London Riots (ETA post #23: Brits, please sign the petition to axe rioters' benefits)

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Wasnt the "victim" of the police shooting killed for shooting at the police?

[Medusa]

Zara, my friend Clare who lives in Essex but goes to university in London has been updating me on this. She's furious as well. You should feel no shame; it happens everywhere in every country, especially now. Having visited London last year for a couple of weeks, I can honestly say that it's a most wonderful city. I had the time of my life. We're just glad that you're safe.

[pomtzu]

The vids I was viewing on t.v. this morning, were shocking. The senseless destruction is almost beyond belief. Prayers for all those in harms way. Please stay safe Zara.

[happylabs]

I saw some of this on the news. It is shocking and very scary.

Let's all pray for peace.

[Miss Z]

Thanks for the positive thoughts, everyone. Still safe, and so are my nearest and dearest.

As Chris said, the copycat violence has been ongoing, sadly. Yes, London was better last night, after 16,000 police officers were drafted in to patrol the streets. There were isolated incidents but no where near on the scale of previous nights.

Last night, Manchester and Salford were attacked, which was a little close to home. The Arndale shopping centre saw violence, which made me wonder how so many more people weren't injured, being in a contained area. The Arndale, and Deepdale and Piccadilly Gardens areas of Manchester are particularly popular in the school holidays with groups of young teenagers out for the day with their friends. I know, since I used to do just the same! I would have been pretty scared at, say, 13, to end up caught up in a riot.

Gloucester and Leicester also saw incidents - never thought of Gloucester as a bad area before...

It seems the whole country is watching in disbelief and disgust as this violence continues. I think there's going to be a lot of anger when all this blows over. And a lot of backtracking to do for Big Dave (concerning his 'let's cut the police forces' idea).

Wasnt the "victim" of the police shooting killed for shooting at the police?

Supposedly so. The news is so wrapped up in the riots, the information coming through about Mark Duggan can seem a little confusing. The last I heard, he supposedly exchanged fire with the police from a minicab, and was shot in the chest and killed. An inquest is ongoing as to whether he did actually fire the gun. The gun has an empty cartridge, but a bullet lodged in a police radio is not consistant with the type of firearm, and is probably from a police issued gun.

There's clearly been some sort of balls-up, but no excuse for the violence seen, 'justified' as a middle finger to the police and its treatment of black people (what??)

I did hear that some young Londoners were banding together to clean up after the riots, which is nice.

Ah, I'd be down there like a shot if I could get it organised round my veterinary placements. I was talking with a university friend earlier, and we agreed that when Camden in particular was attacked, it felt like a personal insult. It'd be great to band together with the people of London to show these thugs that they can't break our communities. It might also give the students back a bit of kudos after the protests of November 2010, the damage of which I saw first hand.

Once again, thanks for the continued well wishes, both here and through PMs. I will of course keep everyone updated - although hopefully the situation is coming under some degree of control by now.

[Alysser]

I've been seeing alot of videos on the news and on the web, mostly from Tumblr. It really is disgusting what people do. They're destroying their own cities for in such a senseless way. It's one thing to FIGHT for something you believe in but this is ridiculous. I saw a post about how a Police Dog was seriously injured after being attacked by a group of rioters. It's a sad state when a group of people will attack an innocent animal (and innocent people, businesses, etc.) with such senseless acts of violence. They should all be ashamed of themselves, really.

Did you hear from everyone you know in the area, Zara?

[Miss Z]

Did you hear from everyone you know in the area, Zara?

Thanks, Alyssa. Yep, they, and their property, have escaped unscathed thus far, and we're hoping it stays that way.

I was almost too embarassed to post some of these, and I'm not sure if the video links will work for everyone, but just to give you an idea of the 'level' of people we're talking here...

Youths telling a reporter that they'll keep rioting, because no-one's going to stop them:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today...00/9560646.stm

(He was a bit out with his estimate of 10 arrests... try 1000. Let's hope it's soon 1001, eh?)

Some drunk girls describing the chaos as 'brilliant', and just about remembering what party our prime minister belongs to:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14458424

Possibly some of the worst footage and currently one of the most popular clips on the BBC I believe - an injured Malaysian student is mugged by thugs who pretend to help him:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14456065

And one of the saddest stories; three men who were killed in a hit and run attack whilst defending their property in Birmingham.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england...ngham-14471405

I also saw some footage on BBC News 24 of a man who owns a jewellery shop which had been destroyed and looted. You could hear the emotion in his voice as he struggled to make sense of the damage. I'll keep looking for it and post it if I find it.

On the flipside - there is apparently a national petition to axe benefits to caught and convicted rioters. No people who have such disrespect for their government and communities deserve handouts from them. I would LOVE to see this come to fruition. A real life lesson in not biting the hand that feeds you!