Hear what eyewitness, Mark Whitby, said on BBC on the event: I
saw an Asian guy
he basically looked like a cornered rabbit, a
cornered fox,
. he looked absolutely petrified
..he half tripped
and was half pushed to the floor and the policeman nearest to me
held it (the black automatic pistol)down to the guy and unloaded
five shots into him
.I didnt see any guns, or anything like that
I didnt see him carrying anything. I didnt even see a bag to be
quite honest.
There was no visible threat from the guy, so the police cant claim
act of self-defense. There was no indication that he had just
planted a bomb, or left a suspicious article around somewhere,
police cant say they were stopping him from committing a terrorist
act. He was, in the mind of the police, convicted of terrorism and
deserved to die, and therefore he was shot 5 times when he was
already down on the floor. This sound like an execution to
me.
Was the police triggerhappy or just panic? If they are armed to the
teeth now, they better not be.
What puzzled me is the reference of a Brazilian as an Asian. Would
the police do the same if he were a white British? This is not an
accusation of racism but this is probably a situation of non
differentiation between Hispanic, middle easterners, and asian
(generally refer to Indians and Pakis). There is no difference
between Chinese and Vietnamese to the brit. This is in Britain, a
cosmopolitan city. Few years ago, a Jap youth was shot dead in US
because he didnt understand stop when confronted by an American
with a gun. Why is this diversity of races and cultures still
causing misunderstanding? Are they not in the same society? The
confirmed suspects were locally born and bred in Britain.
The world ought to be on high alert after post-911, especially
Britain, if not they ought to be after they joined the US in
invading iraq. Terrorists today come from within. Many immigrants
from middle east, India and Pakistan, especially those from their
previous colonies, are now british nationals and is part of the
society. Islam is there to stay and it is inevitable that some
local muslims are influenced by fundamentalist from abroad. Is
Britain ready to cope?? Are all muslims and those with darker skin
and beard prime suspects of terrorists??
We pray that no terrorists succeed in Singapore, in the unlikely
event that this happens, lets hope that Singaporeans are ready to
handle. In whatever situation, anybody who is given a gun should be
responsible for how he uses it. You shoot the wrong guy, you must
face the trial. It doesnt mean that in war, soldiers dont have to
watch who they shoot.
