Dear Commons Community,
What started as protests against the killing of a young man and father by police has escalated into full-scale rioting, looting and arson throughout London and beyond. Mark Duggan, the shooting victim, has been portrayed as a gang member and drug dealer by the police and a loving father by the mother of his three children. The circumstances surrounding his death are still being investigated but questions have been raised as to whether police acted too hastily in drawing and firing their guns.
The riots, however, represent more than this incident and are being seen as protests against the government, cutbacks in social programs and less opportunities for employment especially among minority youth according to Kinsley Abrams, Councillor of the Borough of Lambeth. The rioters moved from one section of London to others including parts of Hackney, Lewisham, Clapham, Peckham, Croydon, Woolwich and Enfield. Police report that rioters used Blackberries and other portable devices to move to areas where police are not patrolling in sufficient numbers. The rioting has also spread to other cities including Birmingham, 110 miles northwest of London, as well as to Bristol and Liverpool, giving credence to the idea that it is no longer about the killing of one young man but something larger.
We have seen this over and over again in other parts of the world as well as here in the United where one incident can ignite an explosion of violence in response to social injustice and tough economic times.
Tony
Below is a video report on the rioting.
ain.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha22
Ted,
Thank you for your comments. I respect what you say but the reports that I have seen including an interview with Kinsley Abrams, Councillor of the Borough of Lambeth, seem to indicate that the protest is something bigger than the police killing of one individual which was basically a local matter. Also why has the rioting spread to other major cities?
Tony
I disagree with your assertion that the riots in London are being seen as protests against the government. That is propaganda spread by poor media coverage. The media tries to link the two together to make the story larger than it really is.
The riots were ignited because of the freedom granted to youths who have not yet learned the wisdom that age brings. It really has very, very little to do with poor economic conditions. The only connection being that these people have too much time on their hands.
One of the consequences of free societies is the propensity to abuse that freedom by small groups of people who gather and sometimes organize to engage in these types of insensible activities.