events in london
I’ve deliberately not really mentioned the recent events in London. Not because I am not concerned about what is or isn’t happening - more that plenty of people have already said exactly what I am thinking. I did travel to london the week after the first set of bombings and apart from an increased number of police on the tubes and trains I can’t say I really felt any different from any other day on the tube. The 2 minutes silence was pretty amazing though. A London where the only sounds are the air conditioning units is a very odd and thoughtfull place. Anyway, the reason I am finally mentioning all of this is this web page.
People have plenty of views on what happened on Friday at Stockwell and I suspect there is plenty that we don’t yet know but from what I can see reported a guy leaves a house that is being watched as part of the hunt for the bombers and ends up shot dead. Tragic as this is, I can’t help feeling most sorry for the police officer who pulled the trigger. Alledgedly this person left the house, was followed by police who then attempted to stop him. He then took flight, lept the barriers at the station and boarded a train. He was then shot - a victim of the shoot to kill policy. Had this person got on the train and detonated a bomb killing 10s or even 100s of people on that train the police would have been slated for not “removing the threat” (as I believe the police refer to it). Why this person didn’t stop when requested to will never be known - there are claims that given his background he may have thought he was being attacked or mugged. While this maybe the case I really can’t blame the police for what they did (assuming all the reports are actually true - something that will only come out in the inquiry). I’m glad the police are acting in this way. As horrible as it seems the risk of the alternative is too horrible to consider. Had this guy been found to be stuffed full of explosives the policeman who took that split secon decision to fire would have been classed a hero.
Of course, being white and not traveling in London everyday this is easy for me to say. Had I different coloured skin maybe I would feel differently.
