As someone who had a lot of sympathy for London after the July 7 bombings, I have to confess that that sympathy is rapidly disappearing. It is utterly callous and disgusting that, after brutally shooting an innocent man in the face at point-blank range, the Metropolitan Police will not even consider changing its "kill-on-suspicion" policy. Since they won't admit they did anything wrong, this insures that they can and will do it again.

They "regret" the mistake, and yet the mistake was not their fault and couldn't have been avoided. All mistakes, errors and cock-ups are the fault of some conveniently omnipresent Passive-Voice God. "Mistakes were made." NOT, "We made a mistake." Talk about tortured logic. How much collateral damage does there have to be for people to realize that this is criminal incompetence at best, murder at worst????

At best, this was definitely a case of racial profiling. The young man, whose photo shows him as having somewhat dark hair, resembled a Middle Easterner in cop eyes. And as for the heavy padded coat -- temperatures that day were in the 70's. Not everyone thinks that that is too warm for a coat, especially not someone from an equatorial country. I have known people who claimed they were freezing if the temp got below 78. (The story about him already being an object of surveillance is probably a face-saving lie.)

It is even more disgusting that the London papers, and the so-called Left-wing mayor "Red Ken" Livingston are defending the policy. I guess "Red Ken" turned out to be just another "collateral damage" apologist after all. Or perhaps this just shows that anybody can metamorphose into a National Security State fascist if they get scared enough. Ken Livingston, in blaming the July 7 terrorists for the death of the young Brazilian, is just as disingenuous and shameless as Bush and Blair.

It is most disgusting of all that the people of London are not out in the streets protesting this murder.

On the first anniversary of the Iraq War, I demonstrated, alongside the people of London, against the War and against Tony "Bliar". Where is that compassionate solidarity now???

In the past, New Yorkers and others have demonstrated against police brutality holding aloft plumber's helpers and wallets. At the very least, Londoners should hold a "padded heavy coat" demonstration, and DARE the fucking cops to shoot them down.

If Londoners don't give enough of a shit to do even that, then it will be increasingly difficult for me to give a shit about them.

I only wish we had more Brazilians in L.A., so that the UK consulate could be surrounded. In heavy jackets, of course. :)

If wearing a heavy jacket means an automatic death sentence, then I'll wear mine. It's like wearing a yellow star in Denmark during WWII. They can't kill us all.

If the UK is going to be a country where secret agents shoot people in public at will and with impunity, then it is no longer a country that needs to be saved from the terrorists. The terrorists have in fact won, and are now in power, in my opinion.

What terrorizes you more: a bomb that has a low probability of going off on your train, which even then has a low probability of hurting you, whose
makers have a high probability of being caught and punished at some point; or an out-of-control State and police force who have the power to coldly end your life at any time and will never be punished for it and will loudly defend their right to do it?????

London is Baghdad. Saddam's Baghdad.

(NOTE: I wrote this before I read about the vigil at Stockwell Station. Since there were apparently only 50 people there, I stand by what I wrote.)