Great news is that the police now have all four suspects in the 21 July attempted bombings in custody. Hopefully their interrogations will help us track down the network behind them and prevent further attacks both here and abroad.
Less good news was an article* I read in the Daily Mail about Jean Charles de Menezes, claiming that he had not been wearing the ‘unseasonably heavy’ coat previously mentioned, nor had he vaulted the ticket barriers at Stockwell Tube station – that had in fact been one of the pursuing police officers. I had seen these claims made by his family earlier in the week in the Metro, now The Mail claims to have evidence to support them. If they do then the situation worries me greatly.
As I have written previously, I support the shoot-to-kill policy. However, that policy is not a carte-blanche for police officers to shoot people who may be acting strangely and who, in the words of the sign, ‘look a bit foreign.’ There needs to be strong reason to believe that they are a terrorist imminently about to perform an act of terrorism. If there is truth in the Mail’s allegations then it will be a dark day for the British Police, of whom I am otherwise very proud. I can only hope that the IPCC investigation is completed speedily.
* The linked article is actually a commentary on the story. The printed article doesn’t appear to be on the Mail’s website.
No comments:
Post a Comment