Police 'Shoot To Kill' Mohammed Yassar Yaqub on M62

[TonyGosling]

Man shot dead by police during 'pre-planned' operation on M62 slip road
The smashed window of a car at the scene where a man has died during a pre-planned operation on a M62 slip road
The smashed window of a car at the scene where a man has died during a pre-planned operation on a M62 slip road CREDIT: ANDREW MCCAREN/LNP
Patrick Sawer, senior reporter Sophie Jamieson
3 JANUARY 2017 • 11:22AM
A man has been shot dead by police after officers swooped on the M62 in Yorkshire during a pre-planned operation.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/01/03/man-shot-dead-police-m62-mo torway-near-huddersfield-pre-planned/

At the same time five people were arrested as armed police closed in on a number of suspects across the region.

The man, named locally as 27-year-old Mohammed Yassar Yaqub, was killed in a car near junction 24 of the M62 in Huddersfield at around 6pm on Monday.

The vehicle appeared to have been heading off the M62 towards Huddersfield when it was stopped by at least one unmarked police car that was following it.

The car was boxed in. Shortly after this a shot was fired and the driver killed.

Photographs taken at the scene showed a silver Audi with three bullet holes in its windscreen and bonnet and one of the side windows smashed.

Follow
WestYorkshire Police ✔ @WestYorksPolice
The west bound slip roads of the M62 at junction 24 are expected to be closed for some time following a police incident.
8:14 PM - 2 Jan 2017
33 33 Retweets 14 14 likes
Follow
WestYorkshire Police ✔ @WestYorksPolice
The east bound slip roads of M62 Junc 24 are also closed following a police incident. closures also remain at the west bound slip roads.
8:35 PM - 2 Jan 2017
28 28 Retweets 6 6 likes
Tributes have been made to Mr Yaqub, from Huddersfield, on social media as friends stated their sadness at the incident.

One friend, who asked not to be named, said: "Yasser was a loved man and a loyal friend. He really was a lovely man a family man at that. Nobody's perfect but he didn't deserve this.

West Yorkshire Police at the junction of the M62
West Yorkshire Police at the junction of the M62 CREDIT: BEN LACK PHOTOGRAPHY LTD
"He would do anything to help anyone. Why he got shot I don't know. What I do know is he didn't deserve this, he really didn't. May Allah protect his family and hope they get justice."

A user on Facebook posted about the incident saying: "The news I have just heard has broke my heart in two!! Yasser Yaqub was one of my closest friends growing up!! How did this happen!! RIP MY BROTHER I can't even speak right now!! Thoughts are with your family & baby girl!!! I'm so sorry x."

While another user said: "Cannot believe what I'm hearing this morning. RIP Yasser. Thinking of you and your family."

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said the operation was not terror related and that a car had also been stopped in the Chain Bar area of Bradford at around the same time.

The scene of the incident on the M62 slip road
The scene of the incident on the M62 slip road CREDIT: JOEL GOODMAN/LNP
Five people were arrested across the two vehicle stops, three in Huddersfield and two in Bradford.

Several of those arrested needed hospital treatment for injuries "not related to firearm discharge" but no police officers were hurt, a force spokesman said.

The dead man's identity has not been released and police are yet to confirm any further details about the operation.

The force said it had informed the Independent Police Complaints Commission and was "fully co-operating" with the watchdog's investigators.

A police spokesman said: "During a pre-planned policing operation near to the M62 in Huddersfield a police firearm was discharged and a man has died.

"An immediate referral has been made to the Independent Police Complaints Commission who are in attendance in West Yorkshire and West Yorkshire Police are fully co-operating with their investigation."

Witnesses reported seeing "five or six" police cars, a Mercedes E Class and a Jaguar at the scene.


Shahnaz Malik, 54, whose house is the closest to the scene and overlooks the slip road from the village of Ainley Top, said she realised something out of the ordinary was under way when she looked over her back fence and saw large numbers of police vehicles and officers.

"There was like a swarm," she said. "There was a lot. It was dark as well."

She said: "It was surreal. It was like time had stood still, so many police buzzing around.

"It all happened so quickly. I was just stood there freezing cold."

Rahul Tandon, from Halifax, told BBC Radio Leeds he was stopped by police on the exit slip road of junction 24 as the incident happened.

"As we pulled off the motorway we could see a lot of police vehicles, a lot of flashing lights," he said.

"We were basically the first car that was stopped by police and we just waited and waited."

Mr Tandon added: "Over the next 10 to 15 minutes there was frenetic activity as more and more police vehicles arrived.

"At about

6.15 to 6.20, policemen were running up the slope to an ambulance and beckoning them to come quickly."

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IPCC ✔ @IPCCNews
A man has died following a @WestYorksPolice incident in Huddersfield at J24, M62 at 6pm this evening - IPCC investigators are at the scene.
11:09 PM - 2 Jan 2017
50 50 Retweets 6 6 likes
Police eventually told Mr Tandon and other drivers to leave the scene by reversing up the slip road and back onto the M62.

Gemma Wilson, a local councillor, said she was driving home from the cinema when she saw at least five or six police cars go past.

She said: "The police cars were used as a barricade to stop people getting onto the motorway.

"The initial speculation was it was a crash and I assumed it was some sort of massive pile-up."

The eastbound carriageway of the M62 is open at junction 24 but all other sliproads remain closed while the investigation continues.

[TonyGosling]

by email

Yassar Yaqub Police Shooting – Is it a Mark Dugan, Mark Two

The MP for Bradford West, Naz Shah, has appealed for calm after protesters brought traffic to a standstill over the fatal police shooting of Yassar Yaqub. Dozens of demonstrators, many covering their faces, marched through the city on Tuesday night 03/01/2017 with protesters hurling missiles at police. The three-hour protest was sparked by the shooting of Yaqub, a 28-year-old father-of-two, by armed police when they cornered his white Audi sports car near the M62 in Huddersfield on Monday night. The Independent Police Complaints Commission, which is investigating the shooting, said a suspected illegal firearm was found in Yaqub’s car after he was killed.

Read more: Josh Halliday, Guardian, http://tinyurl.com/h8nhy9s
Yassar Yaqub was very familiar with the Bradford police, they put him on trial in 2010 accused of attempting to murder two people in a drive-by shooting in 2009. At the end of the prosecution case at Bradford Crown Court (May 11, 2010), Yaqub’s barrister Bryan Cox QC submitted that it would be unsafe to allow the case to continue against his client. The judge told the jury: “Having assessed the evidence I have come to the view that it is so dangerous that no jury properly directed could safely convict this man on these serious charges and I hope you understand why I have come to that view.” After discharging the jury the judge formally recorded not guilty verdicts on the two charges of attempted murder and one of possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life which Yaqub, of Rudding Street, Crosland Moor, Huddersfield, had denied.
Â
Sour Grapes: MOJUK completely cynical, would have to ask, did the police try to fit him up in 2009. They never take kindly to losing a case and have the capacity of elephants for remembering and carrying a grudge. As to the latest event, again there are like in the Mark Dugan case, various accounts of a ‘Gun’ as to where it was and if anyone, was holding said gun!
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Mark Duggan, a 29-year-old British man, was shot and killed by police in Tottenham, North London, England, on 4 August 2011. The Metropolitan Police stated that officers were attempting to arrest Duggan on suspicion of planning an attack, and that he was in possession of a handgun. Duggan died from a gunshot wound to the chest. The circumstances of Duggan's killing resulted in public protests in Tottenham, which led to conflict with police and escalated into riots across London and other English cities.

The official account of Duggan's death has undergone numerous changes, drawing criticism and suspicion from his family, residents of Tottenham, and other supporters. These critics accuse police of misconduct and of failing to cooperate with those investigating Duggan's death. Shortcomings in the police response have also been blamed for stoking the riots, and for fueling ongoing discontent, with Duggan's supporters stating "there can be no peace without justice".

[fish5133]

Protests seem rather quick to materialise given no one (except perhaps the police) knows what exactly was the reason for his death by police.

One of the problems I see with unmarked cars being involved is that the guy being boxed in may have other enemies and not know its the police till its too late.
Gonna be hard to tell/prove at night if someone is pulling a gun on the police---maybe getting like the yanks shoot first sort out later.

[Whitehall_Bin_Men]

Protest organised by the bereaved family.
There was a police vendetta against this chap.
Previous charges failed to convict in court.
Also revealed this morning the murdered man was a passenger in the pulled over car.
Who was the driver?

[Whitehall_Bin_Men]

We need to challenge authorities over killing of Mohammed Yasser Yaqub
By 5Pillars - 5th January 2017
http://5pillarsuk.com/2017/01/05/we-need-to-challenge-authorities-over -killing-of-mohammed-yasser-yaqub/

Mohammed Yasser Yaqub, 28
Maz Saleem is the daughter of Mohammed Saleem who was murdered by the white supremacist Pavlo Lapshyn. You can follow her on Twitter @CampaignerMaz


Maz Saleem says she has no faith in the police or media investigation into the killing of Mohammed Yasser Yaqub on Monday, and that the public needs to pressure the authorities into providing genuine answers.

A New Year and a new police killing. A 28 year old married father of two was shot dead by police on Monday night in what seems to be a premeditated planned operation by West Yorkshire Police. Officers bought an Audi car to a halt at a slip road on the busy M62 motorway in Huddersfield. Mohammed Yasser Yaqub was shot dead through his windscreen.

This is truly a horrific incident and no matter what Yaqub has been accused of nobody has the right to take away a life. It seems as though it is fine for those in power to kill people on our streets. I want to know why the armed officers involved in the shooting were not wearing body cameras. After all this appeared to be a well thought-out operation.

Mohammed Yasser Yaqub was shot dead without any warning, arrest or trial. Yet the trashy tabloid frenzy has begun to demonise and character assassinate him without any evidence, apart from the small amount West Yorkshire Police have given out so voluntarily.

Media sensationalism

Sensationalised media headlines into Mohammed’s death accusing him of being a “major drugs baron” feels like a trial is taking place now actively in the media. A trial in which he is already been found guilty, in which he has had no fair representation or voice. Because he has been shot dead by West Yorkshire Police.

How can a dead man defend himself? We hear the same old story that the “victim was to blame” and he was “armed” and “dangerous.” Many will feel that there will be a massive cover-up and will doubt if the Independent Police Complaints Commission will be investigating this case with integrity or honesty. The IPCC itself is made up of ex-police officers.

This killing brings back echoes of Mark Duggan’s case where his character was assassinated by the media. He was a gangster; he had a gun; the police shot him and there’s nothing to see here; move along. The IPCC at the time of Duggan’s death briefed by the police told the media that Duggan had fired at police officers. He hadn’t. Mark Duggan’s case also tells a story of police failings, from the outset to this present day.

The media at the time of Duggan’s death made an uproar about the gun, which was allegedly thrown by Duggan from the car in the moments before he was fatally shot twice by police. Despite the fact that two witnesses who testified said they saw police remove a gun from the cab before Duggan was shot. Many believe the gun was planted. The inconsistencies in the police account showed their version of events to be inconceivable and scandalous.

No justice, no peace

Whatever Mohammed Yasser Yaqub was the police cannot take life; even in error there is absolutely no justification for his death whether he had a firearm or not. Who do you believe?

Our very own “democratic” government which upholds British values allows such killings on our streets. Over several decades in Britain hundreds of people have lost their lives at the hands of the police, but never have we seen any officers face the very laws they are supposed to implement. As with Mark Duggan there will be no justice.

Injustice requires those who are killed to go quietly into the night and be stripped of their humanity and dignity. The state and all its agencies provide cheap excuses, they dismiss the pain of the family and have no sympathy for the life they have taken. Their voice maybe silent but we can speak up for them. Over 300 protested after Mohammed’s death to demand answers, not lies.

Injustice thrives when we fail to speak up. We need to continue to challenge the powers that killed Mohammed Yasser Yaqub on our streets. This will be a long struggle but today it’s him and tomorrow it could be you. No justice, no peace.

[TonyGosling]

Following The Fatal Shooting Of Mohammed Yassar Yaqub
http://justyorkshire.org.uk/2017/01/04/following-the-fatal-shooting-of -mohammed-yassar-yaqub/

January 4, 20174 Comments
A LETTER TO WEST YORKSHIRE’S PCC MARK BURNS-WILLIAMSON AND CHIEF CONSTABLE DEE COLLINS FOLLOWING THE FATAL SHOOTING OF MOHAMMED YASSAR YAQUB

Dear PCC Mark Burns-Williamson and Chief Constable Dee Collins,

In the light of emerging community tensions following the fatal shooting of Mohammed Yassar Yaqub by officers from the West Yorkshire Police on the 2nd of January, JUST is writing to you to express our deep disappointment at the failure of the West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner Mark-Burns Williamson and the Chief Constable Dee Collins to make a public statement on the incident. Whilst we appreciate that the Constabulary has referred itself to the IPCC where the matter in now being investigated, nonetheless in view of the heightened anxiety levels among local people we consider that taking a purely procedural approach to recent events is unlikely to inspire community confidence. We are therefore seeking clarification from West Yorkshire Police as to what its community communications strategy is going to be in the aftermath of the fatal shooting so as to build trust and confidence in policing operations among ethnic minority communities.

It appears from recent press and media reports that the officers involved in the operation were not wearing body cameras. If true, we are seeking clarification as to why this was the case, particularly as the operation was by the police’s own admission ‘pre-planned.’ We are particularly surprised at the decision as we note from your website statement (https://www.westyorkshire.police.uk/BodyWornCameras) that West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner, Mark Burns-Williamson has invested over £2 million pounds from a ‘Transformation Fund’ to support the latest state of the art body worn video cameras. Given the Constabulary’s belief that body cameras ‘have the potential to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the criminal justice system, further improving integrity and the corroboration of evidence by acting as an ‘independent witness’ we are seeking clarification as to why body cameras were not used in this specific operation.

We understand from the police statement that was issued following the incident that the ‘pre-planned operation’ was undertaken on the basis of ‘information received about criminal possession of a firearm.’ We are therefore seeking clarification on what police protocol and control procedures officers were operating to in the conduct of the operations involving Mohamed Yassar Yaqub and his (alleged) friends.

You will be aware that in a recent IPCC Report entitled ‘Police Use of Force: evidence from complaints, investigations and public perception’ outlined negative perceptions from ethnic minority communities on the police use of force. In the context of West Yorkshire, 1438 allegations were made on the Constabulary’s use of force between 2009-14, ranking it among the top five in the country. (see pages 24-25). Under the section Accountability and Recording (see page vii) the Report outlined the following public concerns about police conduct:

the lack of information gathered before risk assessments were conducted and force was used.
(the absence of) robust methods of recording and monitoring when police officers use force.
the use of body worn video … (to) assist with accountability and investigations into how force was used.
In the light of the above concerns, we are seeking clarification on:

What appropriate information/intelligence and risk assessments were undertaken by officers involved in the operation?
What are the methods of recording and monitoring used by West Yorkshire Police when officers use force or are likely to use force?
If a decision was taken not to use body cameras, at what level within the police hierarchy was the decision made and what was the rationale for not having a visual record of the operation. Please let us have your policy document on the use of body cameras in operations involving the West Yorkshire Police.
The 2014 IPCC Report also made clear recommendations relating to the police use of force (see page x). The Report states:
‘To help make sure that the study leads to changes in police practice, we have made a number of recommendations to police stakeholders and the police… A fundamental and underlying recommendation is the need to record, analyse and publish information on all uses of force.’

Other recommendations include:
Communications and de-escalation
Special considerations when dealing with vulnerable groups.
Training to ensure consistency with national guidance, and specific training in dealing with unconscious bias.
Dealing with incidents in medical settings.
Use of body worn video
Understanding community impact.
In relation to the very clear recommendations set out by the IPCC we are seeking clarification on whether these recommendations (and others outlined in Chapter 6 of the Report) were considered and if so at what level?
whether these recommendations were formally implemented? If the IPCC recommendations were overlooked please explain the reasons why. We would be grateful if you would address each of the recommendation points listed above in terms of action/lack of action taken by the Constabulary.
We look forward to an early response.

Nadeem Murtuja
Chair
JUST Yorkshire

[TonyGosling]

Here's why 'no body cam' W Yorks. police executed Huddersfield man on M62
His home is covered with security cameras http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/m62-police-shooting-man-shot-9558 258