UK Riots 2011

The UK is recovering from one of the most serious riots ever seen in British history. But  what caused this? How did it all start?

Well on Thursday 4th August a 29 year old man known as Mark Duggan was shot and killed by police during a police operation in Tottenham. He was a passenger in a cab at the time and it was said that he fired shots at police but later reports confirmed that Mark had not fired any shots. He was a father of four and was also known within his local community as "Starrish Mark". His girlfriend had said that Mark has been in trouble with the law in the past but never imprisoned. The media have portrayed Mark as a gangster, some reports say he's a drug dealer and has gang affiliations whereas his relatives say he is a loving father.

Mark Duggan

As a result of his death a peaceful demonstration occurred in Tottenham on 6th August which then led to a few becoming violent since they had not received the answers they wanted pertaining to Mark's death. This caused riots in Tottenham where an array of vandalism, property damage, theft and arson had occurred.The next day the riots had spread to nearby Woodgreen and other parts of London such as Enfield and Brixton. Over the next couple of days the riots has spread to the majority of London where a great amount of damage was caused. Many shops and businesses were looted as people stole and damaged shops. This had spread to  areas outside of London including Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Nottingham.

Police resources were stretched and could not cope with the level of violence and disorder occurring, hence many people rioting and looting for hours without any police presence. Thousands of people from all ages and races had taken part in the riots not just "black youths" as some aspects of the media are trying to portray. This is NOT a race issue but one of class where majority of those looting are from working class backgrounds regardless of their race. My sympathy lies with those who have lost their homes in the process and those whose businesses have been attacked. God knows how much money they have lost after all their blood sweat and tears they had put into establishing their businesses for someone to then destroy it for no valid reason.

I  think those who took part did not do so due to the death of Mark Duggan but they were just opportunists who wanted free items and to cause havoc and destruction. They know what they are doing but instead of taking responsibility for their own actions they want to blame everyone but themselves and make excuses. If I had my way I would want the police to have used more force (not excessive) to have controlled the looters but hey its not up to me. I hope all the looters get caught and punished for their selfish and violent actions.

On a lighter note here are a few pics of people who looted some very cheap items which I found quite amusing

Written By Dinah