Dorothy…you started with what was a fair and (for the purposes of debate) interesting counter point that frankly was undeniable. I have no proof. You are correct. I do not know. You are correct. And I agree, the real danger is when 'people present fantasy in place of the facts'…but as I move through your increasingly skewed observations, I notice that you admit that 'no-one was 100% certain' of when Duggan discarded the weapon or how he discarded it.
So, take that as you have said it. Nobody is sure. And answer me this. Why the **** was a man shot when no-one was sure he was armed?
You speak very sternly about the 'nonsense spouted from others with their own agendas'…what are you talking about? Why don't you spell that out? Are you saying that questioning the shooting of someone who was not armed is 'agenda-drive'? Do explain.
By the end, you've gone on about 'words like 'executed' and 'assassinated' are simply pathetic'…can I ask, are you making a general point with regards to some opinions expressed here? Certainly hope so, because in terms of replying to me, I didn't go close to using those words.
Finally, the marksman will be haunted by it, absolutely. I wonder if the unit commander who made the call bore any of that pressure?
BTW, are you in law enforcement?
Sofa Special Branch
Not in law enforcement in any shape or form. Just take a keen interest in why people flock and herd around such peculiar causes and end up getting manipulated so easily into seeking a far more outlandish explanation as to why this event happened.
With words like 'assassinated' and 'executed' I'm referring to those who are using them to sensationalise it without having one iota of proof with which to justify them. You will always find someone who agrees with you no matter how outlandish your (none singular) ideas are. Think about Scientology, other religions and beliefs and it becomes clear how easily some are led.
I think it interesting to look at the psyche behind much of the almost mawkish anger some people are showing. We hear lots of grandiose statements from the grieving family and friends. They talk in very mass, general terms about 'what we all know', 'the truth' etc and they wrongly appear to think they are speaking for a Nation. The riots were not perpetuated by a nation. They were perpetuated by a bunch of yobs, a tiny minority and many who are just part of the criminal or pseudo criminal underclass in the country. Those that given the opportunity would be straight out to loot. They didn't nip out to pinch tellies because they gave two ****s about Mark Duggan. They did it because of greed. Perhaps a very similar thought process that set Duggan on his path. I don't know anyone they speak for.
Family, close friends of Duggan at times can't make up their minds over whether he was just a scallywag, a normal guy, a gangmember or 'not an angel'. The simple fact is that no criminal is 'guilty' are they. Those ****ing animals that tried to behead Lee Rigby in plain sight were 'not guilty', that is what they pleaded. They had an agenda, it was to remain in the limelight with a soapbox for as long as was possible. No criminal is ever 'guilty', we see the same parade of family members there to tell us how innocent they are. Yet recently these same family friends have started contradicting one another within hours and days of each other. So by agendas I refer to those who want to see Duggan's killing ruled unlawful, those who then want to sue the Met for compensation. If you admit who Duggan was, what he got up to, then you really kill any chance of this. You are admitting his guilt and making those snap decisions that were taken on that day more reasonable.
The sad thing is someone can utter total bull**** about a case and just like that it is doing the rounds and before you know it fiction becomes fact. If it is plausible in some people's minds then it is fact until it is disproved otherwise and in many cases remains fact in their minds as they are decided. Last night we were treated to the racist Diane Abbott and a gentleman who mediates between gangs, a friend of the Duggans. He popped on Paxman to say that stop and search was still failing and he has just been unjustly stopped on the way to the studio. We gasped! Many must have. The apparent truth was he was stopped because the vehicle he arrived in was either uninsured or untaxed. Hell don't let the truth get in the way of a good story. He talked of Duggan's innocence, that stories about his notoriety were overblown. Today he was back this time on Radio 2 with Jeremy Vine and an ex Firearms Officer. Oddly today his story had changed, his stance appeared different as he gave us ideas about how one of Duggan's superiors may have set Duggan up to transport the gun and then shopped him in a criminal gang power struggle. Whoa there... I thought he was just a scallywag and innocent?? Eh? He went on to explain about socks covering guns to protect from gun residue and to avoid getting DNA on the weapon. He explained that Duggan would know to not handle the gun and as no DNA was on the weapon he would simply stash the gun down the back of the seat as it was a public vehicle. It was the done thing and Duggan would know this, so he would be unlikely to throw the weapon away. Whoa... I thought he didn't have a gun and that he was just 'not an angel'?? It was bizarre. Yet there are still people on here trying to argue he was just a bit of a naughty boy.
What would you expect the family and friends to say? They'd have to confess he was a dealer, gang member, a proper criminal but it was still unfair that he was shot. You see though, the character, previous, what the police allegedly knew, what people have testified all goes to make him a potentially very dangerous individual. It mitigates their actions in the eyes of the law. A jury have agreed he did have the gun, he was a danger but they have agreed that it was unlikely he had it on him when he was shot. The ex-firearms officer was very level headed and had done some proper research. He explained very simply about where the gun was found and how it was like to have ended up there. He was quick to object when the other chap tried to make out the gun was not real but 'just a replica'. A replica that had been reactivated to fire as many of the guns that hit the streets are. Yet had this man's opinion not been challenged here was a prime example of ignorant misinformation. To be fair it doesn't matter whether the gun was capable of firing or not. You have any gun on you in that situation and make one wrong move (if indeed this is what happened) and then you are getting shot.
Largely though we are just being fed bull**** about police brutality, about 'all these deaths' at the hands of the police, the trigger happy firearms officers and the real statistics just don't back any of it up at all.
The other thing which is deeply odd is this line of thought some have. Some say he was innocent, not guilty, no gun, just a bit of a naughty boy. Then in the next breath they concoct these peculiar stories where this innocent nobody had ****ed the higher echelons of the police off so badly that they risked all their careers by 'assassinating' him in broad daylight. I think the language they use says a bit more about where they come from and the lives they really live. They can't have it both ways.