London’s Burning – Tottenham riots
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North London suburb of Tottenham
erupts over police shooting
Fatal police shootings are rare in Britain, but on August 4, a 29 year-old man, Mark Duggan was shot and killed by police.
There was an apparent exchange of fire when police attempted to arrest him in north London. A police marksman escaped with his life when a bullet lodged in his radio during the confrontation that ended in the death of Mark Duggan.
The death occurred during an operation where specialist firearm officers and officers from Operation Trident, the unit which deals with gun crime in the African and Caribbean communities, were attempting to carry out an arrest.
A crowd of residents approached the Tottenham police station demanding “justice”. The crowd morphed into a mob and before midnight on Saturday, the protest had turned violent, leading to 42 arrests. Police say 26 officers were hurt, including one who sustained a head injury. Two police cars and a double-decker bus were set afire and ”bottles and other missiles” were thrown at police by the crowd.
London’s burning – Protests erupt into anarchy
Riot police move into action
A double-decker bus burns
Police attend to an injured colleague
Rioters confronting police
Burning police car
Fire fighters attempt to control blaze
Thanks to The Guardian for pictures of the Tottenham riots.
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Heya i am for the first time here. I came across this board and I find It truly useful & it helped me out much.
I hope to give something back and help others like you aided me.
What always strikes me as sad about these riots, some people are burning and looting their own neighborhoods. They are the ones that have to live there and still they have no issues destroying it. IMO there are much better ways to protest injustice, without resorting to violence.
As usual Jess you sum the whole thing up, it could be the beginning of a nasty August, a sad end to summer.
Right again, Jess. Rioters never think about the neighborhoods they decimate, even if it’s their own.
Pardon me for a moment while I engage in my usual digression.
Tottenham brings up strong memories for me. The acquittal of five police officers involved in the brutal Rodney King beating led to the 1992 riots. It was terrifying. LA was under a curfew for six days. Everything within a 20-mile radius from the flashpoint was closed. The National Guard, Army, and Marines were deployed here to help the police.
Looters smashed windows and stole merchandise; these were thugs who used the riot as a pretext for stealing. The rioters did not just destroy their own neighborhood, but several others as well. By the time the riot was over, 55 people were dead and more than 2,000 injured. Property damage exceeded $1 billion.
King got a $3.8 million settlement from the city, and
has spent almost all of his settlement. And, granted, the beating he got from the police officers was brutal.
One of the officers who testified in his trial, walked into a LA Sheriff’s office and committed suicide. She was a key witness in the King trial and testified that King laughed about the beating he got from several LAPD officers, and said King had spit blood on her during the ambulance ride to the hospital.
I saw the video and maintain to this day that King clearly attempted to charge a female officer. Yes, the police officers certainly beat him up viciously. They, too, were not innocent. However, had been in the same position as those officers, I’m sure I would have been afraid of him and don’t know if I would have acted differently.
I’m not, nor have ever been a police officer, but the Rodney King beating seemed to me to go on long after he was in no condition to resist, and could have been easily subdued. With six officers present, five could have simply sat on the prone man while the other cuffed him. Perhaps they were reacting-overreacting,imo-to his having charged the female officer, but that still only justifies the use of neccesary force to subdue the subject, not club him into bloody submission.
Just chatted with my cousin in North London. They have no details about the Tottenham riot. I will be keeping in close touch with her for updates.
First Oslo, now London…
Wow. That photo of the burning bus is incredible. Not something you would expect to see in London.
What bugs me is that when the cops kill someone unnecessarily in the US, nobody blinks.
We’ve got a bunch more shit in this country to be burning things about than the brits do. They wouldn’t mind the “patriot act.”
According to what I have been reading the deceased fired first with an un-registered firearm.
How many unjustified police shootings do you know of SH? Name one.
Holte, I think you are right about Duggan taking the first shot.
From my experience working at a large police department, most the people I met were great. There were notable exceptions, but none were officers. Trying to classify all police as “bad” is a form of bigotry.
Jean Charles De Menezes – 22 July 2005. Monumental cock up by the Met, largely buried. Getting tapped seven times for being an illegal electrician, effectively.
There are no solid answers as to the shooting. The Independent Police Complaints Commission are investigating.
A chronology is at the BBC website:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14436499
Most of my family lived/lives in North London. I need to see how they are doing. This riot hits very close to home for me.
Remember 79-83?
I was working for the Birmingham Post and Mail during that period, so yes, I remember it well. My shift was from 4pm to 1am and the night Handsworth burst into flames meant a heart stopping drive home for me. A 13 mile ride home ended up being a 50 mile trip.
Are those days coming back?
Seems to be in the zeitgeist.