The London Riot

  In various countries and at different time periods, riots have taken place and continue to take place. The only thing that separates one riot from the other is its general effect on the society. This can be seen in the level of casualties in each riot and the radius of the land area covered by the riot and resulting violence. In particular, the London riot of 2011 which affected the area of Tottenham, in North London has had many reasons for its evaluation.

Brief History
According to CBC (2011), the London riots started on the 6th of August 2011 in the areas of Tottenham, North London. It began when an estimated 300 people gathered to protest the shooting of 29-year old Mark Duggan by the Police. It is said that Mark Duggan was shot dead by a Police officer unjustly .This resulted in a general outrage in the community which is a combination of different cultures. In addition to that, there had been claims of recent harassment by Police on younger members of society and although it all began as a peaceful protest outside the Tottenham police station, the protesters saw no progress in their quest to know the truth and decided to resort to violence. Later on, before the situation could be bought to order, many people started destroying vehicles, breaking into shops and generally there was a breakdown in law and order which led to chaos in the community. Sooner or later, this outbreak of chaos spread first to some other parts of London like Croydon and Brixton, then onto other cities in the UK such as Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham and Birmingham.

 Facts and Figures
-According to Lewis (2011), 42 people had been arrested as at the 7th of August 2011
-Also, about 26 Police officers were injured as at this date
-Later on, about 100 more Police officers were injured as at 12th of August

Speculated Causes and General Reaction 
    The major cause of this protest which led to a riot was believed to be the unjust killing of Mark Duggan by a Police officer. However the outburst of chaos in Tottenham was discouraged by the family as they said they were not 'condoning the violence that erupted' as it would bring no solution to discovering the circumstances behind his death, (BBC, 2011).
    Another cause, as suggested by a recent research (Lewis et al, 2011) involving around 270 people who rioted in London, is that the rioters may have exhibited acts of antagonism and a lack of trust towards the Police. In other cases, rioters narrowed down the reason for their actions simply to opportunity. Although the riots were initially thought to be pre-empted attacks by gang members, it was later discovered that gang members had little effect on the attacks, rather with ages of rioters mostly within the ages of 16-24, a large number of them were found to be unemployed. (CBC, 2011)
   Finally, as explained by Lammy (cited in Walters, 2012) MP of Tottenham, one other major reason for the outbreak of chaos was the proper discipline that children lack which makes it difficult for parents to bring their teenage children under control. Although, he had earlier stated that ' this was attack on Tottenham, on people, shopkeepers, women, children, now standing homeless'; he attached some blame to the ban on smacking children and confessed that children need smacking when necessary to instil discipline in them.


Conclusion
  In summary, the illegal killing of Mark Duggan can be said to have sparked up the embers that went from a peaceful protest to a  town-wide outspread of chaos mostly triggered by the unclarity of the Police concerning the issue. The London riots of 2011 have given an example of how many people decided to use violence to support illegal acts for a cause that had no proper depth.  In some of the other rioting cities in the UK, some rioters had no clue about why this was going on but as stated earlier that many of the rioters were unemployed people, they took it as an opportunity to breakdown law and order.



References:

BBC (2011). London riots: Dozens injured after Tottenham violence. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-14435251 (Accessed: 10 March 2012) 

CBC (2011) Getting to the root of the U.K. riots. Available at: http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/08/09/f-uk-riots-faq.html (Accessed: 10March 2012)

Lewis, P. (2011) 'Tottenham riots: 26 police officers injured and 42 people arrested', The Guardian, 7 August [Online]. Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/aug/07/tottenham-riots-eight-police-injured (Accessed: 10 March 2012) 

Ball, J. Lewis, P. Newburn, T. Taylor, M. (2011) 'Rioters say anger with police fuelled summer unrest', The Guardian, 5 December [Online]. Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/dec/05/anger-police-fuelled-riots-study (Accessed: 10  March 2012)

Walters, S. (2012) 'Labour MP: Smacking ban led to riots because parents fear children will be taken away if they discipline them', Mail, 29 January [Online]. Available at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2093223/Labour-MP-David-Lammy-Smacking-ban-led-riots.html (Accessed date: 10 March 2012)