Monday 8 August 2011

Panic on the streets of London

The circumstances surrounding the spark that kicked off the rioting in Tottenham at the weekend is still rather cloudy but the facts as we know them are that a young man, Mark Duggan, shot at armed police who then returned fire and killed him.
That was on Thursday, and on Saturday, the family of the man held a protest outside the local Police station as the Police were not communicating with them, they had to read of his death in the local newspaper.
As the protest went on, more people turned up and someone set fire to a police car and then things escalated and shops, vehicles and homes were looted and left burning.
That is the jist of events, a load of idiots looting and trashing their neighbourhood because one of their hoody mates got wasted when he shot at armed police.
This is not brain surgery, everybody knows the consequences of walking around town with a gun, armed police turn up to disarm you. If you then shoot at the police, you don't get a chance to take another shot.
Some reports have tried to make this about poverty or injustice or Government policy but that's nonsense and just being apologists for a mob of thugs who think that it's OK to smash shop windows and loot them and to think that it's OK to set fire to buildings and destroy people’s lives and possessions.
It is ridiculous for anyone to think they are being victimised if police shoot back after they have shot at police, i hope anyone who shoots at anyone else would be met with force, fatal force if necessary.
Riots are never justified but happen because people, like those in Greece or Syria, because they have no job, no education, are poor, downtrodden and generally screwed over.
They do not manifest just because some tosspot got what was coming to him so the blame will be shared around but the reality is the killing was an excuse for a riot rather than a reason.

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