News
Rioters Burn London in Rage After Fatal Police Shooting of Black man
Tragedy: Mark Duggan and Simone Wilson at the grave of their daughter in Enfield cemetery
Massive riots gripped London late Saturday, leading to the injury of 26 officers and 42 arrests.Vehicles and buildings were set on fire, and the metropolitan police faced “extreme violence” in Tottenham, an area to the north of the city. Rioters threw petrol bombs at police and buildings, and there were 49 fires in the area, including a bus and two police vehicles. Buildings and cars were in some cases fully gutted by the fire, and left smoldering shells. Local business were looted by adults and teenagers until police took control of the area around 1am.
This is how it began: A 29-year-old black man named Mark Duggan (pictured above), was killed on Thursday after police stopped the taxi that he was traveling in. It is unclear how or why he died during this stop, and the incident is under investigation. By all accounts it was a “regrettable” death. Apparently a police officer was also shot during the incident, but only had minor injuries after the bullet reportedly lodged in the radio.
A peaceful protest over Duggan was taking place, with over 300 people, when, in the words of a Metropolitan Police Commander Adrian Hanstock, it was “hijacked by a small number of criminal elements, who used that for their own gain.” He went on to call the riots “unacceptable,” as did Prime Minister David Cameron. However, the BBC reports that “unconfirmed reports say the incident was sparked off by a confrontation between a teenage protester and a police officer.”
The riots did not take place far from where one of Britain’s most notorious race riots occurred in 1985, when police officer Keith Blakelock was hacked to death on the deprived Broadwater Farm housing estate during widespread disturbances. With regard to the most recent violence, Commander Hanstock said that things have changed since the riots at Broadwater Farm in 1985. “There have been problems in the past, but I wouldn’t say there is animosity,” he told reporters.
