London Burning
In the wake of a police killing, England is experiencing its worst wave of civil unrest felt in years. This is not the legitimate expression of public frustration with the government or anything like that, this is the pissed off youth of mostly the lower class and immigrant communities lashing out against authority and society.
The police killing was of Mark Duggan, a 29yr old wanted on a number of gun-crime related charges. A special unit of the Metropolitan Police (Scotland Yard) pulled the cab he was in over, and attempted to arrest him. He resisted, and fired at the police officers, including one bullet which lodged itself in a police radio on an officer's hip. He was shot and killed. While I am often skeptical of the police, this seems like a completely legitimate though unfortunate incident.
In the wake of the killing, which happened in the traditionally crime-centric suburb of Hackney (of Hackney rhyming slang fame), there have been a wave of riots, first across London and now across many of the metropolitan areas of the UK. Ealing, where half of my family is from, and where I have spent much of my time, has been described to be "like a war zone." Luckily, my Aunt and Uncle moved out of the city three years ago.
Thousands of police officers have been called up, and the UK has for the first time authorized the use of plastic bullets against rioters, which as anyone in the US knows in the wake of the Red Sox riots - are less-than-lethal only most of the time.
The riots are driven by pissed of teens and young-adults who did not have many opportunities to start with and who have had even fewer as the recession has dragged on. These are not protests, they are violent and destructive riots, with looting and causing harm the main objectives.
The police killing was of Mark Duggan, a 29yr old wanted on a number of gun-crime related charges. A special unit of the Metropolitan Police (Scotland Yard) pulled the cab he was in over, and attempted to arrest him. He resisted, and fired at the police officers, including one bullet which lodged itself in a police radio on an officer's hip. He was shot and killed. While I am often skeptical of the police, this seems like a completely legitimate though unfortunate incident.
In the wake of the killing, which happened in the traditionally crime-centric suburb of Hackney (of Hackney rhyming slang fame), there have been a wave of riots, first across London and now across many of the metropolitan areas of the UK. Ealing, where half of my family is from, and where I have spent much of my time, has been described to be "like a war zone." Luckily, my Aunt and Uncle moved out of the city three years ago.
Thousands of police officers have been called up, and the UK has for the first time authorized the use of plastic bullets against rioters, which as anyone in the US knows in the wake of the Red Sox riots - are less-than-lethal only most of the time.
The riots are driven by pissed of teens and young-adults who did not have many opportunities to start with and who have had even fewer as the recession has dragged on. These are not protests, they are violent and destructive riots, with looting and causing harm the main objectives.
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