Murder Most Needless

Name: Jean Charles de Menezes
Age: 27
Cause of Death: 5 bullets to head and torso
Killers: Plainclothed Officers of the London Metropolitan Police
Crime: He was a man of South Asian appearance who, while wearing a heavy padded jacket, left a house in the shady London neighborhood of Brixton, leaped the turnstiles at the London Underground's Stockwell Station and ran onto a train less than a day after 4 terrorists botched an attempt to copy the criminal attacks of two weeks earlier.

That was his crime, word for word. You'll find it reported that way in every news source, wherever you look. Honestly, even I thought he was guilty of trying to blow something up. And one of the witnesses said he saw wires hanging out of de Menezes' jacket.

Only one thing bothered me. Another witness said the man looked "petrified" as he was hauled down and shot dead. "Petrified" is not an expression you associate with a terrorist. "He must have been terribly disappointed to have failed in his mission to kill innocents," we all thought, and moved on with our lives.

Now, the key points of this story, told the way they should be:

He was South Asian
No, he was Brazilian. Jackasses. And so what if he looked South Asian?

He was wearing a heavy padded jacket
This was London, England. He was Brazilian. He felt cold. I was in London in the summer of 2000. I had a jacket on most of the time. I still felt cold. Jackasses.

He left a house in Brixton
He was only an electrician. Forgive him for being forced to conduct business or even live in an area that deosn't measure up to your high standards. Jackasses.

He ran from the police
If you happen to be in a shady neighborhood, and are followed from that neighborhood by several casually dressed (remember, PLAINCLOTHED OFFICERS) people who suddenly yell at you to stop, what would you do? Turn around and chat with them? Jackasses.

He had wires hanging from his jacket
I only found one report of this... this means either that the so-called witness was a sensationalist who was looking for fame or that the man who had been murdered was an electrician. Jackasses.


Of course, this quiet, hard working young man will soon be forgotten. But his murder should not. It is one thing to be killed in cold blood by those who want to hurt you and do you harm. It is entirely another to be killed in cold blood by those who have sworn to protect you.

Remember Jean Charles de Menezes. He could have been you. You could have been him.