I used to live in Sao Paulo... and in fact, I just got back from there yesterday.

The Brazillians were / are very intereted and sympathetic to the suffering of the people of London.. that hasn't changed with the shooting...

The Brazillian in question, Jean Charles de Menezes, appears to have been a legal immigrant working successfully as an electrician in London. His Visa may have possibly needed renewing but this would have been merely a formality for him... nothing that should have concerned him overly - he could have regularised his position easily...

However, things to consider:

1. He may not have been thoroughly fluent in English and may have been confused by the Police Mens' shouts.
2. The Policemen were in plain clothes (Jeans and Sweatshirts)
3. They had been following him for a significant time before the shooting
4. They had allowed him to take a bus journey prior to him entering the tube station and subsequently the train...
5. If you live in Sao Paulo, you will learn to run from police waving guns, even moreso from a gang of men with guns in plan clothes and shouting aggressively at you... However, he came from a small town in Minas Gerais although he may well have lived in Sao Paulo for some time...
6. When he eventually bolted, the Police naturally assumed that he was doing so for a reason and may have assumed that he was running onto a populated train with the intention of causing an explosion / releasing a chemical or biological agent
7. The UK Police have recently (I understand) been training in ant-terrorist techniques with the Israeli Services, whose main technique is headshot then ask questions... typically, in the past, UK Police have tended to go for wounding - body or limbs... it appears that this man was shot 8 times in the head.

Nobody understands exactly what / why etc... His family are stunned and confused... the UK police are embarassed etc... but at the end of it the tragedy is that an innocent man died...

The cops were plain clothes detectives...when men with guns come running at you, you'd scarper too. The muslim community are living in fear as well. Already, one chap was killed in anti muslim violence.

I'm sure he was up to something though. How SURE are you now? The police have said he is innocent.

In fact, they've announced an apology on the TV news.

Typical reaction from your camp...shoot first, ask questions later and let's forget about proof or evidence, eh? Bet you were pretty sure Iraq had WMDs too.

We've got a medium with us ladies and gentleman. The thing is i wasn't expecting anything less of you.

You know what really puzzled me was this article in the news this morning(which I'd love to cite but they seem to have changed it).

The police basically said that the public should be braced for more accidental shootings by the police. I can see why they've pulled that story pretty quick.

Exactly. Its not like the guy didn't speak english & couldn't understand the word STOP. If you've done nothing wrong why would you run from the cops?!?!?

sorry for the double post:

I seriously hope this madness will stop, those bastards are harming the muslim community like no others.

...yes, I was thinking the same thing...especially after watching The City of God.

Especially since he was dead wrong.

Lets not rush to judgement though, its possible that it could have been sliped into the persons pack.