UK August Riots Newswire Archive
London's Burning: Follow Events via London Indymedia
08-08-2011 22:55
Follow events in London at London Indymedia
London Indymedia is collating news reports, images and videos from events in London: http://london.indymedia.org/ Also see the London Tumblewire for updates http://london.indymedia.org/tumbles/promoted
A very English riot
08-08-2011 22:55
Picutre of people watching the riot - brollies out!
Here's a photo from earlier today.
Full article | 1 addition | 3 comments
Birmingham's Militant Consumer Tour
08-08-2011 22:21
Tottenham - two days later
08-08-2011 21:55
Visiting High Road two days after the first riot, that sparked others around London, and around the UK, with reports coming in from Birmingham and , the place is still locked off by police.
After taking a few shots, walking back to the tube station a man stops me:
"Are you working for the media?
"Well, yes kinda...? Indymedia is the media, but probably not the media he meant.
"What do you think we should do now?
What am I supposed to respond to that? And why am I being asked, after being placed as part of the media? Is he asking me how people can get their story heard? How to change the image that has been created about those riots? That's how I interprete the question.
I tell him that I think people need to tell their story, to get their version of events out there without mediaries, professionals, journalists who will never be able to tell the sotry the way the people who are in the events can. The people in the communities need to get their stories heard.
I tell him about Indymedia, a community news site, that doesn't have editors or a bottom line. About our publish button.
He nods and grins and holds out his fist, for me to bump with my fist (how do you even say that?)
This is the time when we need community news. News written by the people, not by busy and harrassed journalists. We need to hear about the reasons for the riots and looting from the people who were part of the events. We need to take the time to collect and understand the real reasons for what is going on. Reading comments on news websites and listening to vox pops just shows how out of touch a lot of the people are with the streets. How those people who have a voice in the media have no explanations and reasons. And those who know do not talk.
Who's to blame for the London riots? (by Latuff)
08-08-2011 21:35
live stream from london
08-08-2011 20:23
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/live-webcast-second-day-london-riots
Full article | 3 additions | 14 comments
Going off in Birmingham?
08-08-2011 18:58
Any news from Brum?Unrest Spreading to Hackney, Lewisham, Peckham
08-08-2011 18:55
On the third day of the unrest in London people started to report clashes with the police in Hackney and Lewisham, around 6pm clashes with police were reported from Peckham Rye area. In Hackney people started to smash windows along Mare Street.
see Tumblewire for updates
more info soon.
Peckham buildin on fire
08-08-2011 18:16
Hundreds of people, shops smashed, tesco smashed, few riot cops bout 20 so, and more people heading in.A costly mistake... but we are people too
08-08-2011 17:55
I was under ten when PC Keith Blakelock was killed and Broadwater Farm erupted in the now infamous riots of 1985. I was growing up a few miles away near Finsbury Park; racial tension existed locally, with the National Front in evidence across north and east London; sympathy for the unwilling victims of an unwanted war in Northern Ireland was widespread; and there was little respect for authority in the form of the Metropolitan Police - a feeling vindicated by the subsequent unmasking of corruption at "Stokey-Pokey" (Stoke Newington) police station, situated only a short distance away in Hackney.
Twenty-five years later, despite what even recently appeared to have been progress, little has actually changed. As a nation, we are all affected by the corruption of authority. The financial extravagances of recent years are causing the economic system to collapse on us - and the poor are paying. Racial tensions persist, with increasing support for the English Defence League across the country, and DNA profiles samples taken by police in London are disproportionately far greater for non-northern European whites (more than 1 in 2 of all such profiles) than the comparable figure for the London population as a whole (approximately 30%). We remain involved in costly, unwanted and unnecessary wars against "terrorists", and bribing the police is apparently still rife - if their conduct surrounding the red-top press is anything to go by.
Yet the riots in Tottenham and Wood Green on Saturday night were not political in origin, say the commentators. I disagree. They may not have been consciously political - the destruction of local businesses (I don't mean the IKEAs, CarPhone Warehouses or HMVs, but the local grocery stores and small businesses run by families or individuals) is not commensurate with good neighbourly manners - but the riots carry a message: "We are people too." The banking excesses of the past decade have robbed us - the people - who are now expected to pay the price. And now the people are asking "why?" Why are our youth clubs, nurseries, leisure centres, and libraries being closed? Why are hospital budgets and health care services being cut? Why are we blamed and why are we carrying the can for the problems caused by elites?
Indeed, Haringey seems to suffer most from this robbery: as a borough, it is ranked in the top 15 most deprived boroughs in England (there are 326 altogether). More specifically, it is Tottenham that bears the brunt of this; the western half of the borough contains the relatively much more affluent districts around Alexandra Palace, Muswell Hill and Highgate. The deprivation figures across the borough only become more extreme when looking at specific measures of deprivation such as child poverty, employment levels, or housing.
Is there a light at the end of the tunnel? It would be nice to say "yes," but I'm not sure that I can. Downing Street on Sunday morning lit a candle in the dark: by stating that "[t]he rioting in Tottenham last night was utterly unacceptable" the door at least has been opened for local residents to claim compensation under the Riot (Damages) Act 1886. This makes provision for monies to be "paid out of the police fund of the area" But such retrospective claims often take years to effect, and the damage upon our communities is being inflicted now. Cameron's cuts can only lead to further unrest; the true remedy requires long term investment in community combined with an understanding of every day life - an understanding that this government is clearly lacking. The coalition's failure to learn the lessons of the last 30 years is proving a costly mistake for us all.
Eyewitness account from Edmonton 'riot'
08-08-2011 17:14
The police were clearly psyched up and frustrated that they couldn’t break more heads. One man, who happened to be both young and black, but in the area to monitor policing for the network for police monitoring, was arrested for obstructing police after he refused to give a name and address. In the back of the police van he was then repeatedly punched in the face leaving him with cuts, bruises and a bleeding lip.
If this is a typical example of how the police treat local black and working class youths – and there is every reason to think that it is – then it isn’t difficult to understand the anger and rage that exists.
kicking off in hackney 16.45
08-08-2011 16:55
16:49 →
kicking off in #hackney tsg out ppl throwing stuff at therm #londonriots police car attacked shop windows smashed
08 Aug 16:38 →
shops shut early in hackney mare st lots of police. reports of shops shutting all over -ilford - green lanes - stratford, enfield, barnet, palmers gn.
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Solidarity action in USA with London Rioters
08-08-2011 14:05
BRIEF NEWS - Fuck the Police - Cop Car Window Smashedmare street right now
08-08-2011 13:50
i've been told a large crowd is forming around mare st.London riots: focus on Holloway
08-08-2011 04:25
Report of about 3 hours in Islington - from midnight (beginning of the day), today.
I headed out about midnight. It wasn't clear what was going on - lots of rumours, but who do you trust on twitter? I didn't know anyone in my area, so I figured I had to see whatever was happening (or not) with my own eyes. The most consistent reports were saying Holloway, but others mentioned Angel, too, so I decided to head down there first.
I headed out, and immediately saw a police car, prowling the back streets of Dalston area. However, I couldn't keep up - and he didn't look as if he knew where he was going either. So off to Angel, where, not surprisingly, it was extremely quiet. The only evidence of anything was:
- the police station (car park) was empty
- there were two innocent looking bobbies standing outside sainsburys, opposite the N1 shopping centre.
Was this it? I stopped to file a post, during which the bobbies wandered over and warned me to get out of there: "We have intelligence that that place over there is about to be firebombed in the next few minutes." I cycled around a little while longer looking for the likely candidates, but there were none (other than the cops: are they really that stupid)?
Thus, next stop Holloway. Initially, it didn't seem much was happening. A bunchy of kids outside maccieDs at Nags Head corner of Seven Sisters and Holloway Rds, but nothing really untoward, and no smashed windows. At this point, it pissed it down, so I sheltered under a shop front/awning and posted a few tweets (I'd link to it all, but can't figure out how! Check out https://indy.im/gdm or the relay on my twitter relay: gdm_uk for the full timeline) While I was standing there, cops suddenly chased a bunch of youth down a side street, so I followed after a few moments later. Before I knew it, I was surrounded by about 6 cop cars - a mixture of undercover and panda cars - who all stopped in the middle of the road and chased off on foot after some youngsters. Another passerby, a woman, and I just looked at each other, and both commented how we thought we had been about to get nicked. We wandered up the road, back towards Holloway Road a couple of blocks north of Seven Sisters, to find a bunch of cops sitting on one guy and frogmarching another guy back towards us and the patrol cars. Across Holloway Road, another guy was also getting busted.
I hung on the side road for a few minutes, trying to take some photos with my camera phone. The cops weren't terribly impressed, but I ended up chatting with them, explaining I wasn't obstructing them and that I wasn't causing trouble. They were all full of testosterone and adrenaline (even the women, it seemed) and a few of them were bolshy and tried to argue with me. One guy, an Irishman I think, said he'd had nothing as a kid when I told him that the (current) kids were bored, poor, desperate and had no future. I decided our opinions were too diverse so I might as well move on, but I guess I conversed with them for a good few minutes.
Over the road it was a different story. I took another couple of photos from a few yards away, but the cops were mostly obscuring a guy who was sat on the ground. I'm not sure if he was cuffed or not (I don't think so), as I couldn't really see, so I moved around behind them to try and take another photo. At this point, Officer EK102 came over and tried to patronise me. He told me that he was allowed to confiscate my phone in order to get the pictures for evidence. I told him he wasn't, but I was happy to call my lawyer to check. He threatened to arrest me. I refused to give him the phone. This continued for a minute or two. He then asked me to see the photo and said I could delete it. This I did, as I had no intention of spending a night down the nick, and it was all blurry anyway. But I'm sure his actions were illegal, and I will be investigating making a complaint tomorrow.
Where next? Well, I'm getting tired so going to cut it short. There's lots of detail on https://indy.im/gdm and I'll try to post some more photos tomorrow. There was one point I was about to leave, when behind me came the smashing of glass. Turning around, I saw CarPhone Warehouse on the corner of Nags Head getting smashed in, but almost immediately an undercover car pulled up alongside, cops exited and chased after the gang of people who were gathered there. The hammer remained on the floor, as seen in the photo... well, the photo doesn't seem to be uploading, i will try again tomorrow. For now, I'm afraid I have to sleep.
Solidarity, and good luck!
A Festive Night in Brixton
08-08-2011 02:55
The atmosphere was alternately tense and festive in Brixton tonight. After last night's riots in Tottenham, sparked by the police shooting of Mark Duggan on Thursday, riots spread all over London this evening.
People took advantage of heavy rains and miniscule police presence, turning the whole town from Stockwell to Tulse Hill into a free-shop. Every major chain store and bank had their windows smashed in, and notable looting took place at the Currys electronics store on Effra Road. Hundreds of people walked out of there with big-screen TVs, laptops, and other big-ticket items, as the police looked on helplessly. Cars were lined up on both sides of Effra Road for several hundred meters from Currys to Brixton Water Lane, as people loaded them up.
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