The killing of Jean Charles de Menezes

Witness History

BBC

History, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 7 December 2022

⏱️ 9 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On the 22 July 2005, unarmed Brazilian man Jean Charles de Menezes was shot dead by anti-terrorism police in London. He was shot because he was mistaken for terrorist Hussain Osman who had been involved in a failed suicide attack just 24 hours previously. The killing made headlines all over the world, and Jean Charles’ family demanded justice. Matt Pintus has been speaking to Jean Charles’ cousin and best friend, Patricia da Silva. (Photo: Patricia da Silva in front of mural of Jean Charles de Menezes. Credit: Getty Images)

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hello and welcome to this edition of The Witness History Podcast from the BBC World
0:08.5	Service with me, Matt Pintus.
0:10.8	Today, I'm bringing you the story of Jean-Charles Demenezes, a Brazilian man who was shot dead
0:17.5	by police in London.
0:19.4	They thought he was a terrorist, but he wasn't.
0:24.3	This is Somers Day in London on the 22nd of July 2005.
0:29.6	Patricia De Silva has just finished work.
0:32.7	I went to the library to use the computer to access the internet, and I saw the police
0:41.0	shoot to kill one guy in the tube station.
0:45.7	Good afternoon, armed police have shot a man dead at Stockwell Underground Station in
0:49.8	South London.
0:50.8	Witnesses say the man was chased onto a tube train by plane co-s officers and then shot
0:55.5	at close range in front of dozens of terrified passengers.
0:58.7	I remember, I am feeling not bad, not good, I am feeling strange.
1:05.2	When Patricia gets home, her flatmate and cousin Jean is nowhere to be seen, but it's
1:10.4	Friday night, the start of the weekend, she thinks he's probably out partying.
1:16.0	The next morning, Patricia goes to work, but this time when she gets back, there is
1:20.4	someone in the flat.
1:21.9	It's her friend, Jazu, and he looks upset.
1:24.8	They said to me, Jean was arrested because he suspect to be a terrorist.
1:31.5	I said to him, what, what do you tell me, he has Patricia, the police contact us, and
1:38.9	the show was the Jean photo, and they said, Jean was arrested as suspect of terrorist.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.