Christ. The guy they shot didn’t have anything to do with the bombings.

(via)

Note to anyone who looks remotely dark-skinned, has black hair etc. – if police are present, DO NOT RUN.

Wasn’t it Not the 9 O’Clock News with the “Driving in posession of brown skin and tight black curly hair” sketch?

It was understandable in the circumstances, but they’ve still got some serious explaining to do – and nothing they say is going to get London’s asian population feeling comfortable. A Sikh mate of mine was saying only yesterday that he’s shitting himself every time he’s on the tube – not because of bombs, but because of other passengers’ reactions towards him, an asian guy with a rucksack. When he’s got to be afraid of a trigger-happy policeman getting over-excited as well, it’s hardly going to be a great situation…

Now imagine he was Muslim instead of Sikh, who’s he going to be tempted to rally behind? The most vocal opposition. And we all know who they normally are.

Christ… Pretty much worst case scenario. Although at least they didn’t kill any bystanders as well, I suppose.

Update: The man is thought to have been South American.

In other words – to indulge in speculation – olive skinned, dark haired, from a hot country so likely to have been feeling the cold (yesterday was chillier than it has been in London), and possibly not only not an English speaker, so unable to understand police instructions, but also from a region where police have a reputation for going around killing people at random.

Further update: To clarify my position, I’ll borrow Tim Worstall’s words (in the comments):

“I do not mean to imply that the police are racist. It�ll surprise a lot of people in the UK but it is one of the least racist countries I have ever been in. No, my point is that the shooting will increase the perception of racism by some communities and that this is something that further hatred and violence might (might!) feed off.”

More comment: rhetorically speaking.., A Big Stick and a Small Carrot, Londonist, Honourable Fiend, Mayor of London Blog, Indigo Jo Blogs, and in the interest of balance, Barking Moonbat Early Warning System and Liberty Blog (since when were the Met known for being “pollitically correct pussies”? News to me…)