Jean Charles de Menezes
 Jean Charles de Menezes  | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Died | 22 July 2005 |
| Victim of | murder |
Shot dead by UK police 2 weeks after the 7-7 bombings. Police originally lied about the circumstances, and might never have admitted the truth if Lana Vandenberghe had not blown the whistle and revealed the real chain of events. | |
Jean Charles de Menezes was shot dead by the London Metropolitan police at Stockwell tube station on the London Underground two weeks after the London Bombings of July 2005. Undercover police then collected information about his family.[1]
Contents
Official Narrative
The official narrative was obviously faked to minimize public outrage at the man's killing. Lana Vandenberghe, an IPCC administrator, was outraged by this and blew the whistle on this deception. She was sacked for her honesty while those who faked the original narrative have never been even publicly identified.
Original Narrative
The Metropolitan police claimed that de Menezes was wearing a bulky coat that could have concealed explosives, vaulted over a ticket barrier and run down an escalator to escape firearms officers. A government spokesman stated that "the police and emergency services have acted superbly".[2]
Narrative 2.0
After a leak by Lana Vandenberghe, this was exposed as a falsehood, so the official narrative was changed to state that he walked through the station quite normally and used a travelcard to get through the barrier, stopping to pick up a copy of the free London newspaper Metro on his way. Nevertheless, the IPCC concluded that de Menezes was misidentified as a fugitive associated with the bombs left on the tube the previous day's failed bombing attempts.[3]
Police Surveillance
After the shooting of Mr. de Menezes, his family campaigned for "justice", and the Met kept them under extended surveillance. A spokesperson for the De Menezes Family Campaign said: "It is shameful that the Metropolitan police spied on the legitimate campaign activities of a grieving family who were simply trying to get the answers they deserved after their loved one was killed by police officers." The police offered no explanation of their continued surveillance, leading The Guardian to assume that "they were gathering information in an attempt to discredit the family's campaign for justice in order to deflect accountability for their own failings.[1]
The Cover up
After the killing, Ian Blair, the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis telephoned the Chairman of the Independent Police Complaints Commission and wrote a letter to the Home Office stating that "the shooting that has just occurred at Stockwell is not to be referred to the IPCC and that they will be given no access to the scene at the present time".[4]
Misleading Wikipedia edits
Channel 4 claimed that UK government computers were used to add misleading and incorrect data to the Wikipedia page documenting Jean Charles de Menezes’ death, so as to obscure police failings. Asad Rehman, speaking on behalf of the De Menezes family, emphasized it wasn’t the first time they’d been targeted in such a manner, stating that "Like all ordinary members of the public, I'm shocked. This is yet one more smear and attack on the family. We've seen over many years lies, misinformation and smears during the family's attempt to find the truth and justice and answers about how an innocent young man on his way to work was gunned down by police officers."[5]
Lana Vandenberghe
- Full article: Lana Vandenberghe
- Full article: Lana Vandenberghe
The true circumstances of the killing of de Menezes may never have been revealed to the public had not whistleblower Lana Vandenberghe exposed as a lie the original version of events released by police, viz. that de Menezes, wearing a bulky coat, had vaulted over a ticket barrier and run down an escalator to escape firearms officers. An administration secretary for the Independent Police Complaints Commission, Vandenberghe was arrested and lost her job as a result.[6][7]
Related Quotation
| Page | Quote | Author |
|---|---|---|
| Lana Vandenberghe | “The full circumstances of the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes by the Metropolitan Police SO19 Firearms Unit on 22 July 2005 would not have come to the public's attention without the revelations of Lana Vandenbergh. Lana worked as an administration secretary for the Independent Police Complaints Commission. Jean Charles de Menezes, an innocent man, was shot and killed at Stockwell tube station on the London Underground by police. Initially, police falsely claimed that he was wearing bulky clothing, had vaulted the ticket barriers and run from police. It soon become clear that de Menezes did not vault and run from the police, but police did not correct the misinformation until the correct information was leaked to the press. At first the police tried to cover up this dreadful mistake. Vandenbergh leaked details of the police enquiry, which was very different from the version then in the public domain.” | Lana Vandenberghe |
Related Document
| Title | Type | Publication date | Author(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| File:02 08 07 ipcc stockwell.pdf | report | July 2007 | Stockwell two, the second report into the handling and dissemination of information by the Metropolitan Police Service to the Press, following the killing of Jean Charles de Menezes. |
References
- ↑ a b http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jul/23/undercover-police-spied-on-families-de-menezes-groce-reel
- ↑ http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/de-menezes-the-real-story-408168.html
- ↑ http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/de-menezes-the-real-story-408168.html
- ↑ "Commissioner's letter to The Home Office". Metropolitan Police Service.Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css must have content model "Sanitized CSS" for TemplateStyles (current model is "Scribunto").
- ↑ http://www.rt.com/uk/178652-internet-censorship-police-uk/
- ↑ http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/jul/22/menezes.lifeandhealth
- ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7795289.stm
