They were plainclothed officers.
This whole story is just FUBAR. It is sad because we are dealing with a population that is terrified and completely on the edge and a police force that is desperate to perform the nearly impossible task of stopping a terrorist act before it occurs.
A completely innocent man who has nothing to do with terrorists or their filthy religion was killed and that is a tragedy. Meanwhile, the real terrorists are laughing as British cops become reluctant to challange terror suspects for fear of repeating this mistake.
Thanks for a rational statement. My sentiments exactly.
did the PLAINSCLOTHES police IDENTIFY themselves as police??!! If you were caught in what looks like a terroist situation, and a bunch of guy in street clothes start waving guns, do you just stand there or run? THINK, PEOPLE!
Don't run. Stop, when the Police tell you. It will increase your life expectancy.
They were plainclothed officers.
In downtown London, if you have more than a couple of people with guns (outlawed in England), you can safely assume they are the police. There is no way you could think they were someone else. No other plausible explantation to me.
I do agree though, there has to be more to the story, I just think the guy can't be innocent, unless he's a complete idiot.
I'm not going to be so quick to say he was totally innocent. Why did he jump the turnstile; why wouldn't he stop when they told him to; why act like a suspect if you're not? And what was he doing at the address being watched?
You know, not everyone in the suicide bombing business is Muslim or Arab. They have to get supplies from someone, for instance. As an electrician, could this guy have been a supplier of some of the things needed to make, and wire, a bomb? Maybe his motivation was money, not ideology.
Yes, it's so easy to criticize his actions here at the computer with a heart rate of 70 and sipping morning coffee. This guy was confronted with what looked like four men about to assault or kill him. Rational, balanced thought goes out the window. He has to decide in a split second what to do. So he does what his physiology tells him to do when he is outnumbered and threatened - flee. At that point, he is concentrating on getting away. Verbal commands are dificult to process when you are under such extreme stress. Most likely he was already panicked when they yelled "Police" and he didn't even hear it.
Ever been concentrating on something on the computer and you spouse says something directly to you and you don't hear it? Multiply that by a hundred times.
How do we know he is innocent? Maybe he runs materials for terrorists.