LONDON RIOTS – THE INCIDENT THAT CAUSED THE TROUBLE
RIOTS IN LONDON, POLICE CARS SET ALIGHT AFTER YOUNG FATHER SHOT BY
6 August 2011
BBC: Riots in Tottenham after Mark Duggan shooting protest (news after BBC’s commercial)
BBC: The BBC’s Andy Moore reports from behind police lines after a BBC satellite truck came under attack from youths throwing missiles–Petrol bombs have been thrown at police and three patrol cars, a bus and buildings have been set on fire in a riot in Tottenham, north London. Eight injured police officers have been taken to hospital, at least one of them with head injuries.
The unrest began after a protest over the fatal shooting by police of 29-year-old Mark Duggan on Thursday.
About 300 people gathered outside the police station on the High Road after demonstrators demanded “justice”.
London Ambulance Service said a total of 10 people had been treated and nine had been taken to hospital.
Two patrol cars were set alight at about 20:20 BST but officers were not inside at the time.
Cdr Stephen Watson: “We had no information to suggest that we would have the scale of disorder that now confronts us”
Shops in the area have also been looted with people seen pushing away shopping trolleys full of goods.
A double-decker bus was set on fire at the junction of High Road and Brook Street while a shop on the High Road was also set alight.
Fire crews were initially unable to reach the shop due to the disorder but later began tackling the flames.
A BBC TV news crew and satellite truck also came under attack from youths throwing missiles.
The youths had begun attacking another police patrol car before the TV crew were targeted and they were withdrawn in the interests of their own safety. The police car was later set alight.
Commander Stephen Watson, of the Metropolitan Police, told BBC News a significant number of officers had been deployed with the aim of restoring “calm and normality to the area as soon as possible”.
Tottenham MP David Lammy appealed for calm saying: “The scenes currently taking place in our community are not representative of the vast majority of people in Tottenham.
Police in riot gear are lined up from one side of the road to the other.
A dozen or so police vans are behind them, along with officers on foot and on horseback keeping a crowd of around 300 people away from the scene of the trouble.
Firefighters are using hoses to put out the flames.
As the stand-off continues here, fireworks and other missiles are being thrown.
The situation is volatile and the atmosphere is tense.
“Those who remember the destructive conflicts of the past will be determined not to go back to them.
“We already have one grieving family in our community and further violence will not heal that pain.
“True justice can only follow a thorough investigation of the facts.
“The Tottenham community and Mark Duggan’s family and friends need to understand what happened on Thursday evening when Mark lost his life. To understand those facts, we must have calm.”
Protesters are believed to have gathered outside the police station at about 17:00 BST.
The force said the situation turned violent when two patrol cars parked about 200 metres away on Forster Road and High Road were attacked.
The spokesman said: “A number of bottles were thrown at these two cars – one was set alight and the second was pushed into the middle of the High Road. It was subsequently set slight.
“The officers were not in the vehicles and were unhurt.”
Vanessa Robinson said she had joined the original protest outside the police station and it had begun peacefully.
She said the situation had then turned into “absolute chaos”.
One person at the scene, who gave his name as Tim, said: “It’s an absolute war zone. I walked up there.
“I saw about five youths, all faces covered up. They set a wheelie bin on fire and threw it into the riot police.
Toughened glass
“The whole of the police station is surrounded by… about 100 police officers in riot gear and they threw a wheelie bin into it and then started throwing bricks, street signs, anything they could get their hands on, straight at them.”
Another resident, David Akinsanya, 46, said several shop windows had been smashed.
Writer and broadcaster, David Akinsanya, says anger towards police existed before Thursday’s shooting
He said: “There was a police line of about 15 riot police sort of in front of the police station on the north side and then there were loads of uniformed officers on the south side of the police station.
“They weren’t making any effort to go into the crowd. Every now and again they would rush the crowd and the crowd would run.
“But there seems to be a lot of anger in Tottenham tonight… as I left they were starting to attack the police station.”
The Independent Police Complaints Commission is investigating the shooting of Mr Duggan.
A police officer was also injured in the incident, which happened when police stopped a minicab containing Mr Duggan.
It is thought the officer, who was taken to hospital and later discharged, was shot first but this is not known for certain, an IPCC spokesman said.
IPCC Commissioner Rachel Cerfontyne said: “I understand the distress that the shooting of Mark Duggan has caused to his family and in the community and that people need answers about what happened to him.”
She said the IPCC was in close contact with Mr Duggan’s family, adding: “I have tonight spoken to community representatives and hope to meet with them and others as early as possible.”
Ms Cerfontyne said they were still gathering evidence and expected to release further details “as soon as we can”.
A spokesman for Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: “Violence and destruction of property will do nothing to facilitate [the IPCC] investigation and we urge those involved to respect the rule of law.”
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