http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050725/...NlYwMlJVRPUCUl
By ALAN CLENDENNING, Associated Press Writer
Mon Jul 25, 6:25 PM ET
GONZAGA, Brazil - Hundreds of relatives and friends of a Brazilian shot to death in London after being mistaken for a terrorist marched along the cobblestone streets of his hometown Monday, demanding the arrest of the British police who fired the fatal shots.
Some of the protesters held banners denouncing British police as the real terrorists; other placards were adorned with snapshots of Jean Charles de Menezes, urging British Prime Minister Tony Blair to send his body home so it can be buried.
All said Blair's apology did not go far enough.
"Apologies don't help, we want justice," they chanted, stopping briefly to offer a prayer for the 27-year-old electrician who left Brazil to work in Britain so he could return home with enough savings to start a cattle ranch.
Menezes' killing has been the top story on radio and television broadcasts since Sunday, although there has been no large-scale public outcry.
In London, foreign Minister Celso Amorin said he had instructions from president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva "to take firm measures to defend the interests of the family of a Brazilian who died in an absurd manner."
The militant Landless Rural Workers' Movement has scheduled protests Tuesday in front of the British Embassy in Brasilia and the consulate in Rio de Janeiro. The movement said in a statement that Menezes "was assassinated in cold blood, victim of intolerance" and called for the British withdrawal from Iraq.
Gonzaga's mayor, outraged over news Menezes was shot seven times in the head and once in the shoulder, called the killing an "assassination."
"It's easy for Blair to apologize, but it doesn't mean very much," said Mayor Julio de Souza. "What happened to English justice and England, a place where police patrol unarmed?"
Many were angry that there is still no word on when the body might be shipped back to Gonzaga, a central Brazilian town of 6,000 where young men often head to the United States and Europe to finance a better life back home. Menezes was killed last Friday, and Brazilians traditionally bury their dead no later than 24 hours after a person dies.
"We don't want apologies, he's ours and he should be here," said Maria Jose Carvalho, who has two sons working in the United States.
Gov. Aecio Neves of Minas Gerais, the rural state where the electrician was born, said the government would pay to fly his body back to Brazil for burial.
Some of Menezes' cousins were upset that Blair's apology included a defense of British police, who he said were working under intense pressure to prevent more terrorist attacks.
"His apologies aren't easing our pain," said Arialva Pereira, one of the cousins. "He's not saying anything about punishing the police who did this, it's more like he's supporting them."
The march ended in front of the town hall, where the Brazilian flag hung at half staff in front of town hall and a large black sheet was hung from the second floor as a sign of mourning.
Menezes was killed in a London subway station as police investigated a wave of botched bombings the day before and the deadly transit bombings of July 7.
Witnesses said Menezes was wearing a heavy, padded coat when plainclothes police chased him into a subway car, pinned him to the ground and shot him dead.
While Menezes' relatives said he was working legally in Britain and had no reason to fear police, the British Broadcasting Corp. said Menezes' visa had expired, suggesting a reason for why he ran.
Souza said the root cause of Menezes' death was Blair's decision to back the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. That prompted the wave of terrorist attacks, the mayor said.
"Gonzaga has nothing to do with terrorism and now it's been hit," Souza said. "Jean could have come back here and become a father, but now we'll never have a chance to have him with us again."
Menezes, called "Jim" by English friends, was believed to have been on his way to repair an alarm when he was shot, according to a cousin in London, Alex Pereira.
The killing probably won't stop Gonzaga natives from going abroad, said Regiani Castro, a 25-year-old who started a farm supplies store after working in Massachusetts for five years.
"They'll be scared, but they'll keep on going because that's the only way to guarantee your future here," he said.
_______________________________________
Think this will go any further???
Last edited by Cant_Be_Faded; 07-27-2005 at 02:48 AM.
It might cause a few diplomatic ughs and awes between the Brazilians and the Brits, but I doubt if its going anywhere else than that. Menezes' relatives will be lucratively compensated and the Brit's will promise a post-mortem examination of their shot-first ask questions later policy in these cases, but really little will be done.
There is no "arrest on demand" policy in London. There will be an investigation as there are with the friendly-fire killings that take place in times of war.Brazilians Demand Arrest Over Killing
They were following the new terrorist policy and unfortunately for Menezes and family it had a tragic and unintended result.
It's a horrible way to advertise the terrorist policy to the people in London and because of this Menezes has become an unwitting martyr.
I believe the terrorists wont be so brazen in the future in London (witness the second group of bombers weren't suicidal and took off their backpacks and ran like the cowards they are) This tragedy has effectively trumpeted the manner in which suspected terrorists will be dealt with. Expect major modifications in the way people respond to the police and slight modifications to the terrorism policy itself, but overall it remain basically as it was. And rightly so.
There is no meeting of minds, no point of understanding with such terror. Just a choice: Defeat it or be defeated by it. And defeat it we must.
Tony Blair
Last edited by jochhejaam; 07-27-2005 at 06:11 AM.
their family shouldn't get money for their relative who evaded arrest..
and we see on this morning's news that his attire wasn't all that su ious for London in the summertime.
In reporting on the arrests made by London police today, standing outside Paddington Square station on a July afternoon, both the Fox News correspondent (David Lee Miller) and the MSNBC correspondent (James Hatori) are wearing heavy jackets. The bobbies standing behind them are also wearing jackets.
I guess it wouldn't be THAT unusual for someone to wear a coat that would seem heavy to an observer in July in London.
Have you stop to think this could have been a relative of yours?
Again, men with guns in civilian clothes start shouting at the guy. Running away does not seem that crazy. Getting killed for it, now that is crazy . . .
i never said anything about the coat... i was in england and wales for a month... weather sucks... coat is fine..
how many people can outrun bullets? i can't.. i don't think you can either... if i'm ever told to stop by a man with a gun, i'll stop and give him all my money or pretty much whatever else he requests...
Have you stop to think this could have been a relative of yours?
Again, men with guns in civilian clothes start shouting at the guy. Running away does not seem that crazy. Getting killed for it, now that is crazy . . .
Yes, because everyone thinks and acts rationaly when men that are not obvious policeman pull guns on you in a foreign land. Especially when said person had just been attacked weeks prior.
i guess next time he'll stop
The point is this: the rationale for even stopping this guy in the first place was that he looked su ious, mostly because he wore a heavy coat in the summertime.
If the police hadn't focused on his attire (and on his racial profile, which undoubtedly played a part in the pursuit), he never would have faced weapons because he never would have been asked to stop and never would have taken off running.
So, it makes a big difference that others wear heavy coats during a London summer afternoon.
Every fat brown person in London is now a possible police victim.
yes it makes a big difference! The difference is, now the coat doesn't mean ! others had coats too, so in reality, racial profiling is what got him killed, not the fact that he had a coat.
As long as they're wearing a heavy coat in summertime, Manny, since nobody in London ever does that.
It's the same here in the US. All you need is to "look su ious" and have brown skin and you could be in a load of trouble before you know it.
And spare me the, "If you are doing nothing wrong you don't have to worry" bull because once you've been "detained" and searched and interrogated only to be let go, the experience will be with you forever.
And believe me, the police will respond quicker to reports of a "su ious hispanic, black, asian, arab or muslim man" qucker than reports of a su ious caucasian male.
STOP POLICE!
easily understandable.. if he works in england, i am sure he understood those 2 words...
Too bad the police didn't understand the meaning of the word "THINK".
I'm sure they understand the phrase "Oh , I really ED this one up!"
yeah, it's his fault that he was jumped by a group of cops in plainclothes and was shot 5 times. great ing argument.
Yes, because everyone in plain clothes who claims to be a police officer is.
no matter who the tells me to stop.. if they have a gun, i am stopping and doing as told..if not, you know what the happens..
How many times have you been attacked in the subway? And since when are your reactions even pertinent to what a person should do and what should be expected from them?
they were yelling at him before they pulled their guns. you're in a foreign land, a group of individuals in regular clothes start yelling at you and coming at you. oh yeah, it's the cops.
I am fairly sure that it is not up to bystanders to determine whether a policeman is a law enforcement official in the eyes of the law.
There are plenty of questions about this... IF they identified themselves as police, then that eliminates this argument.
never with a gun, but have been confronted... the dude didn't realize the guys walking a few feet behind me were with me so when he found out he ran... if he had a gun, then we would have given all our money though.. i can assure you we wouldn't have ran...
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