So, turns out the victim was a Brazilian electrician on his way to work (possibly why people may have seen him with wires!). AND, he had an expired visa and may have run b/c of that (in the article it mentions recent visa checks at tube stations)
I've told my husband, who is Latin but mistaken for Arab all the time, to please put his fiesty ways aside if the cops stop him here and just play nice. Lord knows NYC cops are quick to draw their weapons...
From the BBC:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4713753.stm
Shooting victim had expired visa
Menezes had been in London for more than three years
The Brazilian man shot dead by police who mistook him for a suicide bomber in south London had been in Britain on an out-of-date visa, officials say.
Jean Charles de Menezes, 27, may have run from police because of his visa situation, BBC correspondents say.
The electrician had come to the UK on a student visa, which allows people to work for a small number of hours.
Relatives of Mr Menezes deny his visa had expired and are considering suing over the Stockwell Tube shooting.
Meanwhile, detectives are still hunting for the men who attempted to blow up three London Tube trains and a bus last Thursday.
A total of five people have been arrested in connection with the attempted bombings and the police have named two suspects.
Muktar Said-Ibrahim, also known as Muktar Mohammed-Said, is suspected of attempting to bomb the Number 26 bus; while Yasin Hassan Omar, 24, is wanted in connection with a bomb on the Victoria line between Oxford Circus and Warren Street stations.
There is also speculation about a fifth bomber, following the discovery of a backpack containing a device in a west London park on Saturday.
Mr Menezes' cousin, Alex Pereira, who is based in London, said the police would "kill thousands of people" if they were not held accountable for what had happened.
He said: "They just kill the first person they see, that's what they did. They killed my cousin, they could kill anyone."
Under surveillance
Prime Minister Tony Blair said it was right for Britain to express its "sorrow and deep sympathy" to Mr Menezes' family.
But he said the police must be supported in doing their job.
He added that they would have been criticised had the suspect turned out to be a terrorist and they had failed to take action.
London Mayor Ken Livingstone described Mr Menezes as a "victim of the terrorist attacks".
He said: "Consider the choice that faced police officers at Stockwell last Friday - and be glad you did not have to take it."
On Friday morning Mr Menezes had left his flat in Tulse Hill and boarded a bus towards Stockwell Tube station to go to work.
He had been followed by police, who had his block of flats under surveillance in the hunt for the group behind Thursday's attempted bombings.
When he was challenged by police in the Tube station, he fled, reportedly leaping the ticket barrier.
Over the past year there have been an increased number of immigration checks at Tube stations - a policy widely reported in Brazilian newspapers.
Police chased him on to a Tube train where he was shot dead.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission has opened an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death.
Cancer treatment
In Brazil, relatives are demanding answers to why Mr Menezes ran and why he was shot by police.
Cousin Maria do Socorro, speaking before details about the visa emerged, said she thought the police had acted "like amateurs".
She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "If you are going to have a war on terror, you have got to use brains to fight it not just brute force."
Friends of Mr Menezes in London said he had recently returned to Brazil for eight months to be with his father, who was being treated for cancer.
*****o Soares, 26, said Mr Menezes had been sending money to pay for the treatment and was concerned how the family would now cope financially.
BBC home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw said the type of visa Mr Menezes had been given would normally be valid for one-and-a-half to two years.
He said Mr Menezes had not renewed the visa, adding: "That wouldn't explain why he was shot, but it might provide an explanation as to why he ran away if - that is indeed what he did do."
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