London (and beyond) riots

This is fucking huge news over here in Aus, its the main story of the day across all media.

me n nike posted a bit about it here:
viewtopic.php?f=99&t=4110&start=60

reports now dispute that a shoot out took place, with the bullet that got lodged in the policeman's radio found to be police issue.

Anywayz, the riots are, on the whole, fucking excellent imho.

moar:
http://libcom.org/forums/news/riot-tott ... s-06082011
http://libcom.org/news/london-riots-fig ... t-08082011
http://ianbone.wordpress.com/
and pretty much everywhere else!

walk like a Londoner!

 

Dunno, the news coverage is somehow difficult, the most reliable source seemed to be the ol'guardian online news site:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/blog/2011/ ... uggan-live

There are some doubts about the cop's claim that the man who has been shot opened fire at officers, others blame the police for trying to make up a bad reputation of the dead victim to justify his death as a dealer and ganger.
The inital protest was non-violent but became a riot after the cops refused to answer the peoples demand for an explanation and over-reacted with riot- and mounted police charging the protesters.

 

the riots have gone so far beyond this incident but

 

Here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/aug/0 ... NETTXT3487

 

i don't know what its like over there, but the media's coverage point constantly to the anti-social elements (which there are - although the media includes attacking the pigs and looting as 'anti-social') of these riots, but to be honest, the anti-social elements don't sound much worse than a usual weekend in London (like ppl getting mugged for their phones, etc, etc), its contradictory at times, yeah, and that's shit, but there's lots of rad things too. That a large number of yoof on council estates have new flatscreen tvs and stereos is awesome but.

Inre: the bullet, its been reported in a number of sources, although they are reporting that 'doubts are arising that the bullet lodged in the radio was fired by the deceased' or something like that.
http://www.theage.com.au/world/london-r ... 1ikym.html

 

To go off like this it must have been brewing for ages. But will it end up dividing their own communities further?
Wonder if its true that some bothered to try on shoes to make sure they fit before taking them?

 

From what I gather what happened is the black guy, Mark Duggan, got shot and killed, the police were very quiet and unclear about what actually happened so the family and his friends marched peacefully to the police station and demanded answers. The police didn't give answers, they just came out and lined up and when a 16 year old girl approached them they beat the shit out of her. That's when shit really kicked off. Also it's worth noting that apparently the police harrase people there regularly so there. Since it's kicked off people with no political agenda have joined in and yeah they've done stupid shit like burn their own communities down. However, whether concious or subconcious I believe that people are doing this as a result of the capitalist culture we live in where to be "accepted" in society you need the latest brands/trends etc. which are too expensive for these people who have pretty much fuck all to afford, so whilst the police are unable to do anything they take advantage of the situation and go and take these things from stores and throw shit at the police to settle scores with them. I think I'm shit at putting this into words so I'll suggest some articles on the matter. There is obviously an aspect of class to this, that's undeniable (even though a lot of people are denying it loL) I mean why aren't the rich rioting? oh yeah, that's right, they've already got everything they want.

http://truth-reason-liberty.blogspot.com/ - this guy has done a couple articles on it which are good.
http://louderthanwar.com/blogs/riot
http://libcom.org/news/north-london-sol ... s-09082011
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/video ... NTCMP=SRCH - this underlines a bit of background and shows some of the tensions in the area
http://youtu.be/biJgILxGK0o - this guy was involved in the Black Panther movement, shares his opinion and background info on the situation, and check out the BBCs fucking horrendous reporting...

 

exactly, its got everything to do with class, but it's debatable if its good for the class.
Although, to see the politicians and media hacks shit-scared about, and seemingly powerless for periods of time to stop, the poor going full on crazy makes me smile, and serves as a reminder of the power we have.

some more here: http://beyondresistance.wordpress.com/

 

Riots against the police and government are good riots.

 

Yesterday I watched is it the news on krasnoyarsk of television channel. I was shocked. Ohhh.... I want be in London! By the by, I've heard that in San Francisco was a revolt against the police. Is it true? There was a guy killed by San Francisco police on account of without payed a 2 dollar for public transit.

 

i don't know whats in the water in Europe but people get pissed and put their government in check i see a similar story at least once a year. i mean this shit happens in my small town all the time we need to get on the ball in the states.

 

this is good:
http://libcom.org/news/tottenham-beyond ... s-10082011

 

@Caps, there's not too much on that thread tbh.

Anywayz, thanks heaps for the update, if you've got the time/interest to write more updates, i'd be keen as to read'em.

 

It's depressing how many people just aren't thinking about this. From a facebook poll saying "who's side are you on? rioters or police?" (I say it's not as straight forward as siding with rioters or police. Use your head.) to people saying the army should be brought in etc. etc.

 

The black community of Great Britain are revolting against the corrupt and racist system which has been oppressing them since slavery was abolished in Great Britain. Racism will always exist unless government and authority and power and Capitalism is destroyed.