Netflix’s documentary Attack on London: Hunting the 7/7 Bombers revisits the tragic sequence of events that led to the killing of Jean Charles de Menezes, a 27-year-old Brazilian electrician, shortly after the attempted bombings following the 7/7 attacks in London. On 22 July 2005, just a day after a failed bombing attempt and two weeks after the initial 7/7 terror attacks, de Menezes was mistakenly identified as a suspect and fatally shot by police at Stockwell Underground Station. The documentary provides a detailed examination of how heightened police alertness and communication failures culminated in this fatal mistake.

In the tense days following the foiled 21 July bombings, police intensified surveillance of individuals believed to be conspirators. One suspect was linked to a flat in south London where de Menezes also lived, which led officers to trail him without confirming his identity. According to the documentary, plainclothes officers tailed de Menezes as he left his apartment and followed him into the Underground, but a critical breakdown in communication meant that the armed firearms unit was not informed that the man they were pursuing was not positively identified as a threat. This miscommunication led to armed officers confronting de Menezes, believing he was a suicide bomber. The officers acted under Operation Kratos protocols, which allowed them to use deadly force if they suspected a suicide bombing threat. De Menezes was shot multiple times in the head and once in the shoulder while sitting on a train carriage.

Contrary to early police reports suggesting he had jumped the ticket barrier and was wearing a bulky coat, it was later verified that de Menezes passed through the barrier legitimately, was carrying a travel card, and wore a pale denim jacket. He was unarmed, had no explosives, and no terrorist links were found. The shooting sparked public outrage and a swift apology from authorities, but it also prompted a protracted investigation and multiple legal proceedings.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission led an inquiry that exposed significant flaws in police operations and communication. At the inquest, the jury delivered an open verdict, unable to conclusively find whether the police actions were legal or illegal. Despite no criminal charges being brought against the individual officers involved, the Metropolitan Police was prosecuted and found guilty of breaching health and safety laws concerning the welfare of the public, resulting in fines. The family of de Menezes vehemently condemned the decision not to prosecute the officers, describing it as “unbelievable,” and continued to campaign for justice and reform.

Further legal actions and human rights challenges pursued by de Menezes’s family were ultimately dismissed. Both national courts and the European Court of Human Rights upheld decisions that no crimes had been committed by individual officers, concluding that the police acted within the law given the context of the time and the perceived threat. The family’s cases were ruled not to constitute breaches of human rights, although public debates around police accountability and counter-terrorism policies such as Operation Kratos persisted.

Operation Kratos itself, a secretive shoot-to-kill policy designed for counter-terrorism following the 7/7 bombings, became a focal point of criticism, especially from the family of de Menezes and civil liberties advocates. They argued that this approach encouraged officers to use lethal force prematurely, contributing directly to the tragedy.

The Netflix documentary draws on never-before-seen footage and detailed interviews with investigators to provide a comprehensive look at the incident, its immediate aftermath, and its impact on British policing. It highlights the operational failures and the pressure faced by law enforcement agencies in a climate of fear and urgency, as well as the enduring calls for oversight and reform in how counter-terrorism measures are implemented.

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Source: Noah Wire Services