Harryc said:
That newsbrief reads like the plain clothes officers basically gunned down an unarmed man. Not blaming them for being jumpy, but he could have been a frightened illegal immigrant as well.
Well, the first mistake is that your information is coming from an American news source so I wouldn't rely too heavily on what they have to say. If you want a much more reputable source that relies more on facts than speculation, then check out BBC, The Guardian, The Independent or Aljazeera. All have their newspapers online and, IN MY OPINION, are far more academic in their journalistic approach and research than MSNBC, Fox News, CNN or any other U.S. news agency. I honestly don't want to start a debate about which sources are better and I thought it would be good for those that aren't used to non-U.S. news agencies to know where to look.
Anyways, on to the facts of this incident:
1) For those unaware, police in the UK are not allowed to carry ANY lethal weapons, that means guns or even stun-guns. However, there are a couple of small task forces that are assigned them. The fact that 3 armed plain-clothed officers knew at what time and place to hop out of their car and chase a man into Stockwell Tube Station seems highly suspicious that he was an "innocent victim." I don't even seen any armed police in front of Oval station, which was one of the places where a detanator went off yesterday.
2) If you look at the UK police guidelines for engaging in weapon fire, it also gives us some good information. While it is different in the U.S. where police are trained to shoot to kill, even though many aren't aware of that, the police in the UK are trained to shoot only as a last resort and only aim to disable, not kill. In regards to suicide bombers, however, UK police are trained to shoot to kill.
3) I watched Mark Whitby's interview on television and he even stated that, while he saw the police chase the man into the tube carriage, he was standing further down on the platform. I don't believe that he is lying in his testimony of the situation, but I think his perspective is skewered and I'd take it with a grain of salt. If you are able to find it, other witness who were inside the carriage where the man was shot claimed that the man was wearing a "bomb belt" with wires coming out of it. Again, I wouldn't believe all that they say, but their view holds more weight to the fact that they were in front of the man that was shot and not several meteres away.
I'd wait to hear more facts, rather than rumours, before jumping to any conclusions.
