And then they were gone... the #army cover for 'striking' police firearms officers has been ended as most have returned to duty - perhaps recognising that arguing they can shoot unarmed suspects with impunity might not play as well as they had hoped; 

It was never clear these officers thought the #ruleoflaw included the police's right to shoot without have 'mistakes' investigated.

No other public servants would expect to have fatal mistakes shrugged off, so certainly armed officers shouldn't! 

 @43d7c4ea @feffb750 They thought they were in the USA, policing by force. In the UK, they police by consent, or not at all. 

 @43d7c4ea By my count, government or major institutions like the police seem to make these egregious announcements, swiftly followed by a screeching u-turn, about three times a day now.