Brazilian outrage

I’ve gone back and forth on the Brazilian guy killed at Stockwell tube station in London last week.

My first reaction was to say it was entirely his fault. The day after a huge failed terrorist attack on underground trains by guys wearing concealed bombs, is not the best day in which to go out wearing a padded jacket in summer weather, and when asked by police to stop, to go sprinting into a tube station, jumping over the ticket queue, and running into a passenger train.

I thought to myself, what is so complicated about stopping when police ask you to? The poor guy really had poor judgement that day…

…but then it turns out his family are reporting that police revealed to them privately that the guy was in fact dressed normally, was never asked to stop by anybody identifying themselves as police (meaning he could’ve thought he was running from muggers), and actually had entered the train station legally, using his travelcard. Hmm…if this is true, then I take back my earlier reaction, and would have to say the police really did overreact.

…but now it turns out, officially, that the guy was in the UK illegally. This might explain why he ran away.

So at this point, I take back any opinions on the matter, and will wait until more information is released before making up my mind on what I think of this situation.

Having said that, I think it’s great that Brazilians are holding so many demonstrations both at home and in the UK, and that the death of one Brazilian abroad should generate so much awareness and activism. Now how about taking this opportunity to get organized at home to start reducing the nearly 40,000 annual firearms murders in Brazil? No, that number is not a misprint. And yes, it can be reduced.

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