I am not condemning Scotland Yard or our Police. I've said before and I'll say again they are 2nd to none in the world and most of the time have to act with one arm tied behind their back.

But that does not mean they can be trusted to act with complete impugnity whatever the circumstances and it is an unwise public that allows their police force (or Gov't) to do so. What ever the reasoning it is a recipe for much worse things to follow.

[AtW]

My grief with you original assumptions AtW was your acceptance that terrorist events should allow the Police to act with complete impugnity.

I never said that -- I am strongly for an independent investigation of any police shooting (there are so few of them that the Govt can afford to investigate well each instance), especially terrorist related shootings.

Having said that I formed an opinion in advance of that investigation based on information available in public press. If the information was incorrect, as it appears now, then clearly my opinion has to change because it is NOT based on premise of allowing police to shoot anyone, but on actual circumstances of the shooting as reported at the time.

[Miserable old man]

"I've said before and I'll say again they are 2nd to none in the world"

Where did you read that?

[threaded]

But what essentially is wrong with shooting the odd suspect?

[mattgreen]

What is of more concern is that the damage is done - the British people were immediatly 'softened' up to a) condoning a summary execution b) believing that everyones life was in imminent danger. This was done through either poor journalism or deliberate mis-information (the story about the guy wearing a padded jacket etc etc).

Once we pick apart the story and hear the truth, and should it prove that the killing was completely wrong, I would wager that not everyone will return their feelings to the post-shooting state - many will not even know the truth nor care for what it means. Others will hear the truth but will remain just that little more willing to accept these things.

I believe it is called the 'thin end of the wedge' and is something we must not tolerate at ALL. History is littered with such 'thin ends'.