I'm generally a fan of The Corner, National Review's blog. However, today I think too many people are being too flippant about the shooting dead of the Brazilian man by London's police on Thursday.
The man is dead; he was innocent and we don't know what was going through his mind when he didn't obey the orders of the plain clothes police. Maybe he didn't hear them (maybe he was using an iPod/MP3 player and was simply running for the train?). Maybe he didn't understand them (although his family says he spoke English well). Or maybe he didn't recognize the plain clothes policemen as police.
I don't know how I'd react if I was tense about terrorist attacks and people in everyday clothes (I haven't been able to find out what the police looked like) were waving guns at me and yelling at me to stop. He may have even suspected that people in his neighborhood or even his building were terrorists (the police did) and been particularly on edge. We just don't know why he ran.
I'm not going to get down on the police either. Just as many people (especially Newstalk this morning) are being too flippant regarding what are obviously very trying, difficult times for London's police. I'm sure they regret this error more than anyone, but what can they do? They're on edge, combating an enemy that wants to kill himself and as many people as he can as well.
It's a tragedy and that's about it. I don't think the political ramifications should be too great beyond that.
