I've been reading up on the execution-style killing of this
innocent person; I'm haunted by it, since he was born the same year as I and I see a certain familiarity in his face.
It seems that
The Telegraph is stating that this person was killed under guidelines set by Operation Kratos, a multinational training exercise where UK police officers (and I imagine others?) trained with Israeli and Sri Lankan police to learn how to deal with threats from suicide bombers. The Telegraph elucidates:
"Under Operation Kratos, a senior officer is on standby 24 hours a day to authorise the deployment of armed squads to track and, where necessary, shoot suspected suicide bombers."
Well, I guess it's good that they have administrative oversight on the whole thing, rather than just telling officers to just go ahead and shoot to kill.
"The guidance states that in extreme circumstances an armed officer can shoot a suspect in the head if the intelligence suggests that he is a suicide bomber who poses an imminent danger to the public or police. This is to avoid setting off any explosives that might be attached to his body. Five shots are deemed necessary to render a terrorist incapable of detonating his bomb."
Ok, that does in fact sound like what happened to Jean Charles, though it didn't seem like the circumstances were extreme enough. Different strokes for different folks, though.
To me, this is the kicker:
"The officer can open fire only if authorised to do so by a chief police officer - either at the start of a pre-planned operation, as seems to have been the case at Stockwell, or by police radio during a "spontaneous" incident."
So it sounds like Menezes was marked for death when he left his apartment; the only thing that could change that was how 'non-suspiciously' he reacted when the officers confronted him.
I'm not passing judgement and it's not yet clear whether Menezes was warned by the officers, or exactly how he ran away, but this seems to be the chain of events:
- Metro Police are watching a flat block (apartment building) which was linked to the previous failed bombing.
- A Brazilian man comes out, wearing a sweatshirt/jacket/heavy overcoat, depending on who you listen to.
- The Bobbies call it in to the 'senior officer' - "We've got a suspect, send out the armed death-squad."
- The man walks to the end of the block and gets on the bus.
- They probably check the next Tube station the bus is going to, dispatch the 'death-squad' to Stockwell.
- Menezes gets off bus, notices some strange activity in his periphery.
- Approximately 20 plain-clothes officers advance on him. They no doubt look like fairly rough and tumble characters, being the London equivalent of SWAT. They may or may not have identified themselves to Menezes.
- Menezes starts heading down into the Tube, stops to buy a ticket (according to some witnesses). He's hoping that the ticket agent would just hurry up, he's not sure what's going down.
- Menezes gets spooked - no witnesses have made clear that the officers actually identified themselves, and it's allegedly part of the Operation Kratos training/policy not to, since the 'bomber' will definitely blow up if he knows the cops are onto him.
- Menezes runs, trips/flops over the ticket turnstile, continues running down an escalator.
- He jumps into the train, is described as looking like a 'cornered rabbit or fox.'
- Several officers charge into the train after him, shout 'EVERYBODY OUT!'
- Two officers hold Menezes down, another shoots him 5 times in the back of the head.
Think about that, if you live in an apartment in a city. Think about the fact that any of your 'eccentric' neighbors might be a terrorist, and that might eventually mark you for suspicion just by living down the hall.
Think about it when you get up in the morning - "Does this shirt make me look like a terrorist? I mean, does the color make it look like I need to be held down and shot 5 times in the back of the head?"
Why should you have to think about it?