A tough call

Note: This article was written shortly after this story broke. As a result, a number of facts my argument was predicated upon turned out to be erronious. While I stand by my arguement given the facts I was working with, I have since revised my stance (as it turns out, the suspect was far less provocative than initially reported). However, I've decided to keep the remiainder of this article intact, for your reading pleasure:

The man pictured above was a Brazillian immigrant to Great Britain. I say was because he was recently gunned down by British police, as a suspected terrorist. Essentially, the story goes like this:

Jean Charles de Menezes was already under survelliance by the police for suspected terrorist activity. He emerged from his house, and refused to stop for the police, instead running into a subway station. He was reportedly killed by the police with five shots to the head. It has recently emerged that he was completely innocent of any terrorist activity, and there has been a predictable backlash against the police force.

Clearly, this is a tragedy. But it is not one that could have been reasonably avoided, and the police should continue with their policies. With the two recent subway bombings, it's not too surprising that the cops upped their surveillance. Also, the police force had been recently instructed in the Israeli method of countering potential suicied bombers, namely the use of deadly force, specifically by shooting the suspect in the head, essentailly the tactic employed in this case. The logic is this: anything short of deadly force allows the suspected bomber a chance to detonate, likely killing or injuring countless innocent bystanders. Secondly, a headshot is nessicary, as the chest is the most common location for a bomb belt or vest, and firing bullets in the general area of explosives is generally a bad idea.

People are justified in decrying the death of an innocent man at the hands of police. The nature of free countries virtually gurantees such an outcry, so it stands to indicate a healthy society. That said, those who vehimently condemn this incident and the police force are either ignorant of all the facts, or unable to see the larger picture.

Firstly, the police thought they were dealing with a bonna fide suicide bomber. He was reported to have wires protruding from his belt, seemed nervous and had emerged from a location under surveillance for that purpose. He was wearing a padded jacket, unusually heavy and bulky for the hot Summer weather. Furthermore, he failed to stop for police who had clearly identified themselves, instead running into a subway station and jumping the turnstyle. When he continued to refuse to stop, having had plenty of time to do so, and now potentially endangering multiple subway patrons, the police followed their training and took down the suspect. As it turns out, this was in error, but that does not make the action any less reasonable and nessicary. It is unfortunate that these officers, perfectly carrying out their duty, are now being attacked by those they seek to protect.