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Allegations of Cover-up Grow Over London Police Shooting

HeadlineAug 19, 2005

Allegations of a cover-up are growing in London over the fatal Police shooting of a Brazilian man initially characterized as a possible July 21st bomb suspect. The British official in charge of the Independent Police Complaints Commission said yesterday that City police initially opposed an independent investigation into the killing of Jean Charles de Menezes, but agreed to it later. The Police issued the statement after lawyers for the Menezes family met with the complaints commission, demanding more information about the killing.

  • Gareth Pierce, lawyer for the Menezes family:
    “There has been a chaotic mess and what we have asked the IPCC to find out is how much of it is incompetence and negligence, including gross negligence, and how much of it may be something more sinister. We don’t know—we’re simply asking the questions”

Menezes was shot seven times in the head by police who followed him to a south London subway station on July 22–one day after the failed London subway bombings. Meanwhile, the BBC is reporting that the whistleblower who leaked documents contradicting the official police story on the shooting has been suspended.

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