Jean Charles De Menezes

This article is part of the Counter-Terrorism Portal project of Spinwatch.

Jean Charles De Menezes

Jean Charles De Menezes (born 1978) was a Brazilian man who was shot and killed by armed officers at Stockwell Tube station on 22 July 2005 after being mistaken as one of the four 21/7 suicide bombers.

He was shot 7 times in the head and once in the shoulder at point-blank range. Nobody has ever been held responsible for his death.

The death and reporting of the tragedy of Menezes' shooting, argued his lawyers, was wrapped in a shroud of misinformation.

His death was the first under the Operation Kratos strategy that was devised after the attacks of 9/11 and permitted "shoot-to-kill". After Menezes' death, the strategy was criticised but the Association of Chief Police Officers ruled in March 2006 it was fit for purpose and would therefore not be altered or amended. ACPO president, Sir Chris Fox in response to the ruling said he was "pleased" that the Operation Kratos strategy had been deemed "fit for purpose".

Defence of Shooting

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, defended the shooting of Menezes by stating that if the police did not shoot him, they may have faced the risk of “certain death.”

Ian Blair wrote to the Home Office permanent Secretary Sir John Gieve one day after Menezes was killed and stated that he sought to “maximise the legal protection for officers” who were exercising shoot-to-kill powers. He said the environment that faced officers meant they could not "risk the kind of containment and negotiation tactics” that would be normally expected of them. The only choice an officer may have may be to shoot-to-kill in order to prevent the detonation of a device." He also stated that while officers had protection under Section 3 of the Criminal Law Act (reasonable use of force in the specific circumstance) he did “not seek" to "exempt" them from the investigation or prosecution if evidence against them existed. Nevertheless, he stated that he was “confident” that the prosecuting authorities would understand “the pressures under which the (CO19 Unit) operates in terrorist scenarios”.

In response to the letter, Giovani da Silva - a lawyer acting for the De Menezes family stated that "these letters have shown Ian Blair has lied once again, not only to the family but to the public. Ian Blair has jumped the barrier of the law".

Attempts to Prevent IPCC Inquiry

Sir Ian Blair, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service refused to reveal the tactics that were employed in the shooting of Menezes to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) and tried to block an independent investigation being launched by the IPCC. He stated that even though:

"... there is much concern about revealing … the tactics [of the police] and [the information they are operating upon], I believe that, in a fast-moving, multi-site terrorist situation, in which suicide bombers are clearly a very strong possibility, a chief officer of police should be able to suspend S.17 of the Police Reform Act 2002, which requires us to supply all information that the Independent Police Complaints Commission may require … I have therefore given instructions that the shooting … is not to be referred to the IPCC and that they will be given no access to the scene at the present time. The investigation will be carried out by the Met's own Directorate of Professional Standards. This investigation will be rigorous but subordinate to the needs of the counter-terrorism operation."

Menezes Restrained When Shot

According to secret documents that were leaked, when Menezes was shot he had already been overpowered by a surveillance officer who had followed him from his flat in Brixton. In other words, Menezes was shot 8 times even though he had been restrained by a police officer.

According to the surveillance officers account that restrained him:

"I heard shouting which included the word 'police' and turned to face the [Menezes] in the denim jacket … [Menezes] immediately stood up and advanced towards me and the [armed officers] ... I grabbed [Menezes] in the denim jacket by wrapping both my arms around his torso, pinning his arms to his side. I then pushed him back on to the seat where he had been previously sitting ... I then heard a gunshot very close to my left ear and was dragged away on to the floor of the carriage."

Failure of Police to Identify Menezes

It was reported that Menezes had not been properly identified by police officers because the police officer that was responsible for monitoring the door to the apartment block in which Menezes (and the suspected 21/7 bombers lived) was “relieving himself at the very moment that Menezes was leaving” the block of Flats. These claims were reinforced by another surveillance officer's witness statement that was given to the IPCC.

Jean Charles De Menezes dead body lies on the train at Stockwell tube station, clearly displaying his clothing

Police Misinformation

Running & Jumping Barrier

After the shooting of Menezes, reports were given that Menezes had increased suspicion of himself because he had jumped the ticket barrier and fled from police. Christopher Wells, a 29-year-old witness stated:

"I saw this man running into the station ... The man vaulted over the barriers and the police chasing him jumped the barriers as well. They were screaming at everyone to get out. The man was running very fast".

Sir Ian Blair told a press conference:

"… as I understand the situation [Menezes] was challenged and refused to obey police instructions."

Scotland Yard stated:

"the police warned [Menezes], [but he ran] on to the station platform".

The Police stated:

Menezes ran into Stockwell station when he was challenged and was shot after dashing on to an underground train.

A senior security source said:

"... This is a tragedy but it does not mean the police acted wrongly ... [they] repeated[ly] shouted ... to get him to stop [but] he dashed on to a tube."

Sir Ian Blair stated:

A warning was shouted at Menezes to stop.

According to The Times:

"When [police] drew their weapons and shouted "Stop, armed police" ... [Menezes] looked over his shoulder and bolted".

In a phone call to Nick Hardwick, the Chair of the IPCC:

"we’ve now shot somebody, I think dead, who refused to respond to anything that we were asking him to do".

Evidence given to the IPCC inquiry by police officers and eyewitness, along with leaked documents given to ITV news proved that these initial accounts were baseless. CCTV footage showed Menezes calmly entering Stockwell tube station, collecting a free newspaper and boarding a tube train. All claims that Menezes ran-away from police and that he vaulted the ticket barrier toward the train were all false. The IPCC ruled:

"Mr de Menezes did not refuse to obey a challenge prior to being shot"

Menezes Clothing

It was initially reported by Scotland Yard that "Menezes clothing and behaviour added to their suspicions". It was alleged that Menezes was wearing a padded jacket on a warm day, which was for the purpose of concealing a bomb.

There was also the claim by Anthony Larkin, a passenger on the train where Menezes was shot, that Menezes was “wearing a bomb belt with wires coming out".

An eyewitness told the press that Menezes was wearing "a baseball cap ... and quite a thickish coat. It was a coat like you would wear in winter, a sort of padded jacket. But it looked out of place in the weather we've been having." According to other onlookers, Menezes was "wearing a heavy winter coat in warm weather"

It eventually emerged that accounts of him wearing a padded jacket and wearning a belt with wires coming out were false. Menezes was in reality wearing light blue denim jeans and a light blue denim jacket, which the IPCC stated "was not ... clothing that could be classed as suspicious".

The IPCC stated that the accounts that were given by witnesses were "incorrect" and ruled that the witnesses "had probably confused police officers with Mr de Menezes".

Resources

• Justice for Jean campaign website
• Stockwell Two - An investigation into complaints about the Metropolitan Police Service’s handling of public statements following the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes on 22 July 2005,Independent Police Complaints Commission
• Letter from Sir Ian Blair to Home Office Permanent Secretary Sir John Gieve relating to the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes, Metropolitan Police Service