Posted on 07/24/2005 6:11:57 AM PDT by areafiftyone
Met Police chief Sir Ian Blair has apologised to the family of the Brazilian man shot dead by police in south London on Friday.
He said the death of Jean Charles de Menezes was a "tragedy", but admitted more people could be shot as police hunt suspected suicide bombers.
The 27-year-old electrician's family condemned the shooting and said there was no reason to suspect him.
Brazil's foreign minister said his country was "shocked" by the shooting.
Scotland Yard confirmed on Saturday that Mr Menezes, who lived in Brixton, south London, was completely unconnected to Thursday's attempted bombings on three Tube trains and a bus.
Two men have been arrested and are still being questioned.
Police carried out controlled explosions on Sunday on a suspect package found in north-west London which may be linked to the failed attacks.
Armed officers' dilemma
Speaking on Sky News, Sir Ian said: "This is a tragedy. The Metropolitan Police accepts full responsibility for this. To the family I can only express my deep regrets."
He said there was no reason the believe the four men sought over the failed bombings - whose images caught on CCTV were released on Friday - had left the country.
He acknowledged that "somebody else could be shot" as the hunt continued, but added "everything is done to make it right".
But he said the "shoot to kill" policy for dealing with suspected suicide bombers would remain in force.
"There is no point in shooting at someone's chest because that is where the bomb is likely to be," he said.
"There is no point in shooting anywhere else if they fall down and detonate it."
'Tragedy'
Mr Menezes's family is struggling to come to terms with the circumstances surrounding Mr Menezes' death.
JEAN CHARLES DE MENEZES
Born 07/01/78, a Brazilian national
Originally from the city of Gonzaga, 500 miles northeast of Sao Paulo in the south-eastern state of Minas Gerais in Brazil
Lived in Brixton, London for three years, working as an electrician
Family mourn police victim
His cousin, Alex Alves Pereira, from London, told the BBC: "Apologies are not enough. I believe my cousin's death was result of police incompetence."
Describing his cousin as a "person full of life" he said his cousin was "a victim of government's mistakes".
He said Mr Menezes was from the city of Gonzaga in Minas Gerais state and had lived in London legally for over three years.
Mr Menezes' grandmother, Zilda Ambrosia de Figueiredo, told Globo TV "there was no reason to think he was a terrorist".
'Shocked and perplexed'
Brazil's foreign minister Celso Amorim met officials at the Foreign Office in London on Sunday to seek an explanation for the shooting.
"The Brazilian government and the public are shocked and perplexed that a peaceful and innocent person should have been killed," he said.
"Brazil is totally in solidarity with Britain in the fight against terror but people should be cautious to avoid the loss of innocent life."
He said he spoke by phone with foreign secretary Jack Straw, who promised a full investigation into the death.
"I said that was very important. We can't recover the life of the Brazilian citizen who has been killed, but we can discover the details."
Mr Amorim is due to meet Mr Straw in person on Monday evening.
The BBC's correspondent in Brazil, Tom Gibb, said Mr Menezes had lived for a time in a slum district of Sao Paulo and that could explain why he had run from the police.
He said: "The murder rates in some of these slums are worse than in a lot of war zones and that could explain why, when plain clothes officers pulled a gun on him, he may have run away."
The shooting is being investigated by officers from Scotland Yard's Directorate of Professional Standards, and will be referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
Government minister Peter Hain said the threat of suicide bombings had put police under "enormous pressure", but added that they were acting responsibly.
Suspicious package
Searches are continuing in the area where a package was found by a member of the public in bushes in Little Wormwood Scrubs on Saturday.
The package has been removed for forensic examination after several controlled explosions.
Officers raided a house in Streatham on Saturday Anti-Terrorist Branch head DAC Peter Clarke said: "The object appears to have been left in the bushes, rather than hidden. I would urge the public to remain vigilant and to report any suspicious items or activity."
Officers are also still searching an address raided on Saturday in Streatham Hill, south London, in connection with the failed attacks.
Meanwhile the News of the World newspaper has offered a £100,000 reward to catch the second wave of London bombers.
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.
MizSterious [post #62] ~ Experts who've worked around terrorists a lot in places like Israel know that the only way to stop a suicide bomber is to shoot him in the head, and do it more than once.
I didn't run or jump a turnstile either.
It is a tragic but understandable mistake.
He's an electrician.
He was observed leaving an apartment that was under surveillance, in the bombing case.
It's not too much of a stretch for me to imagine that the bombers might want to have an electrician build their detonating devices. Some people will do anything for anyone, if the price is right.
And some people who are not radical Muslims support radical Muslims, with money and by public demonstrations. More needs to be known about this guy's circle of friends and acquaintances, his "politics", did his bank account/s fit those of a typical immigrant electrician from the slums of Brazil?
Medea Benjamin, Jodie Evans and Gael Murphy haven't professed their religious beliefs to be radical Muslim, but they have sent, and continue to collect, money for the "Iraqi resistance" aka the bastards killing and maiming our soldiers, Iraqi police officers and little children.
I have to wonder if Scotland Yard is telling us this story to set the other bombing suspects'minds at ease, while they continue to investigate them.
Lots of blank spaces in this guy's story, for me anyway.
Perhaps I am. That is a detail I wasn't aware of. Is it true? Source please?
That's why it was a head shot. Anti terrorist training emphasizes that a bomber can still trigger his bomb even after being shot in the chest.
I have my grip. Where's yours? If you had stopped to think for just a minute (no need for anything really deap to realize this), you'd also reason that since he came out of a terrorist safe house, refused to stop when ordered to halt, and jumped a turnstile--he wasn't just "any" Middle-Eastern-looking guy. He was a guy who acted so suspiciously that one almost has to wonder if he was committing "suicide by cop."
I'm not the one drinking Kool-Aid.
Hmmm, let me see... If the guys waving guns at me and telling me to stop in the LONDON subway are white, pasty, and shouting with distinct British accents, I think I'd stop. If they were Arabs shouting with Middle Eastern or otherwise NON-British accents, I think I'd keep running.
I think the argument that this guy didn't know who was pursuing him is nonsense.
Source was Metropolitan Police commissioner Ian Blair on Sky News this morning. He initially said 'house' in reference to the building, but then clarified that the building under surveillance was a block of flats. He was questioned as to how many individual residences that comprised, but was unable to give an answer to that.
I just did a search. stop in Portuguese is "batente". In Spanish it's "parada"
The Brits have told the media and family what they want them to hear. Now....they'll go back and track this dude's footsteps and everything else will be "quiet" on him. My feeling is that the "phone number in a knapsack" WAS NOT supposed to get out....since that revealed something to the terrorists.
OK. Thanks. Adds a little more grist for the mill.
That's my feeling, too. I think there's more to this guy's story than we know now.
(And I do wish I'd used spell-check in post #87! I really do know how to spell "deep"!)
Notice it didn't mention where he got his education....Age 27. Before you know it, we'll find out that he was educated in the USA.
Someone I chat with in a chat room has told us this morning that she was once searched at the Washington DC airport because she fitted the profile of a suspect. She had to call Senator McCain who knows her and he confirmed that she was a school teacher from AZ. She said they showed her the other woman's picture and there was a resemblence. She also said she thanked the police for doing their job
A bad speller isn't as apt to be shot dead on site sight.
Again, with the "Arabic" looks vs. "Western" looks BS! Were the cops, Black? Indian? Anglo? DID THEY IDENTIFY THEMSELVES?
*snrk*
His family said he spoke and understood English well.
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