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Shot man was not bomber - police

by Open-Publishing - Sunday 24 July 2005
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Police - Repression UK

Shot man was not bomber - police

Jon Dennis, Mat Smith and agencies

The man shot dead in Stockwell tube station yesterday was not connected to the attempted bombings of London on July 21, police said tonight.

A police spokesman named the dead man as Jean Charles de Menezes, a 27-year-old Brazilian who had been living in London for the last three years, working as an electrician.

Police said the shooting was a "tragedy" and they expressed "regret".

In a statement, the Metropolitan police said: "We believe we now know the identity of the man shot at Stockwell underground station by police on Friday July 22 2005."

"We are now satisfied that he was not connected with the incidents of Thursday July 21 2005.

"For somebody to lose their life in such circumstances is a tragedy and one that the Metropolitan Police Service regrets.

"The man emerged from a block of flats in the Stockwell area that were under police surveillance as part of the investigation into the incidents on Thursday July 21.

"He was then followed by surveillance officers to the underground station. His clothing and behaviour added to their suspicions."

Scotland Yard said the circumstances of the man’s death were being investigated by the Met’s directorate of professional standards, and will be referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

The fatal shooting at Stockwell happened at 10am yesterday when armed plain clothes police officers shot a man as he tried to board a train at the underground station.

The Asian man then bolted down an escalator and tried to get on a train before he was, according to witnesses, shot five times in the head by an officer with an automatic pistol.

Train passenger Mark Whitby said: "As the man got on the train I looked at his face. He looked from left to right, but he basically looked like a cornered rabbit, like a cornered fox. He looked absolutely petrified.

"He sort of tripped but they were hotly pursuing him and couldn’t have been more than two or three feet behind him at this time.

"They unloaded five shots into him. I saw it. He’s dead, five shots, he’s dead."

The Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir Ian Blair, claimed yesterday that the shooting was "directly linked" to anti-terror operations.

London’s Mayor Ken Livingstone called the killing a "human tragedy."

"The police acted to do what they believed necessary to protect the lives of the public. This tragedy has added another victim to the toll of deaths for which the terrorists bear responsibility," he said.

’No one should rush to judgment’

The Muslim Council of Britain tonight "expressed its deepest condolences to the family of the innocent man".

"While we accept that the police are under tremendous pressure to apprehend the criminals who are attempting to cause carnage on the streets of London, it is absolutely vital that utmost care is taken to ensure that innocent people are not killed due to over-zealousness," said Sir Iqbal Sacranie, the council’s secretary-general.

The council said it had "received numerous calls from distressed British Muslims" since yesterday’s shooting.

The human rights organisation Liberty said no one should "rush to judgment"

Liberty’s director Shami Chakrabarti said: "Our hearts go out to the family of the dead man and to the officers involved in this tragic incident ... These are knife-edge split second decisions made in moments of grave danger. We have a massive shared interest in the protection of innocent lives."

Glen Smyth, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file officers in the capital, said: "It would be unwise to speculate on all the circumstances until we know what happened. Police officers in these circumstances are expected to make split second decisions that have lifelong consequences."

Downing Street confirmed that Tony Blair had been informed of the latest development but made no further comment.

"The prime minister is kept updated with every development in relation to this investigation," a No 10 spokeswoman said.

The Home Office did not want to comment on the shooting. "It’s an operational matter for the police," said a spokeswoman.

Second man arrested in hunt for bombers

Meanwhile two men were tonight being questioned by police investigating Thursday’s attempted bomb attacks on London’s transport network.

Both men were arrested in raids on addresses in Stockwell, south London, near the tube station where the man was shot dead by police yesterday.

The first was arrested at about 4.30pm yesterday and the other at around midnight.

Both men are being held at London’s high-security Paddington Green police station.

Public response to CCTV images

The arrests came after police released closed-circuit TV pictures of four men suspected of trying to detonate the London bombs.

Police were today sifting through fresh information gathered from phone calls and emails they have received since police released CCTV images of the four bomb suspects. Almost 500 calls have been made to the anti-terrorist hotline and more than 80 emails have been received via the Met’s website.

Assistant commissioner Andy Hayman said today: "The responsible attitude shown the public in providing us with information, and the volume of calls we have received and the quality of information, is extremely encouraging."

But he added: "We are still keen to hear from as many people as possible who have information about these suspects. Do you know them? Do you recognise them? Have you seen them anywhere, either on the day of the attacks, or before or since?

"I would remind everyone that these men should not be approached - if you see them, please call 999. Any other information can be given to the anti-terrorist hotline on 0800-789 321.

"Tell us what you know, and let us take responsibility for deciding if it is relevant. I would urge the public to store this number in their mobile phones and if you see or hear anything you think is suspicious, please use it."

The first man was arrested after armed police stormed on to a Stockwell housing estate at about 4.30pm yesterday.

Police refused to comment on reports that he was one of the men captured in the CCTV pictures.

The man was thought to be the son-in-law of a woman living at the address raided by police. Neighbours said the family were Muslims, originally from Ethiopia.

The arrested man’s wife and young son were also led away by police, according to residents living in the same block of flats.

The arrest was part of a fast-moving day in the bid to trace the four men, who police believe were responsible for rucksack bombs found on underground trains at Oval, Warren Street and Shepherd’s Bush stations and on a No 26 bus in Shoreditch on Thursday.

The capital was on a state of alert and parts of the transport system were brought to a halt by security scares throughout the day.

Armed police also raided an address in Portnall Road, West Kilburn, west London, which they believe may have been connected to one of the bombers.

Witnesses reported seeing a robot sent into the garden before officers fired six shots into the windows and basement of the house from a building across the street and used CS gas.

Inter Milan cancel tour of England

Italian football giants Inter Milan today cancelled a planned tour of England, citing safety fears. The Serie A team were due to visit Leicester on Monday night before three further friendlies against Crystal Palace, Norwich and Portsmouth within the next week.

A statement on Inter’s official website said: "Football has taken a step back because of increasing serious events which touch the sensitivity of everyone. For this reason, and given the situation, the club has decided to cancel the team’s tour of England." [More on Inter Milan’s decision]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/attackonl...

Forum posts

  • Perhaps this young Catholic, knew too much about the recent bombings? Perhaps—he a had a tale to tell? Dead men tell no tales, now count ’em up: David Kelly, on & on.
    3,000 innocent Americans, 9/11. 1,800 G.I.’s in Iraq, not counting the battle in Afghanistan.
    How many Iraqi’s? Many reliable sources say over 110K innocent men, women & children. Look at the timing of these bombings: One day after London’s euphoria over Olympics coming to U.K.---Patriot Act being debated in U.S.—ratings for Iraqi war, Bush, Blair in the toilet.
    Who benefits, who gains?? It’s the Hegglian Principle in full tilt boogies mode!! They’ve loosed the hounds of anxiety, on the once free—world, now because of these wealthy war mongrels---who want the new world order realized over the next 20-40 yrs—to replace the cold war era.
    Something had to replace it.
    The Project for a new American Century’ was written by the neo-con’s at the end of the cold war---these chickenhawks get paid in millions of dollars$$ of our taxes—to create a living hell for the poor people, in the places where American business interest lie. Most Americans can’t even pronounce their names. The Muslim people are the new-’non-white’ —panzies---people who are considered, foreign, maybe even inferior to the white supremists. We had better get with the program, get in the game---and remove these evildoers(Bush, Cheney, Wolfowitz,etc)....before it’s too late. They seem to want world economic collapse, chaos, upheaval. ARM-A-GEDDION---armed disaster...throughout the Middle East----and who will gain there?
    The Zionists in the Likud party!! Not the ’true Jews’—who study & follow the Torah----which is in direct opposition to the sinister, and violent Zionist terrorism. The American media is controlled by the Z.O.A./AIPAC/ADL...so we get a very pro-Israel message...and nothing about the poor Palestinian plight. Wake up---all good people, before these Fascists once again cause world war!!
    Miquel Sarducci

  • OF COURSE HE COULDNT HAVE BEEN A BOMBER- he couldnt have been carrying a bomb on him the last day of his life, for the simplest of reasons: if he had a bomb on him he would have detonated it as soon as he boarded the train, or even before. Seeing that he was going to be captured or shot, and prepared to die, as a suicide bomber must be, he would have wanted to take other people with him in a blast and wouldnt have waited for those stupid police officers to plant their bullets in his head.
    That’s common sense and I wonder how these ’trained’ cops couldnt tell a scared guy running for his life, from a potentially dangerous suicide bomber. If that’s all their training’s worth, maybe the govenment could save taxpayers’ money and instead of paying those incompetent thugs, just hand guns to train and bus passengers before boarding. I m sure they would do the job in a similar or even better way.
    Oh, and by the way, someone should inform the british police and the public that not only ’Asian’ people have dark hair and skin.