And You Think It is Safe to Fly ?

De Menezes Gun Cop To Train Sky Marshals
London Mirror | August 15 2006
ONE of the officers who shot Tube blunder man Jean Charles de 
Menezes is to train new British sky marshals.

The armed cop, in his 30s, has been picked because top brass say he 
has "proven ability to act swiftly and decisively" in emergencies.

.
But security services insiders insist the officer - part of Scotland 
Yard's elite CO19 gun squad - is the best man for the job.

One senior source said: "The shooting was a terrible mistake, but it 
was made in response to a genuine fear that this man was a terrorist 
about to blow up innocent people.

"We need the best to counter the very real threat posed by 
international terrorism.
"Sky marshals have to act quickly and decisively in any situation.
"They have to be ruthless in bringing down potential terrorists 
before they can bring down an aircraft."


Sky marshals will be issued with Sig Sauer 9mm pistols, with special 
bullets which do not ricochet and damage the aircraft's fuselage.
Officers will also be taught how to man cockpit controls when the 
crew have been killed or injured.
Following 9/11, Washington put pressure on European governments to 
have at least three sky marshals on US-bound flights. Many, notably 
Sweden, Portugal and Denmark, fiercely opposed the plan, as did the 
British Airline Pilots' Association.
The UK is thought to have started training undercover air guards in 
2002.


In December last year, sky marshals killed for the first time when a 
mentally disturbed airline passenger who pretended that he had a 
bomb in his bag was shot at Miami airport.

Brazilian Mr Menezes, 27, was gunned down on July 22 last year after 
officers mistook him for a suicide bomber.

The Crown Prosecution Service says there is "insufficient evidence" 
to prosecute any individual. But the Met Police will be charged 
under health and safety laws. An Independent Police Complaints 
Commission report given to the CPS in January, but not yet made 
public, is said to be highly critical of the police operation.

http://prisonplanet.com/articles/August2006/140806_b_Marshals.htm


Leaked witness statements from officers who took part in the botched 
operation reveal that Jean Charles de Menezes was being restrained 
by a member of the Yard's surveillance team before being shot eight 
times as he sat on a Tube train. 



The investigation by ITV News claims that when de Menezes, 27, was 
challenged by police on the Northern Line train at Stockwell he did 
not make any aggressive move. Claims by police at the time that the 
electrician was "behaving erratically" are alleged to be false



It was only when de Menezes boarded the train that a surveillance 
officer guided four armed police into the same carriage. A man 
sitting opposite him is quoted as saying: "Within a few seconds I 
saw a man coming into the double doors to my left. He was pointing a 
small, black handgun towards a person sitting opposite me. 

"He pointed the gun at the right hand side of the man's head. The 
gun was within 12 inches of the man's head when the first shot was 
fired." 

The report reveals that a member of the surveillance team grabbed de 
Menezes before he was shot. "I grabbed the male in the denim jacket 
by wrapping both my arms around his torso, pinning his arms to his 
side," a statement says. 
"I then pushed him back on to the seat where he had been previously 
sitting . . . I heard a gunshot very close to my left ear and was 
dragged away on to the floor of the carriage." 

Photographs showed that de Menezes was shot at virtually point-blank 
range as he was still in his seat.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9809.htm