>That brings up the question: "Is profiling ever acceptable?" Some would say in the case of national security, yes. Others would say never, no matter the consequences. Of course there are Terry Nichols, Timothy McVeigh, Aryan Nations, Posse Comitatus, Joanne Chesimard, David Koresh, et al.

It's a very hard call. I have the same problems with profiling that I do with capital punishment. If they could do these things perfectly, then I'd have far less of a problem with it, but they can't. We've had some in Canada sent for torture who turned out later to have been innocent of any crime. I wonder how many are languishing in Guantanamo Bay who have never done anything to deserve it except be the wrong colour and religion.

And I don't want to hear about how one must break eggs to make an omelet. That sort of stuff is always said by those who have never been, and are confident of never being one of the eggs.

You rarely hear that stuff from visible minorities.

Besides, doesn't the whole concept make somewhat of a mockery of 'democratic freedom'? What's being protected, if not that?

>
>
>>>>Agreed, we don't know the actual details at this time.
>>>>Agreed, the police have to operate differently against this kind of threat.
>>>>
>>>>But what we've *heard* so far is:
>>>>- The guy was followed from a place under surveillance;
>>>>- The guy was wearing a thick winter-like coat in 70 degree weather;
>>>>- The guy was "challenged" when he entered a tube station and he ran;
>>>>- Three (maybe more) authorities chased him in the station and into a subway car, the guy tripped and fell, 3 guys jumped on top of him, one of them then firing 5 shots into his head.
>>>>
>>>>I think there's a difference between reacting "differently" and throwing out the rule book.
>>>>The rules exist to protect against exactly this kind of action - killing a person is assuming guilt.
>>>
>>>During the man's flight he also vaulted the ticket machine barriers, ostensibly the act of a deperate man. The man ran onto a tube train, the target of so many bombs lately. I guess that when he fell the cops thought he may have a detonator which he could fire with his thumb, or whatever, and he'd now reached his target, hence shots to the head (remembering that the cops were now potential victims themselves).
>>>
>>>He'd been living and working in the UK for some time so language wasn't a barrier (all his Brazilian relatives on TV speak English too) and, especially living where he did, he can't have been ignorant of the volitility and delicacy of the situation. If I were in the US or Canada, and was challenged with "Armed police! Stop. Hands up!" or whatever, I'm sure I'd freeze and c
>>comply.
>>
>>Of course, you're Caucasian too, so that helps. I think non-caucasians have less faith in the system than you do. You are far less likely to be sent to Syria for torture.
>>
>>>Whereas I find the incident very tragic, I can see the reasoning, and the split-second decision.