I'd like to believe that I understand what the officers were going through, even though I probably don't have the slightest idea because I've never been in that situation. If an officer perceives a threat I'd rather they be safe than sorry and protect their own lives, more often than not. I value law enforcement and the job they're doing to protect people like you and me. It's a difficult task they've been handed and I certainly don't think I could even come close to doing their job.Brando70 wrote: But what should the police have done? Chased him? Let him go? Put yourself in their shoes -- they probably thought they were risking their lives by following him. There's clearly an ongoing pattern of bombings and terror threats in Britain. Yes, this man was dark skinned, yes he had a backpack. So did the other terrorists. Had the officers opened fire on him because of those two things, I would completely agree with you. But he also ran. An officer making a split-second decision doesn't have time to decide if a suspect understands him or surmise his country of origin.
Look, it completely sucks that this happened. It is awful that these fundamentalist, psychotic f***ers have gotten everyone so on edge that the act of a man running away convinces officers to shoot him. But I also understand why they did what they did and don't begrudge them.
But I do believe that this paranoia about suicide bombings has eroded the civil rights of Arabs, Hispanics, South Asian, or anyone dark skinned, living in the UK and the US. That's pretty scary to me too.