James Ashley was killed in a police raid in the English town of St
Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, on 15 January 1998. An inquiry found
that using armed officers breached guidelines, the raid team was
inadequately trained, and officers in charge misrepresented intelligence
to gain raid authorisation. A second inquiry accused chief officers of
colluding to obstruct the first inquiry. The officer who shot Ashley was
charged with murder but acquitted on the grounds of self-defence. The
officers who led the operation, charged with misconduct in public
office, were also acquitted. Ashley's family sued the police for
negligence and battery; the case was heard by the House of Lords who
ruled that the threshold for pleading self-defence in a civil case was
higher than in a criminal one and that the litigants should decide which
causes of action to pursue. Ashley's death was considered in a report
that recommended stronger control of armed operations and equipping
officers with non-lethal alternatives.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_James_Ashley>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1937:
Spanish Civil War: Nationalist and Republican forces both
withdrew after suffering heavy losses at the Second Battle of the
Corunna Road.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_the_Corunna_Road>
1947:
The mutilated corpse of the Black Dahlia, a 22-year-old woman
whose murder is one of the most famous unsolved crimes in the United
States, was found in Leimert Park, Los Angeles.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Dahlia>
1962:
The Derveni papyrus (fragment pictured), the oldest surviving
manuscript in Europe, was discovered in Macedonia in northern Greece.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derveni_papyrus>
1975:
Portugal and the nationalist factions UNITA, the MPLA and the
FNLA signed the Alvor Agreement, ending the Angolan War of Independence.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvor_Agreement>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
siege engine:
(weaponry, historical) A large weapon of war used during ancient and
medieval times to batter fortifications, settlements, etc.;
specifically, a trebuchet or other type of catapult.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/siege_engine>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Organize mass non-violent resistance based on the principle of
love. It seems to me that this is the only way as our eyes look to the
future. As we look out across the years and across the generations, let
us develop and move right here. We must discover the power of love, the
power, the redemptive power of love. And when we discover that we will
be able to make of this old world a new world. We will be able to make
men better. Love is the only way.
--Martin Luther King, Jr.
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King,_Jr.>
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