Tottenham Riots

From the website of the Guardian, London
www.guardian.co.uk

Tottenham riots -

Eight police officers were injured during riots in Tottenham overnight. Violence erupted after protests at the fatal police shooting of Mark Duggan, who was killed on Thursday

Tottenham Riots
A double decker bus burns as riot police try to contain a large group of people on a main road in Tottenham, north London. Photograph: Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images

1.06pm: Time for a bit of a summary:
Live blog: recap

• Looting continued in Wood Green until at least 5.30am this morning as police struggled to deal with the protests. Violence had earlier spilled out from Tottenham.

• The looting was brought under control earlier in Tottenham, with police taking control of parts of Tottenham Hale by around 1am, according to reports, although other reports have suggested some looting was continuing at the Tottenham Hale retail park much later.

• Some 42 people have been arrested, while 26 police officers were injured during the riots. Two remain in hospital. Police were unable to say whether there were fatalities overnight.

• Tottenham MP David Lammy has said the riots were "a disgrace", while the Met police said the events were "absolutely unacceptable". Downing Street also used the term "absolutely unacceptable".

• Some reports are suggesting an altercation between a female and police may have sparked wider violence.

12.51pm: Lynne Featherstone MP, home office minister, is giving a statement.

"I want to thank those police officers and those commanders who put themselves in harm's way," she says.

Featherstone wants to send a "very clear message to anyone out there intent on causing harm".

The message is: "You will face the full force of the law."

12.43pm: I've updated our Google map of the looting and violence with the help of reader Sam Wass. View it below or here.

12.35pm: An anonymous reader has sent this account from Tottenham last night.

I was on the high road between 8.30pm-11.30pm.

I arrived after the police cars were on fire.

With that said things were reasonably calm - stand off

It became violent and escalated after a police officer hit a women with a baton.

She was v. distress and was running back into the crowd after being near the police line.

This angered the crowd and they proceeded to throw rocks bottle etc...

Regarding the bus - it was just the driven on the bus - he drove right it into the crowd - therefore had to stop - people got on the bus - the driver walked off with no trouble and took the keys with him. people asked for the keys but driver said no - no one challanged him

Were you there and can you corroborate this account? Other reports have also suggested the violence began after a woman was involved with police. Email adam.gabbatt@guardian.co.uk

12.20pm: My colleague Jason Rodrigues files this report on last night's events:

I cycled down to Tottenham at 5am today and couldn't initially get through the police line blocking the High Road, so I went to see what was happening at the local retail park. Before I turned into the park, I saw a group of five teenagers, perhaps even younger, casually pushing a trolley full of clothes and trainers down the main street. None of them tried to cover their faces and they even laughed at a passing motorist who tried to take a picture of them using her camera phone.

In the retail park many of the shops had their windows smashed in and the ground was littered with discarded packaging, hangers and broken glass. The police must have just arrived as at least three men in their 20's were handcuffed and sat in front of PC World. Another officer was nervously stood outside JD sport poised to use her truncheon as her colleagues had just gone through the back of the store in an attempt to flush out more looters who, according to a local man, were still ransacking the shop .

I then cycled back towards the High Road, this time along a side street which got me behind the police line. On the High Road, I saw the burnt out wreck of what I think was a police car, which was still smouldering, it's wheels burnt down to the rims. Some police officers were coming off their shift and were just as staggered as the local shopkeepers by the scale of the destruction when seen in the light of day - some officers even had their iphones out and were taking pictures of the burnt out car.

Went I left at 6am I saw several heavily armoured blue police cars parked outside the main police station and more police vans arriving, some from Kent.

12.17pm: Full statement from Commander Adrian Hanstock, Met police. Two officers remain in hospital.

Last night's disorder and violence in Tottenham is completely unacceptable. The behaviour by a criminal minority put police officers, fire brigade personnel and the public at significant risk.

The death of Mr. Duggan is extremely regrettable and will be the subject of an independent investigation by the IPCC. It is absolutely tragic that someone has died, but that does not give a criminal minority the right to destroy businesses and people livelihoods and steal from their local community.

There was no indication that the protest would deteriorate into the levels of criminal and violent disorder that we saw. We believe that certain elements, who were not involved with the vigil, took the opportunity to commit disorder and physically attack police officers,
verbally abuse fire brigade personnel and destroy vehicles and buildings. We do not believe that this is something that the vast majority of law abiding citizens in Tottenham would condone or would want.

As the disorder developed, we immediately deployed, but such was the level of violence against police officers that we were also supported by officers from surrounding forces, as is in line with our planned contingency as would be expected for such a significant incident.

Our officers were subjected to bottles, petrol bombs and other missiles being thrown at them.

Our priority will always be to try to preserve life, with the numbers of people on the street and violence being directed at the police and fire service this had to remain our priority. We are aware that a number of shops were looted and this is very regrettable. We are very aware of how disruptive and costly this will be for large and small businesses and the negative impact on the local community.

We have recovered excellent CCTV and those who committed disorder and criminal acts will be identified and held account for their actions. We would appeal to anyone who has information about those who may have been involved in the disorder to contact police.

As a result of last night's disorder 26 police officers were injured, two remain in hospital. There have been 42 arrests so far for offences including violent disorder, burglary and theft.

12.06pm: Blog reader Fran has emailed with her account of last night's events. She says she was told by police that they did not have the resources to send people out to Tottenham Hale retail park and quell the looting.

I live in one of the roads off Broad Lane, opposite the retail park. There were young men running up and down the street in the early hours of the morning, carrying boxes and pushing trolleys loaded with loot. Our road is now littered with empty boxes, security tags and coathangers.

I went over to the retail park just before 0600 - young people were going in and out of JD Sports, arms loaded with shoes and clothes. At least two cars parked in my road had open boots, with looted gear being placed inside. A neighbour told me that Carphone Warehouse was stripped bare. The police turned up in force at around 0615. When I rang them earlier, they said they didn't have enough resources to send anyone.

A bit later I returned and an officer from Surrey was securing Comet. He said several of his people had been injured. The manager of Asda said his shop had escaped looting, but another neighbour told me an hour later that looters had got into Asda at the back, and all the retail park shops have been hit.

11.37am: This video appears to show looting taking place in Wood Green in the early hours of this morning. Nzflapper, who shot the footage, says it was at around 5.40am.

At about 1 minute in it looks as if a couple of people are leaving H&M with a haul of goods, and at 1.46 a number of people are stood around JD sports.

Vikram Dodd, who was reporting from Wood Green, says if the time the video was shot is accurate then looting was ongoing in the area for three hours.

11.26am: There are 42 people in custody, Hanstock says.

Were police slow to respond, he is asked?

"No not at all," he says, but adds: "Bear in mind this was midnight on a Sunday."

Is he confident police will not find any bodies at the scene of the fires?

"The day will unfold as we go ahead," apparently.

Hanstock says police "deployed people appropriately".

There will be an increased police presence in the streets today.

11.20am: "Preparation was in place" at the peaceful protest, Hanstock says.

Police intelligence was that the protest would be peaceful. He says the violence was "extreme" and "could not be anticipated".

On the basis of the information they knew they decided not to have a large-scale police presence.

11.16am: Commander Adrian Hanstock, Met police, is speaking from Scotland Yard.

Last night's events were "absolutely unacceptable" he says.

The death of Mark Duggan was "extremely regrettable". Last night's peaceful demonstration was hijacked by a "small number of criminal element".

The looting was "absolutely unacceptable". Police are working today to restore a sense of calm to the community.

That was the extent of the statement. Now Hanstock is taking questions.

11.08am: David Lammy is speaking "a community that was already hurting has now had the heart ripped out of it," he says.

The community was "smashed" by "mindless, mindless people, many of whom were not from Tottenham". Lammy says people came from miles and miles away to loot and join in the violence.

The Tottenham MP points out that "we don't know if there are fatalities" – there could have been people in the burned out buildings.

Lammy says there are questions concerning the policing that led to the protest becoming violent. He says it took many hours before we "saw the kind of policing that I think is appropriate".

10.57am: Here's a Storify hosting some pictures of the damage. As with the map, please get in touch if you've spotted any photographs from this morning.
Tottenham riots - pictures
By Adam Gabbatt, 2 hours ago

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Embed story

Burnt out buildings collapsing #Tottenham
Photo by Twitpic.com
Reply Retweet
robhastings1000
Surely only a matter of time before that shell falls in on itself #Tottenham http://yfrog.com/gzyeuzaj robhastings1000 August 7, 2011 at 10:35
Reply Retweet
HeardinLondon
The jerk centre, the money shop and the ex bus #Tottenham http://twitpic.com/62d696 HeardinLondon August 7, 2011 at 10:56

-

10.50am: As the map shows, the violence and looting was not confined to Tottenham – spreading to Wood Green, some two miles west.

Paul Lewis was reporting from the scene4am:

Paul Lewis

There was still no police presence at Wood Green high street at 4am, even after dozens of stores had been smashed and raided, setting of multiple alarms.

Around 100 youths sprinted around the highstreet, targeting game shops, electrical stores and high-street clothe chains such as H & M.

Glass windows were smashed and the looters, mostly young men masking their faces, swarmed in.

They emerged with handfuls of stolen goods. "I've got loads of G-Star," said one teenager, emerging from a clothes shop. Others came out clasping shopping bags stuffed with goods.

Three teenagers ran down the street with suitcases filled with stolen clothes. Around ten young men stood outside a smouldering Carphone Warehouse, the windows smashed. The theft was casual and brazen, with looters peering into broken shop windows to see if items of value remained.

There were shocking scenes in the suburban back-streets, where residential front-gardens were used to frantically sort and swap stolen goods.

A teenage boy, who looked aged around 14, drove an stolen minicab erratically down a side-street. On the adjacent street, a man who emerged from his home to find his car burnt-out remonstrated with other young men, who ran past carrying clothes.

Passersby, including people returning home in the early hours from nights out, were stunned to discover the lawless mayhem on the streets.

With no sign of any police, buses refused to take passengers through Wood Green high street, and traffic was brought to a standstill.

10.46am: Awaiting a statement from Commander Adrian Hanstock, of Metropolitan police. Will bring it as it happens.

10.35am: Google map showing the scene of some of the fires and looting in the early hours of this morning. Click on the blaze icons for more information.

View Tottenham riots 6 August 2011 in a larger map

We'd like to carry on adding to the map throughout the day to try and get a fuller picture of what happened and where. If you witnessed something that might be worth adding get in touch on Twitter @AdamGabbatt, or email adam.gabbatt@guardian.co.uk

10.12am: Tottenham MP David Lammy:

@DavidLammy In n17 withs Nims Obunge, classford Stirling and Sharon grant. Devastating scenes.

9.58am: In the comments vic15, who lives opposite Tottenham police station, has given a detailed account of their experience of the rioting.

"This wasn't just about a policing, this was about mindless violence and aggression by disaffected and alienated youth," vic15 says.

I live in Tottenham - actually I live directly opposite the main police station. This is basically what I saw. I didn't know there was going to be any demonstration and heard a bit of noise but honestly, it's quite a noisy area so didn't think anything of it. Then at about 8/8.30pm things started to get quite frightening.
We saw the police move into a line and [people] on the streets were throwing things at the police. It looked like stones and rocks although later became flaming wheelie bins and what looked to be shop fittings (my partner claims he saw a fridge being thrown or part of one).

Then we saw the cars go up in flames, they were quite near us. That's when I realised that this was getting really out of hand and the police moved around where we are and more and more kept arriving.

We saw the bus and the buildings around us go up in flames like an inferno. That was probably one of the most frightening parts. People below the flat were shouting out to the police. I can't remember their exact words but quite abusive and dismissive.

We were worried that the fires on the high street were not being tackled and they were really gutwrenching.

We didn't see much of the looting first hand because we didn't leave the property (of course) but at one point, early on, I called a friend of mine because I was scared and asked if we could come round. I wanted out of the area. She pointed out with much more clarity than me that the best thing we could do want not leave where we were. At least we were surrounded by police but it didn't feel that safe when the fires were raging down the streets.

We heard lots of dogs barking at one point and weren't sure if they were police dogs or the dogs of the rioters because the accompanying shouting was too aggressive and angry.

Then the fire engines got through and the horses and the armoured black riot vans.

It seemed to quieten down nearer to us but it seemed to volatile and I didn't sleep last night.

Last night I was so angry with people who choose this way to destroy my community. I live in Tottenham and I have been sick of the sneery ways that people regard us. Some of the 'twitter jokes' last night were really really sad and almost broke my heart with the way that some people thought this was a big joke or that Tottenham isn't 'worth saving'.

There are a lot of very good people here. The looting wasn't a part of the demonstration. People came from all over London to 'join in' and the community I live in has been ruined.
Now, beyond the anger, I'm sad, desperately sad.
This wasn't just about a policing, this was about mindless violence and aggression by disaffected and alienated youth and not just in Tottenham.
Meanwhile the people I know, the shops I visit, my neighbours have had their lives ripped apart and the community which is wracked by poverty and joblessness is further labeled and further disadvantaged.
I don't want people to think that Tottenham is a hopeless place. It is my home and my community and I love living here but I really truly despise people who have destroyed it.

9.48am: Paramedics treated a total of 11 people, ten of whom were taken to hospital, according to the London ambulance service.

A spokeswoman added that two of the eight injured police officers needed attention from ambulance crews, but it is not yet clear whether the other officers were dealt with by the ambulance service.

9.42am: Some official reaction from Downing Street:

The rioting in Tottenham last night was utterly unacceptable.

There is no justification for the aggression the police and the public faced, or for the damage to property.

There is now a police investigation into the rioting and we should let that process happen.

9.31am: Paul Lewis was reporting from Tottenham overnight and reports that "sustained looting spread from Tottenham to other nearby areas of Haringey".

Paul Lewis

By midnight police managed to secure a 200-metre stretch of the Tottenham High Road, scene of some of the worst rioting on Saturday night.

But as fire engines entered the street, and began putting out blazing cars and buildings, the rioters spread north and east through back-streets. To the north, at Tottenham Hale, Aldi supermarket was ransacked and set on fire. So too was a nearby carpet shop, causing a huge blaze.

Looters turned up with cars and shopping trolleys to carry away stolen goods. Nearby, large groups of youths congregated in the surrounding streets with sticks, bottles and hammers.

Some wore balaclava masks, preventing cars from accessing streets as buildings were broken into. Others used large rubbish bins to form burning barricades across the road.

However some of most dramatic looting took place further west, in Wood Green, and continued into the early hours of the morning.

9.24am: This video by MriRudi on YouTube shows a building engulfed by flames. "Apparently this is a jeweller's store," someone is heard saying on the footage. An alarm can be heard sounding in the background.
Video by MriRudi

-

9.15am: Good morning, and welcome to the Guardian's live reaction to the riots in Tottenham last night.

Two police cars, a bus and ­several shops were attacked and set ablaze in north London as violence and looting erupted following a protest demanding "justice" over the fatal shooting of Mark Duggan.

Eight police officers were injured during the violence, which continued into the early hours of Sunday morning.

Duggan, 29, was killed on Thursday after police stopped the minicab he was travelling in. The IPCC are investigating the incident, which also saw a police officer shot – the bullet reportedly lodging in his radio and leaving him with minor injuries.

Several colleagues were reporting from the scene of the violence in Tottenham, here's the Guardian's main news story:

Officers on horseback and others in riot gear clashed with hundreds of ­rioters armed with makeshift missiles in the centre of Tottenham after Mark Duggan, 29, a father of four, was killed on Thursday.

On Sunday morning police said there remained isolated incidents in the Tottenham area involving "a small number of people" and officers were still dealing with those situations. Eight officers were being treated in hospital, one with head injuries, following the violence overnight.

The London Fire Brigade said all fires were now "under control" after trouble spread overnight from Tottenham High Road to Tottenham Hale Retail Park and a Lidl supermarket was set on fire.

On Saturday night, rioters broke through police ranks and attempted to storm Tottenham's police station, pelting officers with bricks, bottles and eggs. As a police helicopter flew over Tottenham High Road, youths in masks and hoods added combustible material to two burned out police cars, included a bundle of documents and an awning ripped down from one of the shops. Some attempted to persuade the rioters to disperse, one young man shouting: "Go home now people."

But others filled bottles with petrol to throw at the police lines. Many lined up with makeshift weapons including metal bars and baseball bats to confront the line of police, but others seemed more interested in looting. At one stage a safe was dragged out of a book­makers, while others were seen with a television set and an electric guitar. Several arrived with shopping trollies to take away what they had stolen.

"It wasn't like this before," said one woman standing close to one of the two burned-out police cars. "It started out as a peaceful demonstration. The police shot a guy here last week and they lied about what happened. They said he pulled a gun but he wouldn't have done that with armed police. They shot him so badly that his mother could not recognise him."

A Metropolitan police spokesman said the trouble began when missiles were thrown at parked patrol cars at 8.30pm. He said one was pushed, blazing, into the middle of Tottenham High Road. Neither of the two officers who had been driving the cars was injured.

As violence spread, a double-decker bus was set upon. Witnesses said the vehicle exploded in flames after attackers threw homemade bombs through its windows. Nearby shops were also set ablaze.

Were you in Tottenham last night? Get in touch on Twitter @AdamGabbatt or share your stories below.
Adam Gabbatt byline Posted by Adam Gabbatt Sunday 7 August 2011 09.17 BST guardian.co.uk

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In Tottenham, firefighters survey the burnt out shell of a carpet showroom

Tottenham riots: 26 police officers injured and 42 people arrested

Politicians unite to condemn night of rioting and looting in which two police cars, a bus and shops were set ablaze

Gallery Tottenham hit by riots and looting – in pictures

Politicians condemn Tottenham riots

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joem

7 August 2011 9:27AM

Yes, we are all in this together...
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grabsplatter

7 August 2011 9:28AM

The lesson of "don't shit on your doorstep" still hasn't been learned, then. Why do these protesters insist on destroying the areas they live in? Unfortunately, the looting and destruction of property will render any valid points they may have utterly lost.
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grabsplatter

7 August 2011 9:30AM

This comment was removed by a moderator because it didn't abide by our community standards. Replies may also be deleted. For more detail see our FAQs.

Reflexive

7 August 2011 9:33AM

As surely as night follows day, riots follow Tory governments.
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Reflexive

7 August 2011 9:35AM

grabsplatter, try to connect the dots, dude...
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skomac

7 August 2011 9:35AM

The riots are apparently of all nationalities and ethnic groups. That's what LBC have been putting out all night. Glad it's nothing to do with race. Perhaps it's a reaction to S&P downgrading USA's credit rating ? Or maybe it's traders who got burned on Friday ?
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skipperD

7 August 2011 9:36AM

Anyone think Call me Dave will even notice this? None of the Rich or the Police have died so he couldn't give a damn.
that said, if they rioted and looted Chipping Norton or an Oxford College i think he'd notice then.
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skomac

7 August 2011 9:38AM

Yes, we are all in this together..

In Aldi's and the bookie's apparently.
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skipperD

7 August 2011 9:38AM

Also, be willing to hazard a guess that the MET ordered the IPCC in early so that people would think that the Police care about ordinary civilians dying at their hands.
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Reflexive

7 August 2011 9:39AM

Riots are always about poverty and injustice. This one is no different.
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kjee

7 August 2011 9:40AM

It feels like 1981 all over again....except this time with mobile phones, text messaging, twitter etc....

Did a lot of the police have to come all the way from Kent?

Good time to be cutting their numbers...
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Greggywocky

7 August 2011 9:40AM

Daft twats.
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joem

7 August 2011 9:40AM

@grabsplatter

you may have noticed since the tory government came in:

- the police have become more ready to use violence, and feel empowered and invulnerable: they know what their masters expect from them, and they don't regard the poor of tottenham as their masters.
- many people are poor and desperate and cannot participate in society. young men are always the flashpoint of such frustration

put these factors together, and you don't get a 'big society' in which we are all in it together, you get events like this.

this is the working peoples version of the student protests
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Massingbird

7 August 2011 9:40AM

@joem


Yes, we are all in this together...

How utterly predictable that the left, bereft of any real political values anymore, link the shooting of a gangster who fired at cops, and the unwarranted rioting following it, to the Nasty Toreez.

Grow up.
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vic15

7 August 2011 9:41AM

I live in Tottenham - actually I live directly opposite the main police station. This is basically what I saw. I didn't know there was going to be any demonstration and heard a bit of noise but honestly, it's quite a noisy area so didn't think anything of it. Then at about 8/8.30pm things started to get quite frightening.
We saw the police move into a line and police on the streets were throwing things at the police. It looked like stones and rocks although later became flaming wheelie bins and what looked to be shop fittings (my partner claims he saw a fridge being thrown or part of one).

Then we saw the cars go up in flames, they were quite near us. That's when I realised that this was getting really out of hand and the police moved around where we are and more and more kept arriving.

We saw the bus and the buildings around us go up in flames like an inferno. That was probably one of the most frightening parts. People below the flat were shouting out to the police. I can't remember their exact words but quite abusive and dismissive.

We were worried that the fires on the high street were not being tackled and they were really gutwrenching.

We didn't see much of the looting first hand because we didn't leave the property (of course) but at one point, early on, I called a friend of mine because I was scared and asked if we could come round. I wanted out of the area. She pointed out with much more clarity than me that the best thing we could do want not leave where we were. At least we were surrounded by police but it didn't feel that safe when the fires were raging down the streets.

We heard lots of dogs barking at one point and weren't sure if they were police dogs or the dogs of the rioters because the accompanying shouting was too aggressive and angry.

Then the fire engines got through and the horses and the armoured black riot vans.

It seemed to quieten down nearer to us but it seemed to volatile and I didn't sleep last night.

Last night I was so angry with people who choose this way to destroy my community. I live in Tottenham and I have been sick of the sneery ways that people regard us. Some of the 'twitter jokes' last night were really really sad and almost broke my heart with the way that some people thought this was a big joke or that Tottenham isn't 'worth saving'.

There are a lot of very good people here. The looting wasn't a part of the demonstration. People came from all over London to 'join in' and the community I live in has been ruined.
Now, beyond the anger, I'm sad, desperately sad.
This wasn't just about a policing, this was about mindless violence and aggression by disaffected and alienated youth and not just in Tottenham.
Meanwhile the people I know, the shops I visit, my neighbours have had their lives ripped apart and the community which is wracked by poverty and joblessness is further labeled and further disadvantaged.
I don't want people to think that Tottenham is a hopeless place. It is my home and my community and I love living here but I really truly despise people who have destroyed it.
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BobbyDarin

7 August 2011 9:41AM

What's going to happen to the people who were burnt out of their homes last night? There are people who now only have the clothes they were wearing.
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ChampionshipGlory16

7 August 2011 9:41AM

panic on the streets of london
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200gnomes

7 August 2011 9:41AM

This comment was removed by a moderator because it didn't abide by our community standards. Replies may also be deleted. For more detail see our FAQs.

grabsplatter

7 August 2011 9:41AM

skipperD
7 August 2011 9:38AM
Also, be willing to hazard a guess that the MET ordered the IPCC in early so that people would think that the Police care about ordinary civilians dying at their hands

Utter gibberish. The Police call in the IPCC whenever a person dies during any kind of interaction with the police. This always happens as soon as is possible, only partly to shut up the tin-foil hatters.

Apparently, it doesn't always work.
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Monchberter

7 August 2011 9:42AM

There's a lot that's recently gone on in Tottenham recently, wasn't it the centre of a mass arrest of drug dealers recently? It's also a deprived area, barely any jobs, people turn to dealing, the dealings dealt with, but still no jobs, a man is shot under highly dubious circumstances (although on the other hand, you shoot at the police, expect to get shot).
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Massingbird

7 August 2011 9:42AM

@joem

this is the working peoples version of the student protests

No it isn't. It's a load of gangsters looting and trashing their neighbourhood because one of their hoody mates got wasted when he shot at cops.

Stop trying to make out this is some kind of political statement, when it's pure criminal behaviour.
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riggers1

7 August 2011 9:43AM

So redolent of a previous era. Is Heseltine available for an inquiry ?
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Massingbird

7 August 2011 9:43AM

@Monchberter

a man is shot under highly dubious circumstances (although on the other hand, you shoot at the police, expect to get shot).

In other words, not highly dubious circumstances at all.
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Massingbird

7 August 2011 9:45AM

@Reflexive

Riots are always about poverty and injustice. This one is no different.

How is rioting to protest about the shooting of an armed man who fired a cops about poverty or injustice?
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Gunit4life

7 August 2011 9:46AM

I don't know really see what people in Tottenham have to protest/riot about. Mark Duggans was killed after there was an exchange of fire with police. Do these people really feel that they are being 'victimised' if police shoot back after they have shot at police!

Mark Duggan's family do deserve more information from the police on what happened but I don't think their claims of him being 'murdered' are justified. I mean what was he doing shooting at police in the first place?

I strongly suspect that a significant proportion of the rioters last night were more concered with causing trouble/looting than protecting about Mark Duggan's death.
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grabsplatter

7 August 2011 9:47AM

joem
7 August 2011 9:40AM
@grabsplatter

you may have noticed since the tory government came in:

- the police have become more ready to use violence, and feel empowered and invulnerable: they know what their masters expect from them, and they don't regard the poor of tottenham as their masters.
- many people are poor and desperate and cannot participate in society. young men are always the flashpoint of such frustration

Forgotten the G20 protests, where 1 non-protester was, apparently killed by a police officer? That wasn't the Tories in power then. The same applies for Jean Charles DeMenies.

Selective memory can be a wonderful thing, can't it?
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CFBWoodsmith

7 August 20