Police promise 'momentous' move to arrest London rioters
Source: Agencies |
August 9, 2011, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
UK police yesterday promised a "momentous" operation to arrest rioters after a weekend of vandalism and looting in a disadvantaged London neighborhood just kilometers from the site of next year's Olympic Games.
Groups of masked and hooded young people looted shops, attacked police officers and set fire to vehicles in violence that has raised questions about security ahead of the 2012 Olympics and revealed pent-up anger against the city's police. More than 160 people were arrested.
About 35 police officers were injured, including three hit by a car while trying to make arrests in northeast London. Police commander Christine Jones said officers were "shocked at the outrageous level of violence directed against them."
Police deputy assistant commissioner Steve Kavanagh said: "This has changed from a local issue into organized criminality."
He announced a "momentous" investigation to track down the perpetrators, adding: "We will make sure that this criminality is not allowed to continue."
The violence broke out in the north London suburb of Tottenham on Saturday night amid community anger over the fatal police shooting of a 29-year-old father of four.
Police said "copycat criminal" violence spread to other parts of the city on Sunday night and early yesterday, including, briefly, one of London's busiest shopping and tourist areas, Oxford Circus.
The protest over the death of Mark Duggan, who was shot in disputed circumstances on Thursday, was initially peaceful. But it turned ugly as up to 500 people gathered around Tottenham's police station late on Saturday.
Some protesters threw bottles filled with petrol at police lines while others confronted officers with baseball bats and staves and attempted to storm the station. Two police cars and a double-decker bus were set alight, and several buildings along Tottenham's main street were burned.
Tottenham was quiet on Sunday night, but looting spread to the nearby suburbs of Enfield and Walthamstow, where police said youths vandalized and looted shops.
Another 50 people damaged property at Oxford Circus in the city center.
Tottenham is 8km from the Olympic site. Walthamstow is just 5km.
In the south London district of Brixton - the scene of riots in the 1980s and 1990s - youths on Sunday night smashed windows, attacked a police car, set fire to rubbish bins and stole video games, sportswear and other goods from stores.
Williams Falade, manager of a gym that was closed yesterday because the restaurant next door had been attacked, said: "It has obviously stemmed from what has happened in Tottenham, but we are 10 miles (16km) away. It was like it was an excuse. Things like this will happen, but they should happen for better reasons."
For civic leaders and Olympic organizers, the violence was an unwelcome reminder of London's volatility, less than a year before the city hosts the 2012 games.
Tony Travers, a local government expert at the London School of Economics, said: "You can imagine how stretched the police would be if this were to occur during the Olympics."
Groups of masked and hooded young people looted shops, attacked police officers and set fire to vehicles in violence that has raised questions about security ahead of the 2012 Olympics and revealed pent-up anger against the city's police. More than 160 people were arrested.
About 35 police officers were injured, including three hit by a car while trying to make arrests in northeast London. Police commander Christine Jones said officers were "shocked at the outrageous level of violence directed against them."
Police deputy assistant commissioner Steve Kavanagh said: "This has changed from a local issue into organized criminality."
He announced a "momentous" investigation to track down the perpetrators, adding: "We will make sure that this criminality is not allowed to continue."
The violence broke out in the north London suburb of Tottenham on Saturday night amid community anger over the fatal police shooting of a 29-year-old father of four.
Police said "copycat criminal" violence spread to other parts of the city on Sunday night and early yesterday, including, briefly, one of London's busiest shopping and tourist areas, Oxford Circus.
The protest over the death of Mark Duggan, who was shot in disputed circumstances on Thursday, was initially peaceful. But it turned ugly as up to 500 people gathered around Tottenham's police station late on Saturday.
Some protesters threw bottles filled with petrol at police lines while others confronted officers with baseball bats and staves and attempted to storm the station. Two police cars and a double-decker bus were set alight, and several buildings along Tottenham's main street were burned.
Tottenham was quiet on Sunday night, but looting spread to the nearby suburbs of Enfield and Walthamstow, where police said youths vandalized and looted shops.
Another 50 people damaged property at Oxford Circus in the city center.
Tottenham is 8km from the Olympic site. Walthamstow is just 5km.
In the south London district of Brixton - the scene of riots in the 1980s and 1990s - youths on Sunday night smashed windows, attacked a police car, set fire to rubbish bins and stole video games, sportswear and other goods from stores.
Williams Falade, manager of a gym that was closed yesterday because the restaurant next door had been attacked, said: "It has obviously stemmed from what has happened in Tottenham, but we are 10 miles (16km) away. It was like it was an excuse. Things like this will happen, but they should happen for better reasons."
For civic leaders and Olympic organizers, the violence was an unwelcome reminder of London's volatility, less than a year before the city hosts the 2012 games.
Tony Travers, a local government expert at the London School of Economics, said: "You can imagine how stretched the police would be if this were to occur during the Olympics."
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