Back in July I wrote that the London police were most likely justified in shooting Jean Charles de Menezes (though I questioned the need for so many shots), given the information we had at the time. Now it seems I spoke too soon; so much evidence contradicting early reports given by the police would suggest that there was little, if any, justification for shooting him:
- he wasn’t wearing a padded jacket
- he had no wires protruding from his clothing
- he didn’t jump the ticket barrier
- he probably only ran to catch his train, not to flee the plain clothes officers
- he was sitting down when he was shot
Skirl | Dan Dickinson 
Also, he was already restrained by an officer when he was shot:
‘According to this officer, Mr de Menezes stood up and walked towards him: “I grabbed the male in the denim jacket by wrapping both my arms around his torso pinning his arms to his side. I then pushed him back on to the seat where he had previously been sitting … I then heard a gunshot very close to my ear and was dragged away on to the floor of the carriage.”‘
and the Met Police chief tried to stop the inquiry.
Whoops, I got the links mixed up. I meant to link the Guardian article in the first place.
It takes a big man to admit that he was wrong. Just a shame that Sir Ian Blair isn’t as big.