The London Riots

Monday 8th August 2011 marked the third consecutive day of violence and rioting in London. Violence and arson that has spread from Tottenham, North London, out around the rest of London like wildfire and has now caused a surge of violence in cities miles away like in Birmingham and Liverpool.

For those of you who do not know why this has happened;

On August 4th, 29 year old Mark Duggan from Tottenham, was shot dead by police officers after an attempted arrest. There was an exchange of fire and it is said that the police only shot out of self-defence.


On August 6th, a peaceful protest started in Tottenham of around 300 people claiming justice for Duggan and his family. And this is where things turned from bad to worse. After 8pm the violence began; bottles thrown at patrol cars, vehicles set alight. Some say that this was started after a confrontation be

tween a teenage protester and a police officer. Under an hour later there were more than 250 emergency calls in Tottenham. There were buses and shops on fire everywhere. Looting was reported throughout the night. In this one night 26 officers where injured and there was a total of 55 arrests. (Famous shop in Tottenham >)

On August 7th, the troubles began in Enfield. 100 'hooded youths' gathered outside the police station before shop windows where smashed and Riot police had to start patrolling the streets. In Brixton, three officers where injured after missiles where thrown from crowds. In Oxford Circus there was a gatherin

g of around 50 people who also damaged property in that area.

On August 8th, Scotland Yard made a statement referring to the activity as 'copycat criminals', 'small and mobile groups of looters'.And it is on the 8th, where I came into play.

Over Facebook (of all the places) I begun to hear rumours that the riots where heading this way. And it began around 7pm. The looting my town was nothing near to the damage seen in places like Tottenham and Lewisham, however is was a worrying time. Sitting at home there was nothing I could do, there was no information coming in about how bad the situation was.

There has been over 400 arrests. Over 6000 police officers on duty, with

apparently an additional 7000 coming into London today.

I cannot put into words how horrified I am. Three times in my life have I watched the news in complete disbelief and this event is one of them. I just do not understand the mentality of people who have done this. I mean, the repercussions of these events are going to horrific and in the end it's going to be us, us teenagers, who are going to feel the consequences of this after. On the news, they were discussing why so many youths were on the streets. But it's not all of us. The media already has a negative view of this generation, these events are only going to intensify this. And it saddens me immensely.

This violence is senseless, many using it as an excuse for personal gain. But what they do not understand is that the trust between the police and the community and also the trust in the community, between the people, has been broken. I fear that this trust is unfixable. That this will end in a situation where we are constantly unsure of a looting spree or riot. Constantly worried of the people that pass us in the street. I feel most sorry for the small shop owners who have had their livelihoods destroyed and the residents of apartments and houses set on fire.

I just don't know what to say now. Firefighters where unable to put out fires as they were being blocked and attacked by rioters. There wasn't enough police to help them. Just now I have heard that they are calling off all police holiday leave so that there is going to be apparently 16,000 police officers on the ground tonight. There has been talk of setting a curfew and the use of water cannons; but again I fear the long-term consequences of this.

On the news it is now being referred to as the England Riots, not the London Riots now.

There is some positive news to restore faith, a group of teens have started a Facebook event/group to clean up after the riot. In some places so many people are turning up to help that they have to turn people away because there is nothing left for them to do.

There is not much to do now but to wait and watch. So I'll leave you with this thought; We are living through history. We are the events that will be fixed markers in text books for decades to come. So what part will you play in it, and what part will those you know play?

To everyone, everywhere, stay safe.