I Weep For London

[filkertom]

This is just awful:

Forces from across the country are sending officers to the capital to support the Metropolitan Police, which will have 16,000 officers on duty.

Police across England are gearing up after trouble spread to Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool and Nottingham.

More than 600 people have been arrested and police have begun releasing footage of people they want to question.

smallship1 has already reported on some of what's going on; here's a blog on dKos with another first-hand look.

Any of our friends in the affected areas, PLEASE be very careful and stay safe. If you have to, grab the most important personal items, some clothes, and an emergency kit, and get out of there. And check in later so we know you're okay.

Comments

[shockwave77598.livejournal.com]

When people cannot see any future for themselves, they have no reason to care about anything.

[r-caton.livejournal.com]

When they reckon they can thieve and get away with it even though there are cameras EVERYWHERE in these areas they will, just because they can and because they are scumbags.
Plenty good people in Tottenham etc.
Plenty bloody scheming chancers as well.

I normally drive through there every day. Or Enfield. And I passed by the pyre that had been Sony's distribution centre this morning.

They are mobile, they are organised, interconnected and SCUM.

Give the police baton rounds is what I say. They can unwrap hoodies when they have to pick them up off the floor.
Go in FAST and HARD. F***ING HARD.

[shockwave77598.livejournal.com]

Yes, yes. And everyone who has a video camera is a terrorist, too. We get it. Simplistic and unrealistic, but we get it.

I've no doubt criminals are taking advantage of the situation. And using social media to organize has been proven to work in places far more vile and hostile to human freedom than England. But you have to have the powderkeg for there to be the explosion the scum can take advantage of. People don't riot just because Jeopardy got moved to a different channel.

And the guy shot in his car? How can anyone do any shooting there except the police? Aren't guns outlawed there?

[saganth.livejournal.com]

Last I heard, the police don't carry guns at all, which actually puts them at risk from criminals who do have them.

[saganth.livejournal.com]

Disregard that last statement. I guess things have changed over there. Apparently this all started after police shot and killed someone.

[inamac.livejournal.com]

Yes, guns are outlawed. But they are still being used by street gangs. The police have a special operation (Operation Trident) designed to identify illegal gun owners and relieve them of their weapons. The police involved in the original incident were armed members of Operation Trident who apprehended a suspect in possession of a (loaded) handgun. Shots were exchanged, the suspect ended up dead.

An enquiry is in progress to establish the exact circumstances of that incident. The family of the victim held a (peaceful) protest on Thursday at their local police station and were upset when the local police (who were not in a position to comment on the Trident operation - and may not have even known about it) were unable to make any statement to them.

And then the riots started. And by Saturday what appears to have been happening was attempts by rival gangs across London to outdo the ones next door (They trashed a police car. We'll set fire to a shop. We'll loot it and then set fire to it...).

And the police who have been dealing with the situation since then are certainly not carrying firearms.

Thankfully (and largely as a result of Op Trid) neither are the protesters.

[huskiebear.livejournal.com]

This is terrifying. This is not your usual "everyone's doing it, we won't get caught, let's try it" riot looting. These are organized, opportunistic criminals.

[emiofbrie.livejournal.com]

I trust we'll be seeing this too if things don't get better

[shockwave77598.livejournal.com]

certain channels I monitor believe this is less a sudden explosion than a test to see if a small group of enemy agents using social media can direct citizens into attacking their own government. They believe that such tactics are guaranteed to be executed within the US in less than 3 weeks time, coinciding with college people returning to campus. Provacateurs egging certain groups on in the schools and then starting riots while standing with them in dozens of cities nationwide is possible.

[gridlore.livejournal.com]

Really? Would these certain channels speak to you through the neighbor's dog?

This has to be one of the silliest things I have ever read, and I was a regular on alt.conspiracy for nearly 15 years.

[shockwave77598.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I know. Gotta take it with a grain of salt, like I take everything on the net.

But the last time I laughed at some conspiracy idea was about 10 years ago, when the scuttlebutt on the same system said that the terrorists were going to attack us -- through the 911 system. So now I don't laugh, but I wonder what data has been misinterpreted and what grain of truth is actually there.

[realinterrobang.livejournal.com]

Wow, that has to be the single biggest reach I've ever heard of, considering that the vast majority of the world (even the English-speaking world, would you believe) doesn't write dates like that.

I hear the groves of Alcan are nice this year...

[huskiebear.livejournal.com]

That's exactly what I've been thinking - this country is one big powder keg right now.

[alverant.livejournal.com]

I read the linked article and this started with a police shooting. Then I thought, "This is way too much to come out of one shooting." Either I'm missing a big part of the picture or this is the proverbial powder keg that got lit.

[nagasvoice.livejournal.com]

It apparently was a powder keg where police hassled youth in the area for how they looked. Looks like it didn't take much to go up. However, we should remember this is in the context of earlier riots over welfare cuts and legislation that went very badly, and marches by teachers, and so on. People are ticked off already. Once blown, of course looters are going to start taking advantage.

[lemmozine.livejournal.com]

Sad and scary thing is, conditions here in the US are not so very different. It could happen here, and it just might.

[ashkitty.livejournal.com]

Safe and sound, if jumpy. Thoughts here (http://ashkitty.livejournal.com/1092878.html). (Without too much political commentary; just observations for now.)

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Glad you're okay.