Covid

MASKING SAVES LIVES

Friday, May 11, 2007

Teflon Cops

"LONDON (AP) -- Eleven police officers will not face disciplinary action in the death of a Brazilian man who was mistaken for a terrorist and gunned down in the subway days after the 2005 London transit bombings, a police commission said Friday.

"Jean Charles de Menezes, 27, was shot seven times in the head by Scotland Yard anti-terror officers as he sat on a London subway train July 22, 2005 -- two weeks after four suicide bombers killed themselves and 52 commuters on three subway trains and a bus, and a day after a failed set of attacks.

"Police acknowledged that they had wrongly identified de Menezes. Prosecutors decided last year they would not seek criminal charges against the officers involved.

"On Friday, the Independent Police Complaints Commission said the officers would also not face disciplinary action on the force.

'''The grief and anger of (de Menezes') family is entirely understandable and -- as I have been powerfully reminded -- remains unassuaged,'' said the commission's chairman, Nick Hardwick. ''I would not do anything lightly that adds to that grief or anger.''

"He said the decision not to discipline the officers was made after reviewing the evidence of the shooting, which he said pointed to the ''challenges facing officers'' in the days after the July 7 suicide bombings.

"De Menezes' family was outraged over the decision.

'''I cannot believe the police have been able to get away with this. It is disgraceful the IPCC can make such a decision -- they are letting the police get away with murder,'' said Patricia da Silva Armani, slain man's cousin.

'''First officials killed my cousin, then they lied about it and now the officers are walking away without any punishment,'' she said.

"A decision regarding four more senior officers involved in the shooting was deferred until the end of a legal case against the Metropolitan Police Department. The force faces charges under a health and safety law for allegedly endangering the public's safety during the shooting.

"The police force pleaded not guilty to the charges in September. If convicted, the department could face an unlimited fine.

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