What happened: Death of Jean Charles de Menezes? It is just so sad..I cannot believe this happened....Look!?

Question

Okay, the reason why I have asked this question is because I want to know what your opinion is..Do you think he deserved to die? AND do you think the Metropolitan Police should be punished?

I hate the fact that they actually did this to a person who had nothing to do with the bombings. The Police should be punished severely...I am very upset and I hope the Police pay something in return...Even if they give anything, it will not replace the damage they have done to me and his family (maybe to others too), I am very upset, although I do not know Menezes...It is just VERY SHOCKING to hear this and now I have seen the day-to-day thing on bbc news on menezes.. It is very sad and very emotional...

Look at this, this stupid person is an ignorant, blaming it on Menezes, He/She said it's the bombers fault, it's the Police' fault too!!!!!

Here is the link...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4712061.stm

You can also see the day-to-day thing on this link/page...
I hope the Police pay.

I hope the police pay for what they have done, and I seriously hope they learn a lesson not to do that again, ever to anyone!

Answer 1

100% behind everything you state. It is very, very sad how the British police are following the Americans trigger happy approach. I can understand your frustration. All I can say is, RIP Jean, and God bless his family.

Answer 2

Try to look at the bigger picture..The weeks leading up to that event in the capital were quite tense and the Alert Status was quite high. Mr Menezes was asked to stop and chose to run, the police on the ground only had a split second to think.
When the order to fire was given, it was given by an Officer in Control who was not armed, therefore the officer who shot him was following orders.
Yes, the whole event maybe could have been avoided, but Hind Sight is a marvellous tool.
The Met and other Forces have learned a great deal from this incident and procedures have been put in place to limit the chances of these events happening again.

With regards to the Police should Pay, the officer who shot Mr Menezes will have to live with what he did for the rest of his life. Isn't that payment enough for a tragic Accident?

Answer 3

No offence, but have you been living in a box for 3 years and only just found out that this happened?

I remember those weeks. I had friends in London on the day of the real bombings. It was very difficult.

I think when they say it was the bombers fault, you have to look at the whole chain of events. If those 4 sorry excuses for men had not blown themselves up on 7th July, then London would not have been so highly strung. The police would not have been trying to pre-empt more attacks and intervene before it was too late. They would not have been investigating terrorist networks and trying to find other people involved in the operation. They would not be trying to pinpoint the next bomber. They would not be following people from their home to the tube based on loose information.

ergo, they would not have shot Jean Charles De Menezes.

It is the bombers who began the chain of events, it is the police who botched it further down the line, under difficult circumstances, largely due to a break down in communication. he is just as much a victim of terrorism as all the 52 people killed on 7th July. He is the 53rd victim, and his death is no less tragic for it. The 52 died because of a terrorist attack. De Menezes died AS A CONSEQUENCE of a terrorist attack.

It's impossible to pin the blame on just one person - it's a series of failures across the board. It's still terrible, but the police were in a "you're doomed if you do, and you're doomed if you don't" situation. Although JCDM wasn't a terrorist, if he had been, and had blown up another carriage full of people, and it emerged that armed police followed him, and didn't shoot him, thus letting him get away and kill more people, the police would be lambasted as failing to protect the public.

The main problem is that the wrong information was given, someone somewhere jumped to conclusion that someone who knew someone, who looked a bit like someone else, who lived in this block of flats, and therefore was probably a terrorist, and passed this information to the police. The police followed him, but at no point did they make sure that the guy they were following was definitely a risk to the public, or question his identity. Important questions on both sides weren't asked. Both organisations worked on the basis that both of them were working with the correct information - in this case, they weren't.

Armed police, as in the ones trained to shoot to kill, are trained not to question, not to doubt, but to trust that they are working with the correct information. Therefore it is important that they have the right information and the right person in the first place! Those few seconds of thinking "are you sure he's our man?" can mean the difference between some carriage doors closing, the suspect getting away, and killing more people.

I do not think he deserved to die - however he was here illegally, police did ask him to stop, and he ignored them. Given the circumstances, the information the police were acting on, and his failure to stop when asked, I cannot blame the firearms unit who shot him.

we're no strangers to terrorism (IRA anyone?), but 7th July was the first SUICIDE bomb attack on British soil - this is a whole different kettle of fish; with the IRA they'd plant something and walk away - with suicide bombers you have the problem that they're prepared to die anyway, and therefore have no fear of you shooting them, provided they can detonate their package before you can stop them. 7/7 was quickly followed 2 weeks later by a failed attack. The following day JCDM was shot. It was tragic, it was an accident, lessons have been learnt and measures have been put in place to make sure that innocent people aren't mistaken for terrorists, and if they are, that they come to as little harm as possible.

Answer 4

In answer to your first answerer, I do live in London and was in town on 7/7 so I know how tense it was first hand, (I had to walk from town home - a good 7 miles) However, JCDM did not deserve to die, he did not run from the police.

I don't blame the actual officers (though the method of shooting suggests over zealous at the very least) but the MET do need to be punished in some way shape or form.

Answer 5

In this time and place if you're told at gun point to stop and put your hands up by a police officer you'd better do it. It's sad that in this day and age things happen but do you think people haven't been wrongly shot and killed before? I'm not saying it's OK but he should've did what he was instructed to do, but he didn't and now he's dead. Do you really think Jean Charles didn't know the present climate when this happened? He should've obeyed the officers. It sounds terrible to say but in these times it's better safe than sorry. If he was a terrorist and blew himself and others apart everyone would be bashing the police for not shooting the guy when they had the chance. One disobedient guy or 50 civilians, you do the math.

Answer 6

The Police Damned if they do and damned if they dont !
if demenzes had got on that train with a load of explosives with the police about and set it off they would have got the blame for doing nothing !
as it was they made an identity mistake and shot him, ended up in court and the police got blamed even though he was an illegal and acting suspiciously.
what were they supposed to do ?
it should never have got to court as they were in a catch 22 situation !

Answer 7

It happened but the police cannot pay because it is taxpayers money.
The Met police tried a cover up by saying de Menezes acted suspiciously was wearing different clothes and that he leapt a barrier all proven lies.

Answer 8

Do you live in London? If so, have you forgotten already how tense those weeks were, in July 2005?
The police had a job to do. They thought he was a terrorist. Mistakes were made. Menezes shouldn't have died.
But he did and now the Met Police are paying the price.
Personally I think the police do an impossible job.

Answer 9

With terrorism on the loose, the police have to act( sometimes with the wrong or faulty information) and its a sad fact of life mistakes will happen.. if there were no terrorists then this wouldnt of happened so i think yep its mostly the terrorists fault

Answer 10

The Guy was an illegal alien.
He might not have got what he deserved but i bet he got what you would have wanted the police to give him if he jumped onto your carridge of a tube train just after the bombings.

Personally i would be upset they didn't empty their clips into his head.

He played the game and lost.
You can't blame the police for that.