London Riots

[Sabre]

So, there are riots in London and around the UK, not where I live though. The rioters claim it's because the police shot a guy who was waving a gun around.

The thing is that the riots themselves seem to have little to do with abuses of police power and more to do with chavs stealing and vandalizing stuff.

[Psygonis]

That's usually the case. In late-2005's France, there were riots after 2 youngsters chased by the police hid in an electric transformer array and died electrocuted. No claims, no demands, just anger, violence and burnt cars... :/

[Redeemer]

Who exactly was it the police shot? Why was he wanted?

There was a video going around, I can't find it though, but I watched it a few hours ago. There's a guy, sitting on the pavement, bleeding from the nose. He's in shock. A group of teenagers approach him, help him to his feet, then steal everything out of his bag and walk away as the guy staggers around, still shocked. Human kind is fail.

[Star Fox Runner]

I've been seeing this on the news quite a bit, it's absolute madness if you ask me.

The sad thing is there are people who will look for any excuse to do violence and spread chaos, not for a cause, but just so they can do it!

There was a video going around, I can't find it though, but I watched it a few hours ago. There's a guy, sitting on the pavement, bleeding from the nose. He's in shock. A group of teenagers approach him, help him to his feet, then steal everything out of his bag and walk away as the guy staggers around, still shocked. Human kind is fail.

I was thinking the same thing Redeemer.

[Sabre]

Who exactly was it the police shot? Why was he wanted?

There was a video going around, I can't find it though, but I watched it a few hours ago. There's a guy, sitting on the pavement, bleeding from the nose. He's in shock. A group of teenagers approach him, help him to his feet, then steal everything out of his bag and walk away as the guy staggers around, still shocked. Human kind is fail.

I've seen that video. It's on BBC news atm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14456065

I hate everybody anyway so it had little effect on me.

As for the guy who was apparently shot. I don't know the details exactly. I'm not sure anyone does outside of those who were there. The few things of it the news (which I don't trust) seem to agree on was he had a gun, was in a car and the police shot him. Beyond that, no one seems to agree. Some say the man shot first, some say he didn't. Oh the joys of annonamous sources, and just making stuff up.

The original protest for the police to be held accountable. I don't know how it got to looting and vandalism.

[CrypticQuery]

What I heard was that the police shot a father of four in the back of a taxi, who later died. The reason wasn't actually released and other details are sketchy, though people jumped to conclusions; things started out with a peaceful protest outside the precinct serving the area where it happened, and then others took advantage of the situation and started rioting. Similar to the LA Riots in a way, though hopefully things will die down soon.

If they really want to get these morons off the streets they need to start making arrests and let it be known that those who participated will receive STEEP prison sentences.

[Starwing_93]

Warning - Cynicism ahead

It really is a travesty, these people aren't campaigning for any political reason, it's not an uprising against genuine corruption, one isolated protest has just given way to widespread rioting for the sake of it. Whilst it may have started over a Police shooting, the riots spreading to Manchester and other cities are Just the lowest scum of society trying to cause as much disruption as possible in order to allow looting to take place.

It's mostly Youths of around 17 causing trouble literally for troubles sake, in a BBC news interview two 17 year olds claimed it was simply to "show the police and rich people they don't have power over us and we can do what we want", idiot teens in hooded tops are bragging about the violence. It's shocking, and just theft and violence for the sake of it. I don't like to speak this bluntly, but these people really are the lowest form of humanity that exist, and police might as well put them out their misery. I know it sounds drastic and extreme, and I'm hardly suggesting a mass genocide of the lower classes, but all the people taking part in these riots are utterly worthless to our supposed "society".

[CrypticQuery]

I know it sounds drastic and extreme, and I'm hardly suggesting a mass genocide of the lower classes, but all the people taking part in these riots are utterly worthless to our supposed "society".

No kidding; all these idiots would find it a bit harder to riot with a few bullets in em'. That's the situation though; these morons won't learn until they get things the hard way.

[Starwing_93]

I agree, there's no point being civil and trying to do this a traditional way. These people aren't intelligent enough to be negotiated with, and the British penal system is a joke as it is, so don't expect many convictions. This is the same country that rehabilitates young offenders with trips to theme parks, so don't expect much justice to be served.

This country is too soft on yob scum, out with the ASBOs, in with shoot on sight as far as I'm concerned :trollface:

[Thu'um]

Police arn't the best of people either, they are highschool graduates that are ussaly some what violent. Not bashing the police as a whole, the police are actualy rather effective. But alot of officers are little more then young men with trained to use guns and fight crime. My dad was a cope in his 20s durring colloge. he shot people he said the he wouldn't have shot now.

[CrypticQuery]

Apparently the government is reluctant to use normal riot-fighting tactics such as water canons, tear gas, and rubber/plastic bullets;

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/europe/08/09/uk.riots.police/index.html

Just great; instead of dealing with rioters like this: , they're acting like this:

(Sorry, that emoticon usage was too good to pass up )

[Sabre]

Police arn't the best of people either, they are highschool graduates that are ussaly some what violent. Not bashing the police as a whole, the police are actualy rather effective. But alot of officers are little more then young men with trained to use guns and fight crime. My dad was a cope in his 20s durring colloge. he shot people he said the he wouldn't have shot now.

I bash the police. They are either to nieve and thus ineffective and drowning in burocrasy made to try and control the other type who only become police to abuse it's power. They are basicly bullies with permission.

It's for that reason I don't want them to have weapons and more power. That's like putting a theif in charge of looking after a safe full of money.

[Faisul]

I was in the south-eastern part of the Greater London area when it happened, 7 minutes drive from Croydon. Didn't see anything go down, but you could definitely cut the air with a knife going up to ASDA to get whatever, seeing people board up their windows and passing groups of police every five minutes.

As for the vandalism and blatant disregard for property and other people, to an outsider from a largely equality-oriented country like me where the prison system has been equated to living in a cozy hotel room, a welfare system that would make liberals throw fits of apoplectic rage, and standards of living (at least according to recent censuses) among the world's highest, all this mindless savagery has to come from somewhere, and not just because these people are 'chav scum.' Seems to me, and don't take my word as gospel because I might just be a pampered foreigner, that these youths are what they are because they really have no future in the current economic climate.

If they had something to lose, they wouldn't do this - if they had a job, say, or went to a college, or felt any kind of reason to conform to society - because going ape shit and trashing the Queen's Land is a sure-fire way of getting your ass fired/kicked off campus. I hear that Tottenham had 8 of their 13 youth centers shut down in recent years - youth centers that had trained staff and counselors. £9000 tuition fees, Austerity programs, everything that cuts the support for the lower end of the social spectrum is sure to create a disillusioned, disgruntled and directionless underclass of insanely bored kids that will jump at the prospect of mindless mayhem in a heartbeat. And when you have parents who grew up during Thatcher, who received similar treatment by the government, resentment passing down from father to son is, I guess, pretty much inevitable.

I'm not excusing some of the outrageous affronts to society I've seen on the BBC by pointing these things out, nor am I expressing sympathy for anyone who can be callous enough to use helping a bleeding kid up from the sidewalk as a front for robbing them blind. But political England's attitudes and treatment of her lower classes has never been particularly stellar, and, over time, this kind of thing leads to what we're seeing now. The shooting of Mark Duggan by the police, lawful or not, was just the spark that set off an already full powder keg. I hope this wasn't too political for the Counter-Point, but I just felt I had to mention this after seeing some of the opinions on these people's right to live in this thread.