Syria: Riots stop when authorities use tanks.
Italy: Riots stop as police fire rubber bullets.
Greece: End to riots as police deploy water cannon and tear gas.
England: Riots stop… because it’s raining.
Due to the imminent collapse of society we regret to announce we are closing at 6pm tonight
There were mainly three groups of rioters: organised career criminals, semi-organised youths and those who got carried away in the excitement. Many of those turned out to be very far from the stereotype of the hopeless underclass. The authorities soon lost control – the police force was outnumbered, the Prime Minister, the Home Secretary, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Mayor of London, the mayor’s chief of staff and head of communication, the chairman of the Metropolitan Police Authority and the Head of the London Fire Brigade were all on holiday. The number of police officers on London streets was 6000. It was only on Tuesday that the number grew up top 16000. The general panic had already installed and it seems that the official decisions against the riots came a bit late.
At least 186 police officers and five dogs were injured. Five men have died. Vehicles, homes and shops were attacked and set alight (more than 200 million pounds in property damage). Transport was affected. A Sony Music-owned warehouse was set on fire and most of its inventory was considered lost, including the entire British stock of LPs and CDs for Domino Records, XL Records and over 100 other European independent record labels. Estimated losses over the mass looting have been indicated to be in the region of 100 million pounds.
As of 13 August, 2275 people have been arrested, of which more than 1000 have been charged.
In my opinion, public unity stopped the entire madness. People from Muslim communities (Bangladeshi, Kurdish, Pakistani, Somali and Turkish) were seen chasing down masked youths in several ares of North and East London. Locals in Enfield took part, as did the supporters of the football club Millwall in Eltham and the Sikh communities in Southall, East Ham, Ilford and Romford. Tens of thousands of users of social networking sites coordinated clean-up operations of their local shopping areas and streets. Residents armed with brooms, gloves and bin bags took the streets to clean up the damage. They also had meet ups to donate blankets, clothes, baby food and other necessities to be sent to those made homeless by the riots. Thousands of others are taking part in impromptu acts of kindness to help cities like London, Birmingham and Manchester. Builders have offered free help to Londoners to repair their damage, while high street banks are providing immediate financial relief with loan repayment holidays. The British Bankers Association said banks would provide extra financial support for businesses who needed cash for repairs and to replace stock lost to looters. A Shoreditch website is also helping Londoners find tradesmen to help repair the damage for free. A campaign to help Aaron Biber, an 89-year old barber who had his shop destroyed, has raised 5000 pounds after a web page allowing people to donate was set up; he has run a barber shop close to Tottenham High Road for 41 years. Obviously, the officials did not approve of the “informally organised community groups” taking a role in maintaining public order.
Hats off to the response of the community!
This is not your ordinary tea partY 