Riots in London

[Balog]

www.smh.com.au/world/london-burns-as-youths-run-riot-after-shooting-20110807-1ihle.html

Anyone in the UK have insight into this? I wonder how the Brit riot cops handle this. Water cannons, tear gas?

[Scout26]

Appears to be the standard "The man is keeping us down." riiot.

Not sure of the exact circumstances regarding the initial police shooting, but this looks like a protest march that some used as excuse to go looting.

[vaskidmark]

The unrest followed a march to a police station in Tottenham in protest over the shooting death of a minicab passenger by police on Thursday in an apparent exchange of gunfire. Mark Duggan, 29, a father of four, died at the scene.

The radio of a police officer was later found to have a bullet lodged in it.

Darned press screws up the facts, once again.  Everybody knows mere mortals are not allowed to posses handguns in (formerly)Great Britain.  Must have been caught in the crossfire of the circular firing squad the armed police set up.

stay safe.

[agricola]

Must have been caught in the crossfire of the circular firing squad the armed police set up.

stay safe.

Ironically enough this is exactly what is being reported now, its unconfirmed but it was apparently a police bullet that was found in the officers radio. 

That apart, this does seem to have been (and increasingly is) a riot that has tacked onto an unconnected protest as an excuse to do some looting, especially the incidents today (when a shopping centre has been turned over some miles away). 

[Balog]

Violence spreads, continues for a second night.

 www.channel4.com/news/london-riots-spread

[Iain]

Lots more going on tonight. Beck will see this as a prophecy of London burning (that was actually stated as fact at a time of other, completely unrelated student protests that were much more minor and didn't involve much burning, and despite what he was linking them to had nothing to do with immigration or Islam) being fulfilled.

Shops on fire, and lots of people saying there is little police action. Spread to Birmingham tonight as well. It's the product of various things, but if the circular emails the papers were picking up today are genuine, it's more to do with opportunistic looting and vandalism than anything else.

edit, it's still limited in area

[zxcvbob]

Shops on fire, and lots of people saying there is little police action. Spread to Birmingham tonight as well. It's the product of various things, but if the circular emails the papers were picking up today are genuine, it's more to do with opportunistic looting and vandalism than anything else.

That's why there is little police action; they are protecting the criminal class.  (professional courtesy.)

[Balog]

That's not good... from the Telegraph coverage...

02 .03 A enormous blaze has engulfed
Sainsbury' s depot in Waltham Abbey, Essex. The
warehousing appears to be the size of a football
pitch and the entire store is ablaze and pouring
thick black smoke. It is one of the major food
depots for central London.

[Balog]

Appears to have been the worst day yet. Reports of cops sent out sans riot gear, riots being spread outside of London with Twitter co ordination, but thankfully I haven't seen many casualties mentioned. I wonder what will happen tonight?

[Iain]

Meeting of COBR this morning. Things got a lot worse after I posted here last night, spread to Liverpool and Bristol too to my knowledge. No reports of deaths that I've heard, but a man has life threatening head injuries according to the BBC. Goes against my inherent socially liberal views, but law and order needs to be re-established hard and fast, right now these people think they are untouchable. According to a guy on the news just now, we haven't used troops on the streets since 1919, and that was because the police were on strike rather than due to the police not coping with something.

[agricola]

Meeting of COBR this morning. Things got a lot worse after I posted here last night, spread to Liverpool and Bristol too to my knowledge. No reports of deaths that I've heard, but a man has life threatening head injuries according to the BBC. Goes against my inherent socially liberal views, but law and order needs to be re-established hard and fast, right now these people think they are untouchable. According to a guy on the news just now, we haven't used troops on the streets since 1919, and that was because the police were on strike rather than due to the police not coping with something.

That bloke died.  Yesterday was madness, a series of ever more disgusting acts of criminality with the mood enlivened only by one or two incidents - the probably most interesting to people here being the action of a group of turkish shop owners and their family / friends who armed themselves and saw off a 100-strong mob of would-be looters in Hackney.



That picture above was from central Croydon, where there were a series of fires started in business premises which (like many in London) have residential flats above, and people had to jump for their lives to escape.  There were several such incidents across the borough.

Not sure its the right moment for comedy, but:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkWtMNBgf48&feature=player_embedded

 

[Ron]

What did they arm themselves with?

I live in Illinois, 20 minutes outside Chicago city limits, if something like this were to occur here there would be a heavily armed response by my neighbors I suspect.

This might be one of the most anti gun places in the USA on paper but the amount of firepower owned is very substantial.

[Iain]

2x4's I'd expect Ron.

Lots more police on the streets tonight, Cameron says 16,000. Coppers doing 30hr shifts, poor sods.

[agricola]

What did they arm themselves with?

I live in Illinois, 20 minutes outside Chicago city limits, if something like this were to occur here there would be a heavily armed response by my neighbors I suspect.

This might be one of the most anti gun places in the USA on paper but the amount of firepower owned is very substantial.

Bats and pieces of wood, and one imagines the odd knife was present as well.

[MicroBalrog]

Was not agricola a peace officer in Britain?

I would like to wish him (and Iain too) to stay safe. It doesn't SEEM all uberviolent to me, but regardless. Stay safe, comrades.

[mtnbkr]

I just had a conference call with some coworkers in the UK canceled because some of them had to evacuate to safer locations.

Chris

[Iain]

A few London forumites on my other board are going home, due to various reports of places that are being targeted later. Boris Johnson (London Mayor and national celebrity) given a torrid time by the public on the streets a few minutes ago "Why are you here now? Too late."

I'm miles away from anything at the moment, though half expect the riots to shift away from London once police forces from around the country have sent officers to London. The nearest riots in Birmingham seemed to be mostly looting, rather than arson and violence.

[kgbsquirrel]

That bloke died.  Yesterday was madness, a series of ever more disgusting acts of criminality with the mood enlivened only by one or two incidents - the probably most interesting to people here being the action of a group of turkish shop owners and their family / friends who armed themselves and saw off a 100-strong mob of would-be looters in Hackney.

Reminds me of the Korean shop owners during the 1992 L.A. riots.

[Perd Hapley]

See, the noble spirit of the Arab spring is spreading!

Not sure its the right moment for comedy, but:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkWtMNBgf48&feature=player_embedded

 

So he's trying to hit police with the umbrella pole?

I found this one more amusing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPi2vEiMARY

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SHKhvVjLIc


too bad the cane isn't a 12 gauge

[Balog]

Some thoughts on the cause of the riots. http://winstonsmith33.blogspot.com/2011/08/riots-in-london-are-culmination-of.html

[lee n. field]

See, the noble spirit of the Arab spring is spreading!

Mmmmm.

When's it come here, to the good old United State?

[Iain]

Some thoughts on the cause of the riots. http://winstonsmith33.blogspot.com/2011/08/riots-in-london-are-culmination-of.html

As ever the argument will be between that viewpoint, and the argument that these kids are the fruits of Thatcher's social policies.

London quieter tonight, more trouble in Manchester.

[Ned Hamford]

[Tuco]

Not sure its the right moment for comedy, but:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkWtMNBgf48&feature=player_embedded

No guts, no glory.

The hooligans are loose, the hooligans are loose!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZnEpaSOFwk&feature=related
What if they become ruffians?