Mark Duggan Shooting

[Seamus OBlimey]

London Mayor Boris Johnson will return to London on Tuesday to deal with the aftermath of riots and disorder in parts of the city.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-14444067

Excuse me for giggling.

[Seamus OBlimey]

Oh shit! I just noticed my avatar could be Boris..

[gnosticheresy_2]

Cameron also returning apparently. Phew, I feel better already!

[semper occultus]

interesting : from the Grauniad's comments section :

floorperson
8 August 2011 6:43PM

Creepy side-development. I was tracking #peckham on twitter as I live there and noticed that this user: http://twitter.com/#!/Orderof9Angles was posting messages supporting the riots, against "the system" etc.

I remembered from reading Nick Ryan's book about far right extremism that this is the cult of David Myatt (neo-nazi, sometime islamist and inspiration for David Copeland). Just flippantly tweeted back to this about such a prominent nazi rebranding himself as anticapitalist and then, remembering descriptions of his vendettas panicked and deleted it. Got the reply:

Orderof9Angles John Smith
@ATHLETESLEAGUE The mundane will only ever see the external form, not the real essence of those like David Myatt.

Shit, this I don't like. Really, really uncomfortable. Possibility of far-right using the riots to push a socially or racially divisive agenda?

www.guardian.co.uk

...no doubt some spotty death-metal fan in his bedroom.....

[Harvey]

I'm noticing some key things about what's happening. Widely distributed spontaneous riots. Stretches the police over a wide area. Virtually guarantees limited effectiveness. Multiple distributed attacks seems a bit sophisticated for a bunch of 'disaffected youth'. I'm also seeing, very submerged, the right wing meme emerging, as evidenced by the letter Occultis noticed.

And the technology aspect. "...They're using Blackberrys to plan and co-ordinate.." How many times have I heard that today. Blackberry's being the only encrypted phones that I know of.

For instance:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/aug/0 ... er-looting

Weird.

I once watched seagulls tapping the ground to bring the worms to the surface, expecting rain...

[gnosticheresy_2]

I'm noticing some key things about what's happening. Widely distributed spontaneous riots. Stretches the police over a wide area. Virtually guarantees limited effectiveness. Multiple distributed attacks seems a bit sophisticated for a bunch of 'disaffected youth'. I'm also seeing, very submerged, the right wing meme emerging, as evidenced by the letter Occultis noticed.

Lol. Ok can you just wind teh patronising back just a little? "Multiple distributed attacks" makes it sound like something out of a movie, when really all a "Multiple distributed attack" takes in central London is "oi blud, polis on the high street, lets go up curry's and do that one yeah?". Big place, people moving around fast.

And the technology aspect. "...They're using Blackberrys to plan and co-ordinate.." How many times have I heard that today. Blackberry's being the only encrypted phones that I know of.

Yeah they are. Who woulda thunk it, people planning naughty things on the one network they know the authorities have trouble monitoring! I mean why can't they use facebook and "check in" to locations just like everyone else?

For instance:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/aug/0 ... er-looting

BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) appears to be the favoured method of planning the unrest that has swept across north London since Saturday evening. Unlike text messaging or Twitter, BBM is a free, private social network where almost all messages are encrypted when they leave the sender's phone – meaning that many messages are untraceable by the authorities.

RIM can be legally ordered to hand over details to police of users suspected of unlawful activity. However, the Canadian company would be likely to resist those demands and the content of users' inflammatory messages would be encrypted. The manufacturer has previously insisted that even it cannot unscramble users' messages when sent on the devices

I'm also seeing, very submerged, the right wing meme emerging, as evidenced by the letter Occultis noticed.

Don't know about meme yet. Still a bit early and I'm not seeing anything past the obvious "black yoof are thugs" - it'll be when events are not moving quite so fast that we get "race-war in the UK" or "was the Norwegian shooter right?" pushed as possible narratives imo.

[MacCruiskeen]

BBC now reporting that rioting has spread to Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool.

[justdrew]

Hang the PM

---

and you know, people do tend to act up for the camera

[Telexx]

From the Guardian:

London's emergency services were on full-scale alert on Monday night as rioting, fires and pitched battles with police erupted around the city from late afternoon.

The Metropolitan police poured hundreds of extra officers on to the streets as trouble flared in the north, south and east of the capital.

In Hackney, east London, masked and hooded youths smashed up shops and threw missiles, planks of wood and wheelie bins at riot police. Several abandoned vehicles were set alight. There were also violent scenes in Lewisham, south-east London, where petrol bombs were reportedly thrown at officers, and shops looted. A bus was torched in nearby Peckham as police struggled to respond to the spread of sporadic violent incidents.

Witnesses said a 100-strong mob cheered as a shop in the centre of Peckham was torched and one masked thug shouted: "The West End's going down next." A baker's next door was also alight. One onlooker said: "The mob were just standing there cheering and laughing. Others were just watching on from their homes open-mouthed in horror."

The unrest had spread beyond London with West Midlands police confirming outbreaks of disorder in Birmingham city centre. Shops including a branch of Louis Vuitton had windows smashed and were looted. Extra officers were being sent into the streets of Britain's second city.

As the home secretary, Theresa May, broke off her holiday to return to London, the number of arrests from three consecutive nights of violence rose to 215, with 27 people charged. It was also announced that London mayor Boris Johnson would be returning early from his holiday. However, the prime minister remained on holiday in Tuscany.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stephen Kavanagh said one-third more officers were available on Monday nightthan on Sunday, when shops were ransacked and torched in Brixton, south London, and trouble reported in Enfield, Edmonton, Walthamstow and Islington.

Kavanagh vowed to deliver "speedy justice" for Londoners, condemning the waves of looting as "disgusting behaviour, ripping apart people's livelihoods and businesses".

Officers from Thames Valley, Essex, Kent, Surrey and City of London were drafted in to support the Met. But apparent "copycat" riots continued to spread in the wake of Tottenham's riots on Saturday precipitated by the fatal shooting by police of Mark Duggan, 29, a father-of-four last Thursday.

In a bid to contain them, Scotland Yard introduced special powers in four areas – Lambeth, Haringey, Enfield and Waltham Forest, allowing stop and search without reasonable suspicion. The section 60 powers were invoked at midnight on Sunday. One incident of stop and search in Hackney was reportedly the catalyst for violence which erupted in Mare Street shortly after 4pm, and saw local hooded youths battle police.

The Guardian understands senior officers are prepared to add more areas to the list. The special powers have been perceived as targeting certain ethnic groups, thus fuelling tensions.

Meanwhile, the maker of the BlackBerry smartphones, Research in Motion, said it would co-operate with a police investigation into claims its popular BlackBerry Messenger service played a key role in organising the London riots.

Acting Metropolitan police commissioner Tim Godwin, said: "We need to separate grievance and criminality." The situation was deemed so serious, he said, that he had taken several phone calls from David Cameron.

Croydon, Barnet, Streatham, Clapham and Islington were among a number of areas of London where shops were being advised to close early amid fears of violence.

After meeting Godwin, May said: "Those responsible for this violence and looting will be made to face the consequences of their actions. So far there have been at least 215 arrests and 27 people have been charged. But as the police take statements from witnesses, as they look at CCTV evidence, more arrests will be made."

Brixton bore the brunt of Sunday's violence. The Lambeth council leader, Steve Reed, said: "We are asking the mayor's office for additional police for tonight and the next few nights." Condemning the "copycat activity", he said: "Somebody described it as gangs of kids doing Supermarket Sweep. It was Curry's where they were after plasma screen TVs, and H&M and Foot Locker where it was clothes and trainers. It wasn't about social issues, it was an opportunity to go on the rob."

Deputy prime minister Nick Clegg, visiting Tottenham, said the violence would leave "big scars" on the community. Surveying the wreckage after the torching of businesses and homes in Tottenham High Road, he spoke to Steve Moore, who lost his jewellery shop in Saturday's violence. "I'm devastated, it's completely gone. My shop just doesn't exist anymore," Moore told him.

Referring to the "copycat" violence across London, Clegg said: "Let's be clear, the violence we saw last night had absolutely nothing to do with the death of Mr Duggan. It was needless, opportunist theft and violence – nothing more, nothing less."

Boris Johnson released a statement describing the scenes of violence and destruction as "utterly appalling".

"I understand the need for urgent answers into the shooting incident that resulted in the death of a young man and I've sought reassurances that the IPCC are doing exactly that," he said. "But, let's be clear – these acts of sheer criminality across London are nothing to do with this incident and must stop now."

Three police officers were taking to hospital after a car was deliberately driven at them in Chingford Mount, Waltham Forest, where a shop was looted on Sunday.

An inquest into Duggan's death was due to open on Tuesday though there seemed to be conflict between Scotland Yard and the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) over complaints by his family over "lack of contact" following his shooting. On behalf of Scotland Yard, Kavanagh said: "I want to apologise to the Duggan family because I think both the IPCC and the Metropolitan police could have managed that family's needs more effectively".

Rachel Cerfontyne, who is in charge of the investigation, said: "Following my meeting with the family yesterday I am very clear that their concerns were not about lack of contact or support from the IPCC. Their concerns were about lack of contact from the police in delivering news of his death to Mark's parents."

She added that "if necessary" the complaint would become part of the IPCC's investigation.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/aug/08/london-riots-escalate-police-battle

[Telexx]

Meanwhile...





(could be real, could be planted).

Google map of the affected areas:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?msid=207192798388318292131.0004aa01af6748773e8f7&msa=0&ll=51.558503,-0.055275&spn=0.114195,0.298691

[semper occultus]

Tottenham riots: a peaceful protest, then suddenly all hell broke loose

Shops looted, vehicle torched and police injured in full-scale riot that spread across north-London suburbs

Paul Lewis, Sunday 7 August 2011 20.52 BST

www.guardian.co.uk

seems like the best summary of the original key events :

the original legitimate protest :

The crowd that gathered outside Tottenham police station at 5.30pm were by all accounts peaceful. The protesters consisted of local residents, community leaders, and some of Duggan's relatives, including his fiancee, Semone Wilson.
<snip>
There were chants of "we want answers" but those present said the protest was good-natured. The demonstration, which organisers expected to last no more than an hour, was initially fronted by women, who surrounded Wilson, who had three children with 29-year-old Duggan.

police incompetence raises tension

....tensions gradually escalated, as police made only limited attempts to talk to the demonstrators.....a chief inspector came out and spoke to Duggan's relatives but, organisers said, he conceded a higher-ranking officer should talk to them.
Stafford Scott, a community organiser, said police were "absolutely" culpable for not responding to their requests for dialogue.
"I told the chief inspector personally that we wanted to leave before nightfall," Scott said. "If he kept us hanging around after nightfall, it was going to be on his head. We couldn't guarantee it wouldn't get out of control."

Scott said the chief inspector promised a higher ranking official would speak to the crowd.
When no one came, organisers said some younger men turned their anger to two police cars, which were set on fire.

the police delay & the encroaching cover of darkness dramatically escalates the risk as the peaceful elements begin to disperse & cede to the violent arrivistes :

Some who were present described seeing a younger, more aggressive ( presumably all male ) crowd arrive around dusk, some carrying weapons. "These people were prepared," said Bill Dow, a bystander. "They had fireworks and petrol cans."

the initial violent spark may have come from the police side :

Others present said the spark for the rioting was a specific incident involving a 16-year-old woman, who stepped forward to confront police around 8.30pm, demanding answers, but was attacked with shields and batons.

"They beat her with a baton, and then the crowd started shouting 'run, run', and there was a hail of missiles," said Anthony Johnson, 39. "She had been saying: 'We want answers, come and speak to us.'"

finally deliberate seeding of provocation by unknown parties, clearly based on bastardised version of de Menezes but with a clear motive to precipitate the large scale disorder :

Young said he was not taking part in the violence, but like many had been enraged by the rumours circulating about Duggan's death.

He showed one of several BlackBerry "BB" messages being disseminated, suggesting Duggan had been shot in the face at point-blank range.

[sfnate]

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere.

Hello America. This is London calling.

Here they tell me that the fiery ambition of their youth is a storm of frustration building to immeasurable intensity: soon, they say, the waves of this distant hurricane will roll up upon your own beaches and drown your complacency beneath a tidal surge of lawless despair.

Here they pronounce "mere anarchy" in slow and measured syllables, their panic concealed by the dry-mouth fear of the weak. But no expert description of the ruin can explain this disease, which riots like a plague, and makes a burning fever the only escape for these dreamers whose bodies are illuminated corpses in the ovens of hate.

This is London.

This is the world we have made, with these the cannibal children of our failed future taking bloody comfort in the last supper of their innocence.

Good night and good luck.

[StarmanSkye]

sfnate wrote:

"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere.

Hello America. This is London calling.

Here they tell me that the fiery ambition of their youth is a storm of frustration building to immeasurable intensity: soon, they say, the waves of this distant hurricane will roll up upon your own beaches and drown your complacency beneath a tidal surge of lawless despair.

Here they pronounce "mere anarchy" in slow and measured syllables, their panic concealed by the dry-mouth fear of the weak. But no expert description of the ruin can explain this disease, which riots like a plague, and makes a burning fever the only escape for these dreamers whose bodies are illuminated corpses in the ovens of hate.

This is London.

This is the world we have made, with these the cannibal children of our failed future taking bloody comfort in the last supper of their innocence.

Good night and good luck."

--Unquote--

That's absolutely, chillingly elegant in its bleak description of the world we have watched, even accomodated, being betrayed with such monstrously grand conceits, a vision of our belatedly being made to come to terms with an awful reckoning, so presciently, forebodingly succinct -- especially the last line,
"This is the World we have made, with these the Cannibal children of our failed future taking bloody comfort in the Last Supper of their Lost Innocence."

The deep pent-up frustrations and anxieties, the anger and rage of justice abandoned and a destiny shortchanged by scheming plotters who don't give a fig for community or state or a nation cheated that drives the ferment prodded by state-agents into dupliciously managed 'color revolutions' will not be 'safely' contained outside the western nations' borders --

The dragon smells blood and fire, something to fill the void deep within made of hopes shattered, hungers unsatisfied, dark tomorrows and unrequitted longings.

A squandered legacy cannot be appeased, it will not be ignored ...

[eyeno]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... yxRnD-DnNw



http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/2011/0 ... ots-52191/

[anothershamus]

Anybody got a live cam for anything happening in London? I looked all over and couldn't find anything.