So the “chilling precedent” I mentioned in my last posting turned out to be much, much worse than I first thought; not only did the Police act as judge, jury and executioner in a country that supposedly abolished capital punishment over 30 years ago, but they managed to kill a completely innocent Brazilian electrician who had absolutely nothing to do with terrorism. And as if the original reports of 5 bullets to the head weren’t bad enough, it now turns out that they “unloaded” 8 bullets into him, just to make sure he was really, really dead.

I’m completely disgusted and appalled by this wanton Police slaying. I accept that there might occasionally be a need to use deadly force when there is a genuine risk of innocent people being killed, and I also accept that it’s often going to be a tough call to make under stressful conditions. But you need to be really, really sure that there’s a genuine risk before you shoot someone in the head 8 times (or 7 times, plus one in the shoulder).

I can’t imagine what the poor guy’s family must be going through now. If the state’s response to terrorism is to start shooting innocent people at the slightest provocation, then the terrorists (the ones that haven’t blown themselves up, at least) can start feeling very pleased with themselves.