Shots Fired

[thessalian]

So a man tries to board a Tube wearing what looks like a 'bomb belt'. Not sure how much damage it'll do, not sure how it's going to be triggered. And the police chase him onto a crowded Tube train, pin him to the floor (according to the news reports dodgyhoodoo is watching) and shoot him five times.

When the almighty fuck did summary executions become a part of the justice process in this country? Besides that, it was unsafe. You do not shoot people in front of that many civilians in that enclosed a space if you can help it. He was subdued, he wasn't going to trigger anything, and if it was on a timer, well, they'd have been screwed either way. And let's not talk about what would have happened if they'd missed and hit the bomb belt ... but then again, we're assuming the shots weren't at close range, which I guess is kind of stupid. He could have been disarmed, but no one tried.

I don't even want to hear the excuses for this one.

Comments

The facts have come out...

[msgeek.livejournal.com]

...and the poor soul shot by cops was a BRAZILIAN TOURIST.

Put yourself in his shoes. You don't speak English, you speak Portuguese. Maybe you know a few phrases of English but not the right ones to understand what the cops are shouting at you. The cops are in plainclothes, not uniform. One of them has their gun out.

You freak. You think this is a gang of thugs who want to rob you. You take off running. The cops are in hot pursuit. Their adrenaline is high. To them, you are a swarthy guy wearing a big coat which probably is hiding explosives.

I am from Los Angeles. I expect this shit from the LAPD and the LA County Sheriff's Department. Not from Scotland Yard. I understand that a contingent of anti-terror "experts" from LASD visited Scotland Yard after the 7/7 bombing. They were on a plane going home when the abortive second round of bombings happened last Thursday. I wonder if there was any connection with the LASD advising the London police and this tragedy.

Auntie Beeb has the details...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4711021.stm

Re: The facts have come out...

[thessalian.livejournal.com]

Yeah, saw that. Hate to think that bulky clothes, an easy mistake to make in a country whose weather changes radically in the space of three minutes, is a sign that you're a terrorist...