Jean Charles da Silva de Menezes (Brazilian Portuguese: [ʒeˈɐ̃ ˈʃaʁliz dʒi meˈnezis]; 7 January 1978 – 22 July 2005) was a Brazilian man fatally shot and wrongfully killed by the Metropolitan Police Service at Stockwell Station of the London Underground, after being mistakenly identified as one of the fugitives from the previous day's failed bombing attempts. These attempts occurred two weeks after the first 7 July 2005 London bombings, in which 52 people were killed.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) launched two investigations: Known as Stockwell 1 and Stockwell 2, the findings of Stockwell 1—initially withheld from the public—concluded that none of the officers would face disciplinary charges, while Stockwell 2 strongly criticized the police command structure and its communication with the public.
In July 2006, the Crown Prosecution Service determined that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute any individual police officer, although a criminal prosecution for failing in duty of care towards Menezes was officially initiated against the Commissioner Sir Ian Blair under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
Commissioner Blair was found guilty, and his office was fined. On 12 December 2008, an inquest returned an open verdict.
The death of Menezes led to protests in Brazil and prompted apologies from British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw. The Landless Workers' Movement demonstrated outside British diplomatic missions in Brasília and Rio de Janeiro. The shooting also led to debate over shoot-to-kill policies adopted by the Metropolitan Police Service after the September 11 attacks.
Jean Charles de Menezes was born in Gonzaga, Minas Gerais, Brazil, where he grew up on a family farm. His father worked as a bricklayer. Demonstrating an early aptitude for electronics, Menezes left the farm at the age of 14 to live with his uncle in São Paulo and pursue further education. At age 19, he obtained a professional diploma from Escola Estadual São Sebastião (São Sebastião State School).
On 13 March 2002, Menezes travelled to Britain on a six-month visitor visa. Following the visa's expiration, he applied for a student visa, which allowed him to remain in the country until 30 June 2003.
Almost all of the facts regarding the Menezes shooting were initially disputed by various parties. Contradictory witness accounts, "off the record" statements from the police, and media speculation all added confusion to the case. An ITV report on 16 August 2005 claimed to contain leaked documents from an IPCC investigation.
On 22 July 2005, the Metropolitan Police were searching for four suspects in four attempted bombings carried out the previous day; three at London Underground stations and one on a bus in Haggerston. As the perpetrators had not died in the failed suicide bombings, a large police investigation and manhunt began immediately. An address on Scotia Road, Tulse Hill, in south London was written on a gym membership card that was found inside one of the undetonated bags used by the bombers.
Menezes, an electrician, lived in one of the flats with two of his cousins, and had just received a call to fix a broken fire alarm in Kilburn. At around 9:30 am, officers carrying out surveillance saw Menezes emerge from the communal entrance of the block.
An officer on duty in a surveillance van at Scotia Road, referred to as "Frank" in the Stockwell 1 report, compared Menezes' likeness to that of the CCTV photographs of the bombing suspects from the previous day and noticed similarities that he felt warranted attention. As the officer was allegedly urinating into a bottle at the time, he was unable to immediately film the suspect to transmit images to Gold Command, the Metropolitan Police operational headquarters for major incidents. The inquest transcript confirms that "Frank" was a soldier on secondment to the undercover surveillance unit.
Based on Frank's suspicion, the Operation's Gold Commander, Cressida Dick, then authorized officers to continue pursuit and surveillance, and ordered that the suspect be prevented from entering the London Underground system.
Documents from the independent agency investigation of the shooting later concluded that mistakes in police surveillance procedure led to a failure to properly identify Menezes early on, leading to rushed assumptions and actions later at Stockwell tube station.
The officers followed Menezes to a bus stop for the number 2 bus on Tulse Hill, where several plainclothes officers boarded. Menezes briefly got off the bus at Brixton station. Seeing a notice that the station was closed due to a security alert because of the previous day's attempted bombings, he made a telephone call and reboarded the bus towards Stockwell.
Unaware the station was closed, the surveillance officers said they believed that Menezes' behaviour suggested that he might have been one of the previous day's failed bomb suspects. Officers claimed that Menezes' behaviour appeared "suspicious". They later stated they were satisfied they had the correct man, noting that he "had Mongolian eyes". During this journey towards Stockwell station, 3.3 kilometres (2.1 mi) away, the pursuing officers contacted Gold Command, reporting that Menezes potentially matched the description of two of the previous day's suspects, including Osman Hussain. Based on this information, Gold Command authorized Operation Kratos tactics and ordered the surveillance officers to prevent Menezes from boarding a train. According to a "senior police source at Scotland Yard", Police Commander Cressida Dick told the surveillance team that the man was to be "detained as soon as possible", before entering the station. Gold Command then transferred control of the operation to Specialist Firearms Command (known as "CO19" or "SO19"), which dispatched firearms officers to Stockwell tube station.
Menezes entered the tube station at about 10:00 am, stopping to pick up a free newspaper. He used his Oyster card to pay the fare, walked through the barriers, and descended the escalator. He then ran across the platform to board the newly arrived train. Menezes boarded the train and took one of the first available seats.
Three surveillance officers, codenamed Hotel 1, Hotel 3, and Hotel 9, followed Menezes onto the train. Hotel 3 sat on the left, with two or three passengers between Menezes and himself. According to Hotel 3, Menezes sat down about two seats away, with a glass panel on his right. When the firearms officers arrived on the platform, Hotel 3 moved to the door, blocked it from closing with his left foot, and shouted, "He's here!" to identify the suspect's location.
The firearms officers boarded the train, and it was initially claimed that they challenged the suspect, though later reports indicate that he was not challenged. According to Hotel 3, Menezes then stood up and moved towards the officers and Hotel 3, at which point Hotel 3 grabbed him, pinned his arms against his torso, and pushed him back into the seat. Although Menezes was being restrained, his body was straight and not in a natural sitting position. Hotel 3 heard a shot close to his ear and was dragged away onto the floor of the carriage. He shouted "Police!" and, with hands raised, was dragged out of the carriage by one of the armed officers who had boarded the train. Hotel 3 then heard several gunshots while being dragged out.