A Big Difference

On July 22 I wrote a My Word titled 'Five in the Noggin'' and it praised the Brit police for chasing down a guy they thought was a suicide bomber, tackling him and shooting him in the head five times.

Howls of outrage ensued from some viewers who thought I was being way too callous about the shooting.

After praising the Brit cops' bravery, here is exactly what I said that day:

"If it turns out, ultimately, that he had nothing to do with anything, no doubt there will be hell to pay. But the police say he was linked to the terror probe, so let's wait and see."

Well, we have waited and it turns out the cops admitted Wednesday that nothing they said that day was true.

The guy they shot never ran from them as they said, he never vaulted a subway turnstile as they said, he was not wearing a thick coat covering a bomb as they said and he didn't scramble on a train car escaping the cops as they said.

Instead, he walked to the station in a light denim coat, he walked through the turnstile, he sat down on a seat on the subway car and he got up and walked to the police when they identified themselves.

If the cops had said all that on day one, I wouldn't have praised them. I would have said the Brit cops have a big problem.

But let me say this because I think it bears repeating.

If a suspect did what the cops said he did that day, I would support their using deadly force, shooting him, putting five in the noggin.

What they said he did would make anybody suspicious.

What he really did would make no one suspicious.

Here's the rub: If a man on the subway really is a suicide bomber, if he really does have a vest bomb under his coat, how are the cops supposed to stop him except by shooting him?

And how come you critics are so quick to assume the cops are wrong? You critics accuse me of bias against suspects. Is that so worse than bias against cops?

Just to be clear: If the guy had done what the cops said he did, I still say they would have done the right thing shooting him.

The fact that none of what they said was true makes a big difference.

That's My Word.

Watch John Gibson weekdays at 5 p.m. ET on "The Big Story" and send your comments to: myword@foxnews.com