What the heck is going on in London?

>>Some guy named Duggin who had a gun was shot by police. (IIRC)
>>Some people peacefully protested in response
>>Some people started rioting.
>>Other people saw this as their opportunity to loot, pillage, and destroy other people’s property uninhibited.
>>It spread.
>>All hell broke loose.

@Fiddle Thanks. I feel like an insider now. ;)

If the Bobbies had guns….

@Cruiser Apparently some police had a gun >>Some guy named Duggin who had a gun was shot by police

I too have been out on this. The guy with the gun, was he threatening anyone at the time or did the cop just dust him on the spot? That would be important to know.

I think the rioters are not only interested in the police shooting, but the are venting their frustrations on the world economy and lack of jobs. Some rioters are “copy cats”, that really have nothing else to do but destroy peoples property and police cars.

All the info you could possibly want.

It seems to be at least partially over longstanding racial tensions; it’s (as best as I can tell) much like the tensions we have in ghettos where the residents (and especially youth) are black, and the government/cops are white. Add in frustrations over the economy, and… exactly.

In October 1985, on the Broadwater Farm estate in Tottenham [the same place as these riots] where the death of Cynthia Jarrett sparked riots that culminated in the brutal murder of PC Keith Blakelock, a community leader stood on his chair at a packed open-air meeting.
The man bellowed into a megaphone to the 150 residents in front of him: “You tell them that it’s a life for a life from now on. This is war.”
Over whoops and cheers from the residents, he turned to a huddle of police officers standing 50 yards away and warned: “I hope you’re listening. There is no way I am going to condemn the actions of the youth on Sunday night.” (Source)

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…“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….Locals said there had been growing anger recently about police behavior. (Source)
More

The bankers and the politicians looted the wealth of the nation, and, in their frustration, the disenfranchised working-classes are emulating them.

This is fun. Thug propoganda.
Actually, the only time I smiled reading the live witness updates was at “Every store down at Clapham Junction is smashed and emptied. Apart from Waterstone’s.” (a bookstore)

Apparently books have no resale value and hooligans don’t read.

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And for an anlysis (good one):-

You wouldn’t be talking to me now if we didn’t riot, would you?

More upbeat news from my friend in Camden Town. Flash Mob gathers to clean the streets

Class envy convoluted with thuggery.

Lack of policing options? Between brutality and ineffectiveness they don’t know how to deal with a real, live wire, fire-cracking mob. Sign of the times.

[mod says] This is our Question of the Day!

Stupid rioting that happened because some guy with a gun was shot by police.