London Riots: Dozens Injured After Tottenham Violence

[kdsingh80]

Clasford Stirling, a resident of Tottenham for 32 years, said the area looked like a battlefield

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More than 40 people have been arrested after rioting saw police attacked, buildings looted and vehicles set alight in Tottenham, north London.

Twenty-six officers and three others were hurt in the violence which erupted after a protest over the fatal shooting by police of Mark Duggan on Thursday.

Residents surveyed the damage after homes were looted and shops burnt down.

The Metropolitan Police warned over "ill-informed speculation" on social networking sites of further problems.

All injured officers have now left hospital, the force said.

The BBC's Andy Moore reports from behind police lines after a BBC satellite truck came under attack from youths throwing missiles

The people arrested remain in custody for offences including violent disorder, burglary and theft.

Meanwhile, the family of Mr Duggan said they were "not condoning" the violence that erupted.

"Please don't make this about my brother's life, he was a good man," his brother Shaun Hall said.

BBC crime reporter Ben Ando said there were rumours in the community that a teenage girl who was part of the peaceful protest had been in a kind of confrontation with police.

He said: "That appears to be the flashpoint. That was the moment at around about just after eight o'clock when it seemed that elements in the crowd decided to pick on two police cars. They were then set on fire."

The Independent Police Complaints Commission is investigating Thursday's shooting.

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At the scene

Peter Jackson

BBC News

Faint grey plumes of smoke still rise over Tottenham High Road some 12 hours after last night's unrest - the smouldering buildings the first visible signs of its intensity.

On the ground, at the junction with Monument Way, bricks, broken glass and debris litter the roads and pavements as far as the eye can see.

A burnt-out Ford Focus police car sits at one end and the shell of a double-decker bus can just be made out 150 yards up the High Road.

Local residents, some angry, most just frustrated, ask a line of up to 50 officers why they can't pass and get on their way.

The road has been completely sealed off.

Adeyemi Adeagbo is unable to get to his church - the CAC Outreach - just yards away.

He says it pains him as Sunday is the only day he gets to worship.

The rioters were fighting for their rights, but should have protested in a "civilised way", he says.

Another resident, who appears from the other side of the cordon, says he has seen a betting shop and post office completely gutted.

"They are shells, it's like the Blitz," he says.

Locals voice tension behind riots

A police officer was also shot in the incident, which happened in what was called a "pre-planned" event, under Operation Trident, which investigates gun crime in the African and Caribbean communities.

Police had stopped a minicab which Mr Duggan had been travelling in.

Met Commander Adrian Hanstock warned people not to believe rumours.

He said: "Throughout the day we have been monitoring social networking sites and I'd like to say right from the outset, we're conscious of some really ill-informed speculation on those sites relating to potential further problems."

On Saturday night, shops and homes were raided and cash machines ripped out in Tottenham. There were also thefts from shops in nearby Wood Green.

London Fire Brigade said it had attended 49 fires in the area.

Some smoking buildings were still being dampened on Sunday, while residents surveyed the damage from behind a police cordon.

During the riot, which erupted at about 20:20 BST, people threw petrol bombs, reducing many buildings and vehicles to charred wrecks.

A double-decker bus, two police cars and a carpet shop were among the vehicles and buildings destroyed.

Crowds of looters smashed shop windows in a retail park near Tottenham Hale tube station.

The front window of Currys electrical store was smashed and the door of Argos was shattered after looters raided the stock room.

Every handset was stolen from a mobile phone store.

Home Secretary Theresa May condemned the violence saying: "Such disregard for public safety and property will not be tolerated and the Metropolitan Police have my full support in restoring order."

Labour MP for the area David Lammy said the community which "was already hurting has had its heart ripped out". He added: "This is an attack on Tottenham, on people, shopkeepers, women, children, now standing homeless."

A Downing Street spokesman called the rioting "utterly unacceptable".

London's deputy mayor Kit Malthouse said: "It's absolutely outrageous to see it on the streets of London. We'll do as much as we can to ensure there's no recurrence tonight."

An 18-year-old man, who did not want to give his name, said: "Police know what they should have done, they should have come to speak to the community themselves. They don't care."

The Reverend Nims Obunge, Pastor at the Freedom's Ark Church, in Tottenham, said: "It is right that this community should have questions they have answered. Until those questions are answered I don't think we can effectively rebuild the community."

Teenagers and adults were said to have turned up in cars to Tottenham's retail park and filled their boots with stolen items, unimpeded by police.

Others arrived on foot and piled shopping trolleys high with looted electronic goods, a local woman, who did not want to be named, said.

Another local resident told the BBC that looting had continued beyond daybreak on Sunday.

Meanwhile, shops including Vision Express, the Body Shop and Boots, in nearby Wood Green's High Street were also raided. Two cars there were also burnt out.

The BBC's Andy Moore said that since riots in 1985, relations between the local community and police had been generally good, but last week's shooting of Mr Duggan raised tensions.

A friend of Mr Duggan, who gave her name as Niki, 53, said those who had joined Saturday's protest, which began with a march from Broadwater Farm area, wanted "justice for the family".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-14435251

[kdsingh80]

So all UK wallahs please tell what is happening in London ? Why Race riots are going on? Who is responsible Blacks or Whites?

[Guest zulu]

its not race riots, ive seen kaleh goreh and even asians taking part!! its not a race riot

[kdsingh80]

its not race riots, ive seen kaleh goreh and even asians taking part!! its not a race riot

So what type of riots are going on?

Edited August 8, 2011 by zulu

[Guest zulu]

So what type of riots are going on?

Fooolish fools mi tell yuh!!!

http://www.tvcatchup.com/watch.html?c=34 Make an account and watch the british news. sky news or bbc news.

Edited August 8, 2011 by zulu

[SURYADEV]

anyone know what the situation is in Bham?

Any help required anywhere in the city?

[G.Kaur]

It's been all over the news outside the UK and Facebook.

I read (on facebook) that Gurdvare in London and Birmingham have been attacked too :S

[kdsingh80]

But what is the reason behind all this or Uk people have gone crazy

[SURYADEV]

I'm listening to sangat tv and no mention has beeen made of actual attacks on temples. though sikhs are apparently converging there to protect them.

its spread to ealing borough tonight (v. close to southall) . bbc are saying ealing shopping centre (just of the broadway) is on fire.

[SURYADEV]

no reason . just the feral aspect of british society coming out of their shite-holes.

[SURYADEV]

Massive police presence in Soho Rd Handsworth.

Smoke seen in area near Baba deep singh gurd.

[G.Kaur]

Some of the recent status updates on facebook:

Petrol station opp Baba Deep Singh Gurdwara vandalised...police arrive before they harm Gurdwara...Sangat TV channel 847 doing live show from soho rd...tune in!!!

Barking gurdwara on fire waheguru jeee

Sangat TV showing Live from soho rd gurdwara with Councillor Gurdial Singh Atwal..Appeal to all sikhs to keep vigilant on possible attack not only on Gurdwaras but churches, mosques and mandirs

Guys!! Urgent!! Come to Dashmesh Sikh Temple in Lozells to defend Gurdwara!! Trouble kicking off!!!

[SURYADEV]

watch sangat tv now . live

[kdsingh80]

http://news.yahoo.com/london-rioters-battle-police-shooting-protest-054921704.html

LONDON (Reuters) - London braced on Sunday for more violence after some of the worst riots in the British capital for years which politicians and police blamed on criminal thugs but residents attributed to local tensions and anger over hardship.

Rioters throwing petrol bombs rampaged overnight through the deprived district of Tottenham in north London, setting police patrol cars, buildings and a double-decker bus on fire.

"There is Twitter conversations that people are being asked to meet again down in Tottenham, so we are all concerned but clearly we will be much better prepared this evening," Richard Barnes, London's Deputy Mayor, told BBC TV.

Police Commander Adrian Hanstock told Reuters there was "a lot of ill-informed and inaccurate speculation on social media sites" that could inflame the situation.

"Should we receive any indication that there will be any further violence or offending, there is a robust policing plan in place and we will respond appropriately with the resources available to us," he said.

Police later said they were called to Enfield, a few miles north of Tottenham, where youths had smashed two shop windows and damaged a police car. "Not a riot, but serious disturbance," the local member of parliament (MP) Nick de Bois wrote on his Twitter site.

BOMBARDED WITH MISSILES, BOTTLES

Police said 26 officers were injured as rioters bombarded them overnight with missiles and bottles, looted buildings including banks, shops and council offices, and torched three patrol cars near Tottenham police station.

The riots erupted after a street protest over the fatal shooting of a man by armed police this week. Residents said they had to flee their homes as mounted police and riot officers on foot charged the crowd to push rioters back.

As day broke, the Metropolitan Police, which will handle next year's London Olympic Games in what is expected to be Britain's biggest peacetime police operation, faced questions about how the trouble had been allowed to escalate.

The disturbance was finally brought under control on Sunday after hours of sporadic clashes. Buildings were still shouldering, bricks littered the roads and burglar alarms continued to ring out.

At a nearby retail park, electrical stores and mobile phone shops had been ransacked, with boxes for large plasma TVs discarded outside, along with CDs and glass from smashed windows. "They have taken almost everything," said Saad Kamal, 27, branch manager of retailer JD Sports. "Whatever is left is damaged."

APPEAL FOR CALM

Local MP David Lammy said it was not known if everyone had escaped flats above shops that were gutted by fire. "A community that was already hurting has now had the heart ripped out of it," he told reporters.

Police and community leaders said local people had been horrified by what happened and appealed for calm.

The trouble broke out on Saturday night following the peaceful demonstration over the shooting of Mark Duggan, 29, who was killed after an exchange of gunfire with police on Thursday. Duggan's death is now being investigated by the independent police watchdog.

The riots come amid deepening gloom in Britain, with the economy struggling to grow while the government is imposing deep public spending cuts and tax rises brought into help eliminate a budget deficit which peaked at more than 10 percent of GDP.

"Tottenham is a deprived area. Unemployment is very, very high ... they are frustrated," said Uzodinma Wigwe, 49, who was made redundant from his job as a cleaner recently.

"We know we have been victimised by this government, we know we are being neglected by the government," said another middle-aged man who declined to give his name. "How can you make one million youths unemployed and expect us to sit down?"

Tottenham has a large number of ethnic minorities and includes areas with the highest unemployment rates in London. It also has a history of racial tension with local young people, especially blacks, resenting police behavior including the use of stop and search powers.

NOTORIOUS RACE RIOT IN 1985

The disorder was close to where one of Britain's most notorious race riots occurred in 1985, when police officer Keith Blakelock was hacked to death on the deprived Broadwater Farm housing estate during widespread disturbances.

Locals said there had been growing anger recently about police behavior. "I've lived in Broadwater Farm for 20 odd years and from day one, police always pre-judge Turks and black people," said a 23-year-old community worker of Turkish origin who would not give his name.

Fingers were also pointed at the police for failing to anticipate the trouble, although Commander Hanstock said there had been no hint of what was coming. He said they expected to add to the 55 people already arrested.

The London force has been heavily criticised for its handling of recent large protests against austerity measures, while its chief and the top counter-terrorism officer have quit over the handling of the News Corp phone-hacking scandal.

"I'm concerned that what was peaceful protest ... turned into this and it seemed to go on for many hours before we saw the kind of policing that I think is appropriate," Lammy said.

Politicians said criminals and thugs, rather than those with genuine grievances, had taken advantage of the situation.

"The rioting in Tottenham last night was utterly unacceptable," a spokesman for Prime Minister David Cameron said. "There is no justification for the aggression the police and the public faced, or for the damage to property."

The capital also saw riots at the end of last year when protests against government plans to raise tuition fees for university students in the center of London turned violent.

During the most serious disturbances last December, rioters targeted the limousine belonging to heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles and his wife Camilla.

[HSD1]

But what is the reason behind all this or Uk people have gone crazy

Thursday: A black gang member is killed by armed police. Only two shots are fired, but police report a 'firefight'. Turns out both shots were fired by the police.

Saturday: The dead gang banger's family go to the police for answers. They feel they werent treated right. As they went home a crowd of this guy's gang attack unmanned police cars and start riotting. As this escalates the police get involved in larger numbers. In other parts of Tottenham people know the police have their hands full, so they begin looting. Police fail to stop it.

Sunday: Weather causes protests to melt away. Trouble flairs up in Enfield and other parts of London as looters and youths see what they can get away with.

Monday: Violence escalates as criminals, looters and youths all see what they can get away with. Similar protests in Liverpool, Birmingham, Bristol and possibly Yorkshire.

Tonight: Police have one last chance to secure London at night or the Goverment will take more serious steps. May lead to martial law or something similar.

My personal opinion on this is that it wont last forever. There are only so many TVs you can stick in your house or amount of JD clothing that is sensible to wear at once. Having said that the trouble may die down soon but it may become more long term as people think that they can loot their way to having the latest consumer goods. Or a bag of Tesco Value Rice.

[HSD1]

I'd also add that this has nothing to do with race, as some people and the Russian media are saying, but more of the 'poor -v- authority' thing.

Also, how are the courts going to process all these idiots? What about Gurudwaras? I hope Sikhs dont rush to defend Gurudwaras leaving their families to fend for themselves, that would be just as bad. I think some of you from abroad havent seen what happened in Ealing (a relatively posh part of London) where the youths broke into people's home and knocked people about.

[SURYADEV]

I was at Nishkam Gurd. last night. ABout 2-3ish am some guys started getting calls that the yobs who were forced off Soho Rd by the Police were now going down the residential side streets and throwing bricks at homes and cars and even attempting to get into homes as well. Quite a few guys left then to go home.

There will be plenty of people to protect the gurdwaras. Priority should be to protecting the homes before the gurdwaras. Likelihood of people getting hurt, even dying is greater in the home attacks than in gurdwaras.

[HSD1]

The thing is Gurudwaras should be protected by young men who dont have dependents and old/middle aged men who are divorced or dont have any direct dependents. If you are a husband or father your place is at home. If you are living with or know of younger siblings/nieces/nephews/cousins who's parents are too old/ill/unfit to protect them, then your place is there. We really need to be serious about allocating ourselves in the right place, these sods wouldnt think twice of hurting a brown family just for the kicks.

[SURYADEV]

..... people think that they can loot their way to having the latest consumer goods. Or a bag of Tesco Value Rice.

".....every little helps!"

[HSD1]

Hell, it may be an idea to set up a jatha of guys who know what they're doing to respond to places where Gurudwaras/Sikh people's homes are getting overwhelmed if these attacks start to escalate.

[HSD1]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14458424

[Kaljug]

I'd also add that this has nothing to do with race, as some people and the Russian media are saying, but more of the 'poor -v- authority' thing.

To be honest, I think the poor vs. authority is just an excuse. There are plenty of poor people who are not breaking into their local mcdonalds and footlocker. I feel it has more to do with the worship of materialism and pure greed in some "urban" cultures.

There definitely seems to be an element of race in the Birmingham riots with majority black youths targeting mostly Asian-owned businesses in the Handsworth area. In fact, it reminds me of the earlier Handsworth riots where exactly the same thing happened.

K.

[HSD1]

To be honest, I think the poor vs. authority is just an excuse. There are plenty of poor people who are not breaking into their local mcdonalds and footlocker. I feel it has more to do with the worship of materialism and pure greed in some "urban" cultures.

True, but many of them do think of themselves as poor. This recession has exposed some bizarre things about the people in this country, the other day my white neighbour said having to get cheap biscuits rather than the McVities version was the same as a Somali woman trying to find food for her family in a famine lol.

[Kaljug]

Best tumblr/tweets I've found on the riots if you want to keep up to date:

http://birminghamriots2011.tumblr.com/

http://londonriots2011.tumblr.com/

Anyone know of any more? I'd really like access to the networks that these "yoof" are using. Seems like it would be a useful tool. Maybe I should kidnap the next wannabe gangsta I see with his mum's teatowel covering his face, lol.

K.

[HSD1]

Setup a kiddie account on facebook and get one of them to message you on the blackberry and add you in?

It seems the only legit place that has the BBM network is the Guardian but they arent publishing what they know yet. The Police might know but you would need to know someone on the inside.