From the first the shooting of the innocent Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes raised questions. To have been a passenger that day when the train stopped at the Stockwell underground station remains unimaginable. Now those present are talking about what they witnessed. One speaks of the police appearing to be a group of young lads larking about. This is at odds with the accounts of the police being involved in a deadly serious operation. The first time the witness realised something was wrong was when the first shot was fired. No one identified themselves as police. More questions raised, it seems, than answered.
The evidence from two witnesses so far contradicts claims that police called out warnings of who they were and that they were armed. We were told that they were acting in the belief that their suspect was about to detonate a bomb, yet to the witnesses their demeanor was even casual. “Lads having a lark” it seemed.