Jumping back a bit to the police shooting of De Menezes... Dr Jon Sutton makes an interesting point in today's Guardian:
Dr Jon Sutton wrote:In what circumstances would De Menzes not have been shot in the head? Would the police really trust a suspected suicide bomber to give himself up under challenge and not just detonate the bomb?
There's a thought... If he'd suddenly stopped running without falling over, would the police not just have shot him anyway, assuming he was about to detonate?
tillyoshea wrote:Jumping back a bit to the police shooting of De Menezes... Dr Jon Sutton makes an interesting point in today's Guardian:
Dr Jon Sutton wrote:In what circumstances would De Menzes not have been shot in the head? Would the police really trust a suspected suicide bomber to give himself up under challenge and not just detonate the bomb?
There's a thought... If he'd suddenly stopped running without falling over, would the police not just have shot him anyway, assuming he was about to detonate?
I read another interesting thing today... I forgot where I read it but I'll have a look for the link a little later.
Bear in mind this is based on my memory of the article, so it and my recollection of the "facts" may NOT be accurate.
Apparently, all the police were in plain clothes. The victim comes from a country where the police carry guns - thus he would know how to behave. So why does he run away? The theory is that if you have five or six strange guys in normal clothing chasing you, he may have thought he was about to be mugged.
Also, BBC News is reporting that the victim was shot eight times - seven times in the head and one in the shoulder. As you would expect, it's tucked away on a webpage and the true facts are never likely to be reported on the TV or the radio. Why do you need to shoot a guy seven times in the head?
johnnyboy wrote:
Also, BBC News is reporting that the victim was shot eight times - seven times in the head and one in the shoulder. As you would expect, it's tucked away on a webpage and the true facts are never likely to be reported on the TV or the radio. Why do you need to shoot a guy seven times in the head?
Stranger and stranger.
Reluctuant as I am to provoke another novel in response, that fact was reported on the Six O'Clock news, the Ten O'Clock News and several times on News24 and BBC World. It was admitted by the police at the inquest.
Marcus wrote:Reluctuant as I am to provoke another novel in response, that fact was reported on the Sex O'Clock news, the Ten O'Clock News and several times on News24 and BBC World. It was admitted by the police at the inquest.
The Times, 21st July 2005
By Zahid Hussain in Islamabad, Daniel McGrory and Sean O’Neill
Intelligence sources told The Times that during his stay Aswat visited the home towns of all four bombers as well as selecting targets in London.
Aswat has been known to Western intelligence services for more than three years after the FBI accused him of trying to set up al-Qaeda training camps in the US. When he was arrested in a madrassa (religious school), Aswat is understood to have been posing as a businessmen and using a false name. He was picked up in a raid at a madrassa at Sargodha, 90 miles from Islamabad, by Pakistani intelligence officials and flown to a jail in the capital.
Security sources there told The Times that he was armed with a number of guns, wearing an explosive belt and carrying around £17,000 in cash. He had a British passport and was about to flee across the border to Afghanistan.
Aswat, who is thought to have stayed in the madrassa with two of the British suicide bombers, is being questioned over claims that one — Mohammad Sidique Khan — telephoned him on the morning of the July 7 attack.
Intelligence sources claim that there were up to twenty calls between Aswat and two of the bombers in the days leading up to the bombing of three Tube trains and a double-decker bus. A senior Pakistani security source said: “We believe this man had a crucial part to play in what happened in London.”
Los Angeles Times, today:
Zambian authorities have detained a man sought in connection with this month's deadly London bombings and for his alleged role in setting up a terrorist training camp in Oregon, U.S. officials said Wednesday.
Haroon Rashid Aswat, 30, a British citizen of Indian descent, piqued the interest of investigators when they discovered that about 20 calls had been placed from his cellphone to some of the four men who set off bombs on London's transit system July 7, killing 52 people and themselves.
Two Pakistani sources said last week that Aswat had been arrested there. But other Pakistani officials subsequently denied that, and in recent days British and Indian officials said the arrest in Pakistan was a case of mistaken identity involving a Briton with a name similar to Aswat's.
Hymagumba wrote:if he comes out of a building, in a heavy coat in hot weather, and then doesn't stop when asked and proceeds to run into a tube station, jump barriers
Well despite what the International Herald Tribune reported (thanks to Tilly O Shea for the link) about the man jumping the barriers, according to The Observer on Sunday, August 14th, 2005, at
He wasn't wearing a heavy jacket. He used his card to get into the station. He didn't vault the barrier. And now police say there are no CCTV pictures to reveal the truth. So why did plainclothes officers shoot young Jean Charles de Menezes seven times in the head, thinking he posed a terror threat?
Feynman: "String theorists do not make predictions, they make excuses."
Johnny Boy wrote:The theory is that if you have five or six strange guys in normal clothing chasing you, he may have thought he was about to be mugged.
Or more probably kidnapped. In fact, it is even not unusual for the judicial police in Mexico to kidnap people and demand large ransoms from the victim's family.
Feynman: "String theorists do not make predictions, they make excuses."
Johnny Boy wrote:The theory is that if you have five or six strange guys in normal clothing chasing you, he may have thought he was about to be mugged.
Or more probably kidnapped. In fact, it is even not unusual for the judicial police in Mexico to kidnap people and demand large ransoms from the victim's family.
Aye well, but this is London in the UK and we are civilised. Mostly.
The 'unanswered questions' info raises some unusual questions now - my view on it is shifting..
