Ever wonder what happened with the case against the UK police officers who shot Jean Charles de Menezes, the innocent electrician, on the London Underground almost two years ago? I did, because I finally remembered I had never heard anything more about it. The news, it has a fairly short memory, you know.
Well, as it turns out, early in May an announcement was made that 11 of the 15 officers involved would face no charges. One of them will be getting “management advice”, whatever that is. The other four were commanders and those in charge of planning and running the entire fiasco, and their fate will be determined after the trial charging the police department as a whole for breaking some health and safety law. Due to the fact the person who was in charge of the whole mess has since been promoted from commander to deputy assistant commissioner, one of the top cop positions in London, I would guess they will all be found not guilty of utter stupidity. :rolleyes:
In other shooting news, there’s been a leak or two concerning the most recent police shooting here in Austin. It would appear the dead guy was shot twice in the back, and they can’t yet confirm whether or not he even had a gun in the first place. The lawyer for the cop who pulled the trigger has said that Olsen did not see a weapon before he fired. So here’s the story so far:
Someone calls cops and says they think someone else has a gun. Cops show up and confront the person, who freaks out and runs. Cops give chase into the courtyard on an apartment complex. Cop, not seeing gun and being the only cop who was able to keep up with the fleeing man, shoots man in the back having never seen a gun or been threatened. Gun may have been later found 25 feet from dead body, but no one can tell if it was his or not.
It’s the last bit that bothers me at the moment. The cop has said the fleeing man was pulling at his waistband, thus he thought he was going for a gun (while running, facing away from cop), so evidently the cop thought he had a gun on him at the moment he was shot, and yet the alleged gun was found 25 feet away. Uh huh. You’d think the gun would be just a wee bit closer to the body, wouldn’t you? And why would someone running away from the cops be fussing with the waistband of his pants while running, other than having a gun tucked in there? Have any of you seen the way urban 20-something wear their pants these days? That they don’t fall down while they are standing still is a blooming miracle.
Anyway, the whole mess is leaving a foul taste in my mouth, but I have little doubt it will all be sorted out in due time and with proper justice … meaning nothing will come of it, and East Austin will only get angrier. Once again, I doubt we will ever hear the whole story. We never do.
U.K. Police Not Disciplined Over De Menezes Shooting
IPCC makes decision
Links to the Austin story when I get a chance to find some that don’t require logging in to view.