London Riots – The Story

As some of you may or may not know, I’m from London. Well, specifically, Croydon. You have to have been living under a rock to not know about the London Riots which started on Thursday in Tottenham, North London, over a man who was executed, unarmed, by police officers who were trailing him. He got no choice of a trial and was treated as guilty before proven innocent. This man, a known drug and arms dealer, was described as a hu

mble and family man.

Obviously, we can spot the discrepancies in this story and of course there are two sides to every story. But the bare bones of the story is that the police did not give this man his rights as a human being and this man’s family and friends want justice, which they demanded in the form of a protest outside of a police station in Tottenham. When a teenage boy and a police officer got into an altercation that turned violent, the riots started.

Shops and homes were looted. Buses and cars and buildings were set on fire.

The hysteria slowly travelled to towns where the murdered man had family and friends. All of this happened this weekend. But these other towns were mainly struck with looting and were still around North and East London.

And then it moved down South. Last night, London saw an

other of some of it’s worst riots, except that in Croydon, the people rioting were not rioting for the right reasons but were simply using the excuse of the weekend to cause mindless mayhem and destroy properties, shops and vehicles. They looted shops, they burned landmarks to the ground, they robbed men and stole cars. Croydon was shocked into silence as their very own youths marauded around town and slowly began to destroy it.

This morning, as I travelled to work, the atmosphere was thick with dis

gust. Buildings were still on fire. Smoke was potent in the air. Right now, as I write this, the riots have moved up North to Manchester and Croydon seems quiet once more. But I don’t have faith in our youths anymore and where there is opportunity, these thugs will take it.

I for one am disgusted and disappointed in the citizens of the UK right now. You can protest in something you believe in, but to destroy and burn and harm things? It’s not necessary and it needs to stop. I want to express how horrified I am and also how grateful I am that none of my family have been injured or affected directly by this.

This is simply a case of thugs vs police. But during these riots the police were only there to defend, they did not attack and now the public are crying out for the use of plastic bullets, tear gas, water cannons. But didn’t all of this start because of police violence?

At the very least I hope that this post educated. But mostly I hope that no one that follows my blog ends up participating in such lawless, mindless crime. Please. It’s not worth it.

*all pictures taken in Croydon*