The Brasilian man who was shot 4 weeks ago at Stockwell Station seems to have been the victim of a series of missed opportunities worthy of the Keystone Kops. This is one of the saddest stories around at the moment. de Menezes did not run from the police, he did not vault the gates, he did not run into the train. He walked into the station, picked up a Metro newspaper, strolled down the escalators, and sat down on the train. An officer subdued him, only to have another officer or officers pump de Menezes full of bullets. Leaks from the independent investigation have been occurring regularly. To top it all off, the police tried to get the independent investigation postponed, thus giving rise to suspicions that evidence was tampered with or lost (accidentally or deliberately). The family's lawyer meets with the investigators tomorrow. I do hope they hold out for lots of money. Some faint calls for Sir Ian Blair (Metropolitan Police Commissioner) to resign are beginning. This one will roll on and on.
Aug. 18th, 2005
Taizé in mourning
Aug. 18th, 2005 08:54 pmTaizé mourns the death of Brother Roger, its spiritual leader. It turns out that the Romanian woman who stabbed Brother Roger to death only wanted to warn him about dangerous conspiracies of Freemasons that would threaten his ministry. She has been committed for observation, I believe. While I was not personally comfortable with Brother Roger's headlong dash to swim the Tiber, Taizé, for certain people, is a valuable ministry and one that gives ligbht and love to thousands of people. May Brother Roger rest in peace and rise in glory.