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.
He very well may have been a terrorist, just not part of the most recently active cell.
The moral of the story: When a policeman yells "stop", one better stop.
And the same address as the terrorists.
Doesn't pass the small test.
Probably the "counterfeit visa community."
By a strange coincidence, a couple of days after this guy's death, the police raided a place in Britain that was busy cranking out phony "student" and other visas.
Exactly so. My guess is that the family is doing their best to increase their cash award.
The day after this shooting happened everyone was saying the poor guy didn't speak English, so he was running from the police because he thought he was going to be mugged again. One question, how can a person live in another country for several years and not learn what, "Stop, Police" means? My daughter is a language instructor and she tells me the best way to learn a language is immersion in the country/culture. This thing smells and I bet by the time it is sorted out, the police will be the ones smelling good.
Looks like you're thinking the same thing I've been thinking. Wanna bet that as more comes out about this guy, he'll look less and less "innocent"?
Love your tagline! Sounds like a great idea to me!
Even his family admits he spoke good English. When my husband went to Brazil a few years ago, he was surprised at how many people spoke (very) good English.
He was just doing the work that the Brits were too lazy to do...
I don't suppose we could hire those U.K. cops to help out with our (ahem) "problems" on our southern border with illegals, now could we?
;)
Once it got to the point of Menezes running in the train station, they really didn't have much choice.
The police screwed up pretty badly, though. Menezes lived in a small building (8 flats), and the cops could have, and should have, made sure they knew everybody who lived there. The start of this mess was when they started tailing a guy who came out of the building, who they didn't know. But Menezes had lived there for a long time, and they should have known who he was.
Bad legwork up front led to bad results downstream.
He jumped a ****in' turnstile ****in' running from the ****in' police, you dumb ****!
One question.
Was he a practicing Muslim?
The plot thickens.
There is more to this...
Amazing how the cops are so stupid, isn't it? Sarcasm off.
Bill Cosby used to say, "Spank your kids once a day, if you don't know what for, they will." This guy sounds like he might have been having the guilts; the cops may never know why he ran, but maybe it won't matter.
How do they know he wasn't a suicide bomber? Is John Edwards channeling him?
"Was he a practicing Muslim?"
No, Catholic.
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