Contrary to earlier media statements, it dribbled out today that Jean Charles de Menezes was not wearing a bulky padded coat, and did not jump the turnstile, and was legal in his visa status, according to a story in today's Guardian:
Jean Charles de Menezes, the Brazilian shot dead in the head, was not wearing a heavy jacket that might have concealed a bomb, and did not jump the ticket barrier when challenged by armed plainclothes police, his cousin said yesterday.Speaking at a press conference after a meeting with the Metropolitan police, Vivien Figueiredo, 22, said that the first reports of how her 27-year-old cousin had come to be killed in mistake for a suicide bomber on Friday at Stockwell tube station were wrong.
"He used a travel card," [a long-term transport pass, apparently---shumard] she said. "He had no bulky jacket, he was wearing a jeans jacket. But even if he was wearing a bulky jacket that wouldn't be an excuse to kill him." ....
Mr. de Menezes was shot seven times in the head and once in the shoulder at 10am last Friday after being followed from Tulse Hill. Scotland Yard initially claimed he wore a bulky jacket and jumped the barrier when police identified themselves and ordered him to stop. The same day the Met commissioner, Sir Ian Blair, said the shooting was "directly linked" to the unprecedented anti-terror operation on London's streets.
As recently as yesterday UK police officials were still claiming that the victim jumped the turnstile, and still attempting to suggest that an improper visa status was the reason that Mr de Menezes had fled from the specially trained SO19 British marksmen agents who then pumped 8 bullets (initially reported until 7/26 as 5 bullets) into the terrified Brazilian electrician's body. To his credit Jack Straw refused to promote the "visa violation" rationale. The Home Office refused to comment on Mr. de Menezes visa status when queried.
'Shoot-to-kill' victim was here legally, says Straw
Jack Straw said last night that he believed Mr de Menezes was in the country legally. "I don't have any precise information about his immigration status here," Mr Straw said. "My understanding is that he was here lawfully."Why do the UK government's story on central details of the killing of an innocent man keep changing? It should have been obvious immediately after they killed the electrician on his way to work, what *he had been wearing that day, and from the review of numerous CCTV camera recordings in the subway, whether or not he had jumped the turnstile , and what the innocent victims final moments had been like.Ministers faced anger from Brazil over reported claims by government sources that Mr de Menezes may have been living illegally in Britain because his student visa had expired.
The suggestion was strongly disputed by the man's family. Mr de Menezes, 27, died at Stockwell Tube station on Friday, the day after the failed suicide bombings on the capital's transport network.Police, who had the block of flats where he lived under surveillance, had trailed him from his home and, when he entered the station, plain-clothes officers ordered him to stop. They had, though, allowed him ¬ a suspected suicide bomber ¬ to catch a bus to reach Stockwell.
Police say Mr de Menezes fled when they challenged him, leaping over ticket barriers and jumping on to a train. Apparently fearing his jacket concealed a bomb, officers shot him dead.
His reason for running from the police remains a mystery. His friends say he was stopped several weeks ago as part of a routine search at Brixton, and did not try to flee.
Witnesses reported hearing about five shots but an inquest, which opened at Southwark coroner's court yesterday, was told he was shot seven times in the head and once in the shoulder.
Details of his death emerged as the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) began its investigation. The three officers involved have not been suspended, but have been moved to non-firearm duties. The investigation is expected to take several months, with full powers, including referral to the Crown Prosecution Service, open to the IPCC....
Anger was fuelled yesterday by the reports that Mr de Menezes was in Britain on an out-of-date student visa. The claims are understood to have originated from government sources. But his family insisted he was legitimately in Britain on a five-year visa; one theory is that, like many Brazilians, he may have be travelling on a Portuguese passport.
The Home Office refused to comment on his case...
Why have UK authorities stonwalled and misled about crucial details and their justifications of the shooting for nearly a week?