In face of the controversy, police officials have said they will review their shoot-to-kill policy, which came to light with the killing of de Menezes, but will not end it.

ITV News reported August 16 on documents “leaked” from the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), which was set up in April 2004 to investigate accusations of police violence or abuse. The papers included statements from police involved in the surveillance and shooting of de Menezes, as well as a pathology report and photographs of the man’s body on the floor of a Tube train after he was killed. On August 18 a clerk at the IPCC was suspended for allegedly leaking the documents, the Times of London reported.

The day after several failed bomb attacks here July 21, heavily armed cops followed de Menezes into a Tube station and killed him, pumping multiple bullets into his head. At first, police officials falsely stated that he was “directly linked” to the July 21 incidents. They claimed the 27-year-old worker, who had been followed by police from the moment he left his apartment building, seemed “suspicious” because he was wearing a “padded jacket,” had run from the cops, and jumped a turnstile.

The story quickly began to unravel, however. By the next day Ian Blair was calling the killing a “tragedy,” while continuing to justify the shoot-to-kill policy.

The recently leaked documents shatter the police version of events from beginning to end. Witness statements revealed that de Menezes was not clearly identified by the police surveillance team as he left his flat, nor was he stopped in the 29 minutes it took him by bus to reach the Stockwell Tube station and board the train. TV footage showed he was not wearing a padded jacket—it was a denim jacket—and that he did not vault over the ticket barrier. Instead, he used his travel pass, picked up a newspaper and walked in, breaking into a run only to catch his train.

The accounts of the actual execution were even further from the truth. Scotland Yard said the worker ran onto the train with armed officers chasing him. That afternoon Ian Blair told a press conference: “The man was challenged and refused to obey police instructions.”

In the leaked documents, one of the cops explained that after de Menezes had taken a seat on the train, “I grabbed him by wrapping both arms around his torso, pinning his arms to his side. I pushed him back on the seat. I then heard gunshots very close to my left ear.” Police from the SO19 firearms unit fired 11 times, putting seven bullets in his head. They did not identify themselves or attempt to arrest him.  
 
Call for police chief resignation
Members of the de Menezes family have called for the resignation of Ian Blair and accused him of lying about the shooting and attempting a cover-up.

With the ongoing debate in the media on whether Ian Blair should be fired, Prime Minister Anthony Blair is backing his police chief.

The Brazilian government has sent two judges who are conducting an inquiry into the killing to meet IPCC officials in London.

In an interview on Radio 4, Ian Blair rejected accusations of a police cover-up and said the killing of the worker should be “put in context.” He said, “Tragic as the death of Mr. Menezes is, and we have apologized for it and we take responsibility for it, it is one death out of 57,” referring to those killed in the recent bombings.

The parents of de Menezes, who live in Brazil, have told the press they turned down a police offer of $1 million (£560,000) as compensation to buy their silence. Maria de Menezes, mother of the slain man, denounced it as “blood money” and said no amount of cash would stop the family’s campaign for justice. The police admitted they had discussed offering the family money for “initial expenses,” the BBC reported.  
 
 
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