– 08-25-05 –
A dark-skinned, suspected Muslim terrorist wearing a heavy overcoat
during a warm day, flees from police, refuses orders to stop, and jumps a subway turnstile, heading
for a train filled with commuters.
Fearing the worst, alert police open fire and shoot him at least
seven times, killing the suspect.
It all sounds so reasonable, particularly in the wake of multiple
terrorist bombing attempts that occurred in London just one day before.
There is just one problem with this story as reported by London
police: Every element of it was a bald-faced lie.
Charles de Menezes, the 27-year-old Brazilian electrician killed
by London police on July 22nd, was not a suspected terrorist. He wasn't a Muslim. He wasn't wearing
a heavy coat, but rather a light jean jacket. He didn't leap a subway turnstile, he didn't run from
police, and apparently was already subdued by police when he was repeatedly shot and killed.
On August 22, Scotland Yard acknowledged that Menezes "had done
nothing unusual before he was shot by officials after entering a London subway last month. Police
said Menezes used a ticket to enter, had not jumped a turnstile and was not wearing a padded jacket
that could have concealed a bomb." ("Shooting was not justified, Scotland Yard says," Seattle Times, 8-23-
05.)
Despite public outrage at Menezes' killing, London police insist
that they were "just following orders" and they have refused to renounce shooting of more such
"suspects." Instead police spokesmen have warned to expect "more killings" of innocent citizens.
Police also explained that their new preferred method of dealing with "suspects" is to shoot them
in head.
I don't know about you, but I just crossed London off my list of
cities to visit.
Unfortunately the "London solution" to terrorism may soon be
implemented in the U.S.
The International Association of Chiefs of Police has now
recommended that its 20,000+ members in 80 countries, including the US, institute "shoot to kill"
orders against all suspected suicide bombers.
As Michael Ketcher, writing in the Financial Privacy Report,
points out "The problem is how do police distinguish between a suicide bomber and someone who's
late and just running to catch his train."
"The answer is simple: shoot first and ask questions later. If
you're innocent, too bad."
Shooting innocent people with impunity is something you expect in
a police state, not a free society. As Ketcher says, such "rules" take us perilously close to a
martial law state in which all of us are potential victims.
Britain's Pogrom Against Dissenters
Britain new "shoot to kill suspects" edict is just one element of
their march toward tyranny – a parade which the American government is enthusiastically
joining.
In a pogrom reminiscent of Adolph Hitler, Prime Minister Tony
Blair has also announced his intention to shut down "extremist websites, bookshops and centres . . . strip
people of their British nationality if they are involved in extremism . . . hold suspects for
months without charges . . . close extremist churches . . . ban unsuitable clerics . . . and
exclude all extremists from the country."
The attacks have already begun. On July 15th, British police
raided the Iqra Learning Centre and book store near Leeds. New Statesman says that the
Iqra Trust is a well-known charity that promotes Islam worldwide as "a peaceful religion which
covers every walk of life."
"The police smashed down the door, wrecked the shop and took away
anti-war literature which they described as 'anti-western'."
The government's target is not just "extremist" Muslims but
all strong dissenters to Blair's policies. Blair warns that anyone who even verbally
approves of violence or violent groups could face summary imprisonment or deportation.
The problem is that one person's "terrorist" is another person's
freedom-fighter. As British human rights lawyer Linda Christian asks, "Are those who feel a huge
sense of injustice about the same causes as the terrorists – Iraq, Afghanistan, the war on
terrorism, Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib – to be stopped from speaking forthrightly about their
anger? Will those who support liberation movements in, for example, Kashmire or Chechnya [where the
Russian army has ruthlessly destroyed entire cities] be denied freedom of expression?"
As Lord Hoffmann of the Law of Lords – Britain's highest
judiciary – said last December, 'Blair's attacks on human rights are a greater threat to
freedom than terrorism.'
America is not far behind Britain. Uniformed TSA agents now
molest thousands of innocent airline passengers every day, the Supreme Court has ruled that police
can shoot fleeing "suspects", and our President claims the right to indefinitely detain and even
torture suspected "terrorists" at will. If liberty is to survive, we the people, must summon our
courage, find our voice, and say to government "No More."
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International Society for Individual Liberty
> British Police Kill Suspect
