A building burning in London where a black and working class youth rebellion has gone on for two days. The unrest was sparked by the police killing of a black youth and the overall economic crisis of world capitalism., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.
Cameron Returns to U.K. for Emergency Meeting on Rioting
Monday, August 8, 2011
Aug. 9 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron cut short his Italian vacation to return home for an emergency meeting today on the rioting in London, which continued for a third night as petrol bombs were thrown, vehicles and businesses set ablaze and violence spread to three other cities.
Cameron will chair the COBR emergency response committee and also meet with Home Secretary Theresa May and Metropolitan Police Service Acting Commissioner Tim Godwin, according to an e-mailed statement from the Prime Minister's Office.
A statement from the Metropolitan Police Service reported "serious outbreaks of disorder" including looting, in a number of London boroughs, including Hackney, Newham, Lewisham, Bethnal Green and Croydon.
Sixty-nine people have been charged and 334 have been arrested in connection with the riots, according to police. The unrest began in the north London suburb of Tottenham on the night of Aug. 6, after a local man of Afro-Caribbean descent, Mark Duggan, was killed in a shootout with police. There was sporadic rioting and looting in other parts of the capital on Aug. 7. At least 35 police officers have been injured.
Police deployed armored vehicles in the Lavender Hill area of the capital to "push back in excess of 150 people," as "disorder and damage was being caused to shops and local businesses, London police reported in a separate statement today. The success of the tactic means that its use will be considered in other areas of the city, the statement said.
Officers Injured
In Hackney, 250 to 300 people gathered in Pembury Estate, setting cars alight and throwing petrol bombs, while in Mare Street, businesses were looted and three officers were injured, police said in a statement. Widespread vandalism included fires at several premises in Croydon, including a ''very large blaze at a sofa factory,'' the statement said
Tokyo-based Sony Corp. said a London warehouse containing Blu-ray discs and DVDs may be on fire. The blaze may have started at about midnight London time, and the company is still assessing the situation, said spokesman Jin Tominari.
More than 1,700 extra police officers were deployed, with support provided by nine police forces from areas around the capital, the statement said.
''There is a significant disorder breaking out in a number of our communities across London,'' Godwin said in an e-mailed statement last night. ''What I have seen is pure violence and pure gratuity. We are seeing communities blighted by the actions of a few.''
Looters Smashed Windows
In Tower Hamlets last night, around 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) from London's Olympic Park, looters smashed windows and raided a retail store. Men and women were seen carrying armfuls of clothes wrapped in cellophane to parked cars. Police vans and helicopters attended the scene.
''Those responsible for this violence and looting will be held responsible," May, who cut short her vacation to return to London, told reporters yesterday. She described the unrest as "sheer criminality."
London Mayor Boris Johnson broke off his vacation in North America to fly home and will be back in the capital today, City Hall said.
"I understand the need for urgent answers into the shooting incident that resulted in the death of a young local man," Johnson said in a statement as he joined leaders of the black community in calling for calm. "But let's be clear: these acts of sheer criminality across London are nothing to do with this incident and must stop now."
Violence Spread
The Associated Press reported that violence had spread to three other English cities: the central city of Birmingham, Liverpool in the northwest and Bristol in the southwest. Police in Birmingham confirmed that 35 people had been arrested amid disorder in the city center and police in Bristol urged residents to avoid the city center where about 150 people rioted, AP reported.
The Press Association said Merseyside Police reported "a number of isolated outbreaks of disorder" in the south Liverpool area, while in north Liverpool, police were trying to contain a crowd of about 300 people, the PA cited a witness as saying.
Stopping Cars
The witness in Liverpool said rioters were stopping cars, pulling people out and setting fire to the vehicles, according to the news agency.
Looters attacked stores in Walthamstow, Chingford and Ponders End in northeast London as well as in Brixton in the south on Aug. 7. Officers also dispersed youths at Oxford Circus in the main West End shopping district.
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg yesterday visited Tottenham, which has one of the biggest concentrations of Afro- Caribbeans in Britain.
"I was struck by the determination of local people to stand together against the violence," Clegg said at an event in south London. Clegg said the looters were "opportunistic folk engaging in smash-and-grab criminality."
English soccer club West Ham United said today's Carling Cup match against Aldershot has been postponed following a request from the police.
"The club was contacted this evening and told that all major public events in London were to be rearranged because of the need to focus police resources elsewhere," the club, which plays in England's second-tier Championship, said in a statement on its website last night.
Police described the violence as "copycat criminal activity" and said yesterday that officers "are carefully monitoring any intelligence and ensuring we have our resources in the right places to support the ongoing policing plan."
The Independent Police Complaints Commission is investigating the Aug. 6 Tottenham shooting.
"The IPCC awaits further forensic analysis to enable us to have a fuller and more comprehensive account of what shots were discharged, the sequence of events and what exactly happened," the commission said in a statement on Aug. 7.
--With assistance from Christopher Spillane and Ben Livesey in London and Mariko Yasu. Editors: Ben Livesey, Ben Richardson
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