Posted on 07/28/2005 11:52:49 AM PDT by Pyro7480
Shot Brazilian had phoney visa, says Home Office
By Jenny Booth, Times Online
The student visa of Jean Charles de Menezes expired more than two years before he was shot by police, a Home Office spokeswoman said tonight.
The Government also issued a cautiously-worded statement which appeared to indicate that Mr de Menezes had a forged stamp in his passport.
The spokeswoman said: "Mr de Menzes ... applied for leave to remain as a student. This was approved on October 31, 2002, and he was granted leave to remain until June 30, 2003.
"We have no record of any further application or correspondence from Mr de Menezes.
"We have seen a copy of Mr de Menezes’ passport containing a stamp apparently giving him indefinite leave to remain in the UK.
"On investigation, this stamp was not one that was in use by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate on the date given."
Mr de Menezes, 27, a Brazilian national who was working in London as an electrician, was shot dead as ran aboard a northbound Tube train at Stockwell station. Shocked witnesses spoke of the expression of complete panic on his face as police undercover officers, who had trailed from his home in Tulse Hill several miles away under the mistaken belief that he was a suicide bomber, held him down and shot him.
Last night his family accused the police of changing their account of the incident. At first Scotland Yard said that Mr de Menezes had been wearing a heavy jacket despite the warm weather, and had refused to respond to a police challenge, vaulting over the ticket barrier in an apparent attempt to escape.
But his cousin told a press conference yesterday that senior officers at Scotland Yard had now retracted their claims that Mr de Menezes was acting suspiciously, so that officers had no option but to open fire.
Vivien Figueiredo, 22, said police told her that he was wearing a lightweight denim jacket and not a bulky coat that could have hidden an explosive belt underneath. They had also admitted that he used his travelcard to gain access to the station. Ms Figueiredo said: "They are saying he did absolutely nothing wrong when he was killed, so why don’t they say all this publicly?"
Police shot the electrician seven times in the head and once in the shoulder at point-blank range. The family claims that Mr Menezes’s death forced Scotland Yard to change its shoot-to-kill orders. In yesterday’s arrest in Birmingham, the family pointed out that police used a Taser stun gun. Speaking shortly before leaving for Brazil to take Mr Menezes's body home for burial, they said that they wanted to know why a similar weapon was not used last Friday.
Ms Figueiredo also expressed anger at reports that one of the officers involved in the fatal shooting had gone on holiday with his family, paid for by the Metropolitan Police. She said: "It is not right that this person should now be enjoying his holiday when we are suffering."
Alex Pereira, 27, another cousin accompanying the coffin on the flight home, said: "The officer must be brought back and show the world he did something wrong". Senior officers emphasised that the independent investigation into the incident was continuing.
Tomorrow the Stop the War Coalition will hold a vigil marking one week since Mr Menezes’s death, at 1730 BST in Parliament Square. A service will be held at Westminster Cathedral at the same time as his funeral in Brazil.
The police did what they had to do. No choice.
I wonder why they didn't send silver A-10s after him.
Now that's what I call border control!
Was he a practicing Muslim?
Quelle surprise.
Bit by bit, the truth is going to come out on this guy.
The "cousin" who has emerged as his spokesman is probably in it for the money - but I suspect the unfortunate Mr. Menezes was also in it for the money. I'm sure the Brits are trying to find out where a marginally employed illegal immigrant managed to get relatively large quantities of money to send back to Brazil (a detail that appeared in an article in the first few days after the shooting).
The press is busy trying to sanitize him, and the relatives want the bucks (okay, the pounds).
All of the illegal aliens so far have expired Visa cards. None of them have Discover or MasterCharge, so it only makes sense . . .
Check the family members - are they in GB legally ?
A phrase in common use by illiterates and others who have not formed particular thoughts at the moment.
Supposedly not. But some of the people involved in the Madrid bombings were not, either. They were Spaniards who were petty criminals or members of other terrorist groups (ETA), and supplied the materials and made some of the financial and logistical connections simply for money.
Blair and Straw have been reassuring everyone that he was in the country legally. I guess they aren't to be trusted.
Non-police witnesses have told the press that he was wearing a heavy coat. Non-police witnesses have said that he hopped the turnstile.
The Taser was used because he was not an immediate threat to blow himself up. That was not the case for Mr Menezes.
Mr Meneze probably didn't give up because of his illegal status in the country. You reap what you sow, I guess.
The Left's at it again, politicizing someone's death. I guess they want the war against terrorists to completely stop so no one accidently dies. It will just cause more civilians to be intentionally killed by lunatics.
this may explain why he was running from cops
Death by terrorism = acceptable death
Death by police fighting terrorism = unacceptable death
Go figure. My mind doesn't work that way.
No matter how you justify it, this sux, and it sucks badly. However, under the circumstances, the Police actions were understandable. It doesn't take much of any jacket to cover a bomb belt or bomb vest. This is just a sad, sad tragedy, and he is a victim of the terrorists more than a victim of the police.
Hmmm...and just where does one go to get one of those stamps which grants one "indefinite leave to remain in the UK"?
Which "community" within the UK might from time to time require a documents expert?
Hmmm...?
Yup. I'm sure these officers just shot the guy cause they felt like it. No reason to suspect the guy at all. Sure.
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