Shops in Birmingham attacked as UK riots spread (to the country's 2nd city)

[Turborama]

Source: Reuters

- Attackers smashed shop windows and stole property in Birmingham, north of London, police said on Monday, the first sign that riots that have gripped London in recent days have spread beyond Britain's capital.

"Several premises in the centre have been attacked with some shop windows smashed and property stolen in various locations," West Midlands police said in a statement. (

Read more: http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/shops-in-birmingham-attacked-as-uk-riots-spread

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Issues in Birmingham city centre

West Midlands Police are aware of some disorder in Birmingham city centre.

Several premises in the centre have been attacked with some shop windows smashed and property stolen in various locations.

ACC Sharon Rowe said: "We will not tolerate mindless violence and damage anywhere in the West Midlands and are working to ensure that the offenders are identified and caught as soon as possible.

"A policing operation is in place with extra officers in Birmingham to restore calm in the city centre, and protect local people and businesses...

Full article: http://www.west-midlands.police.uk/latest-news/press-release.asp?ID=2388

Photos: http://birminghamriots2011.tumblr.com/

[Bosonic]

1. Maybe Leeds now as well

Though only twitter for confirmation so far...

BBC initial reports that crowds & tension rising in #Chapletown #Leeds following a shooting earlier today! Any confirmation on that anyone?

A man has been taken to hospital after being shot in the face on a street in Leeds.

Police officers were sent to Saville Place in the Chapeltown area of the city on Monday evening.

A police spokesman said they had few details of the incident but BBC television reporters at the scene said there was a crowd of up to 100 at the scene and some were masked.

A police spokesman confirmed one man had suffered gunshot injuries.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-14449656

[Stella_Artois]

2. All is calm in Chapletown

Twitter is saying all is calm in Chapletown, Leeds.

[T_i_B]

3. Not the best area of Leeds to begin with

Doesn't help that things are tense with what's going on elsewhere. I am quite worried that this fucknuttery will spread to the Northern cities. :-(

[Bosonic]

6. seems like it was a false positive

[Turborama]

7. Copycats in Bristol and Liverpool now

Bristol: http://www.bristol247.com/2011/08/09/riot-in-bristol-masked-youths-bring-violence-to-st-pauls-76377/

Liverpool: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2011/08/09/liverpool-riots-ben-rossington-s-report-as-city-streets-descend-into-chaos-100252-29203083/

[14thColony]

4. Spreading to Clapham Junction now.

Lavender Hill, where my gf still has a flat. So far so good 'round Hampstead NW3.

[lebkuchen]

5. If visiting in England, perhaps hunker down in Kent until it dies down

There's a lot to keep one occupied, and it doesn't include gawking and rubber necking.

[dipsydoodle]

27. Maybe not such a good idea

Cars set alight during disturbances in Medway towns.

Cars were damaged and set alight during disturbances involving youths in the Medway towns area of Kent.

Kent Police said the first incident took place at 20:30 BST when there were confrontations between youths and officers in Gillingham High Street.

Firefighters were called to three car fires in New Street, Maidstone Road and Eldon Street in Chatham between 00:55 BST and 01:30 BST on Tuesday.

Ten people have been arrested in connection with the disturbances.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-14455844

[stockholmer]

8. UK riots (live and spreading to Liverpool, Birmingham, Manchester, etc etc)

Source: BBC Live Stream

Further violence has broken out between police and groups of young people in Hackney

Fires and violence have also broken out in Lewisham, Peckham, Ealing, Bow, Tower Hamlets, Croydon, Clapham Junction, and many more

Shop windows have been smashed and looting has also taken place in Birmingham, Liverpool

Home Secretary Theresa May has condemned the riots as "sheer criminality"

Acting Met Police Commissioner Tim Godwin has said the force will be publishing photos and CCTV footage of those involved


Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14449675

---

[fascisthunter]

9. what a tragedy

unrest is bubbling up to the surface globally.

[Ruby the Liberal]

10. Er, RIM is turning Blackberry phone/text records over to The Met

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/aug/08/london-riots-blackberry-messenger-looting

Not so sure about this one. I know they are having a horrific time keeping these people from destroying their own town (hint: the people they are angry at don't live there) but this voluntary move from RIM is a little disconcerting.

Shades of the Green Revolution in Iran 2009.

[Skip Intro]

15. Ok by me. From what I've read, what's going on in the UK has far less to do with revolution than

mindless criminality. I'm not in a rush to paint street gangs as conscientious revolutionaries.

[theHandpuppet]

31. +1

Totally agree.

[Ruby the Liberal]

20. Edit - wrong spot

[roamer65]

11. I now think that Gerald Celente was right.

He has been predicting riots as discontent brews.

[butterfly77]

12. Austerity Anyone ???

[Bosonic]

13. It's getting awfully "28 days later"

Let's hope it rains heavily soon...

[Blue_Tires]

14. wow...spreading like wildfire...

I could at least understand and relate to the first incident in Tottenham, but I'm beginning to wonder if a growing number of rioters are in this more for "Let's break, steal and burn stuff" reasons rather than political/societal outrage

Someone can correct me if I'm off target here...

[Skip Intro]

16. I think you're right on target.

[Blue_Tires]

17. I was reminded in part by the Vancouver riot

A lot of the lazy sports media just said the city and fans were angry about the loss and left it at that...But it was easy to see from the start that some well-placed knuckleheads had planned to tear up the city win or lose, and once the ball got rolling, enough bystanders would join them...

[indurancevile]

33. "some well-placed knuckleheads" = indeed.

[harmonicon]

18. You're correct.

That's all it really was from the beginning, but I don't see how that's altogether different from political outrage; though no reason would make such behaviour excusable. Guy Debord wrote a great essay about the Wats Riots concerning the relationship between political/economic discontent and how this could be manifest in people destroying their own neighbourhoods.

[14thColony]

34. That's exactly what it is

As one caller on BBC Radio 2 today said "I doubt 99 in 100 even know who Mark Duggan is."

[CanonRay]

19. I think the Police have lost credibility due to the Murdoch scandal

and that is not helping

[dipsydoodle]

28. Unassociated issue

.

[Arugula Latte]

21. Panic on the streets of London

Panic on the streets of Birmingham

:(

[distantearlywarning]

23. I wonder to myself...

Could life ever be sane again? :scared:

[bread_and_roses]

22. I see the predictalble support for the "just thugs" view are having a field day...

I guess unemployment and hopelessness could have nothing to do with it? Racism? "Austerity" for the low-wage, luxury for the Banksters and rich? That people are not always expounding on "social injustice" or not articulate on it hardly means it has no effect on them.

Here's another view: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/aug/08/tottenham-riots-not-unexpected

If the rioting was a surprise, people weren't looking
Yes, indefensible – but not unexpected. Clear signs of deep problems in our youth were ignored as being a black problem

Why, 10 years after the Macpherson inquiry reported on institutional racism in the Met, should it still occur? ... however I would like to provide an insight into the mindset of someone willing to burn down their own neighbourhood as I believe that on this point, little has changed since the disturbances on Broadwater Farm 26 years ago.

To behave in this manner young people have to believe they have no stake in the neighbourhood, and consequently no stake in wider society. This belief is compounded when it becomes a reality over generations, as it has done for some. If the riots at the weekend and the disturbances around London today have come as a surprise to the police and that wider society, the warning signs have long been there for those of us who engage with black youths.

First, looting comes from the belief that if you cannot get equality and cannot expect justice, then you better make sure that you "get paid". "It's all about the money!" is the motto of too many young black men, who have given up all hope of attainment in a white man's world. This is an absolute belief for those looting at the weekend – borne not only out of their experiences but their parents', too. They want to follow the rappers and athletes who live ghetto-fabulous lifestyles based on natural talents, as opposed to learned skills. They can't see that coming through education: those who live on estates generally survive from one wage packet to the next. Sadly this mindset also makes it easier to legitimise the selling of drugs, as that too "brings in the money".

[Blue_Tires]

26. In the long run, they are still making things much worse in the name of short-term gain...

When it's all over, I just want these self-styled crusaders against social injustice to explain how they thought torching the businesses of their friends and neighbors would actually improve things...They'll probably still be cleaning up this mess when Opening Ceremonies start, and by then the few hundred pounds they cleared from selling the loot will be long gone...

[bread_and_roses]

36. You missed my point entirely

and I would suggest looking at the real values being acted out in official policy in GB as well as in the US while you're condemning the rioters and looters. They are not exactly what one would call "Christian" or humane, and they support plenty of violence and looting, if not openly in the streets. And I don't see anyone over there much calling for justice and punishment that violence and looting.

I did not suggest the youth "self-styled" themselves as "crusaders for Social Justice" nor that they are crusaders for social justice - in any sense. Nor did I exculpate their violence.

I said quite clearly that social injustice has an effect on its victims. If you want to dispute that, be my guest

I will add that to expect those most victimized and marginalized and oppressed by social injustice to always sit quietly in line for more or ask pretty please give me a crumb someone has always struck me as one of the more ludicrous hallmarks of the bourgeoisie's complacent enabling of the violence and exploitation of our Plutocrat Overlords.

[Nihil]

29. I see the predictable support for the "aw, bless 'em" view are here too ...

Anyone who thinks that the last few days (i.e., after the Tottenham event)
have anything to do with "social injustice" or "banksters" is either living
in some kind of wannabe idealistic ignorance (most likely) or simply a moron.

Greed. 100% greed.

This is the extent of the "issues" that are driving the current wave of
blatant theft and wanton vandalism.

[bread_and_roses]

37. And you too missed the point entirely

So I will say the same to you:

I would suggest looking at the real values being acted out in official policy in GB as well as in the US while you're condemning the rioters and looters. They are not exactly what one would call "Christian" or humane, and they support plenty of violence and looting, if not openly in the streets. And I don't see anyone over there much calling for justice and punishment that violence and looting.

I did not suggest the youth "self-styled" themselves as "crusaders for Social Justice" nor that they are crusaders for social justice - in any sense. Nor did I exculpate their violence.

I said quite clearly that social injustice has an effect on its victims. If you want to dispute that, be my guest

I will add that to expect those most victimized and marginalized and oppressed by social injustice to always sit quietly in line for more or ask pretty please give me a crumb someone has always struck me as one of the more ludicrous hallmarks of the bourgeoisie's complacent enabling of the violence and exploitation of our Plutocrat Overlords.

[Stella_Artois]

38. Yes here is another brave social warrior striking a blow against the banksters

[bread_and_roses]

39. And you sound as boilerplate as the talking head in this video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzDQCT0AJcw&NR=1

Who immediately jumps from "not shocked" to "approve." Making an effort to understand social dynamics is not "approving" violence.

I wonder that so many on this board are willing to echo the mainstream very obviously deliberate insistence that these events have NO basis in anything but thuggery.

Sure, the individual actors may be "thugs." And no, I do not "condone" violence. But yes, there are larger social forces at work, and it is very much in the interest of the powers that be to utterly marginalize *any attempts to expose* those larger forces.

You want to be a party to that, be my guest.

*edit for clarity

[Stella_Artois]

43. More social dynamics

Poor dear, she had nothing, so has no choice but to lash out for attention, to put right the social injustices in her area

[Nihil]

44. Oh noes! Have you no heart? No sympathy to spare for this "crusader for social justice"?

:rofl:

[Turborama]

45. What's that beer she's drinking?

Looks a bit like your namesake.

If so, it's a really unfortunate coincidence.

[Stella_Artois]

46. It certainly is

It is reassuringly expensive after all. Poor downtrodden lamb that she is.

[AnnieBW]

24. I have a friend on the way to England

He's in the air right now. Probably overnighting (over-daying?) in London, then heading out to Cornwall. I hope he's okay!

Shit, I'm re-thinking that trip to England next spring.

[harmonicon]

25. You've got to be kidding?

It's still an incredibly safe place. 8 people were shot to death in Ohio yesterday, and I'm sure they aren't the only ones in the US killed that day by guns. All the same, I'm pretty sure the US is a safe place to visit.

[rayofreason]

41. The US murder rate...

...is 4 times the UK murder rate, but the rate of violent crime in the UK is larger than that in the US.

In both countries the overall crime rates as well as the homicide rate have fallen over the past decade.

[AnneD]

30. Better to have unorganized rioting.....

And call them riff raff, than organized resistance. This will give them excuses to crack down on the organized resistance as a preemptive measure, thus squashing the real threat to the status quo.

And what is this crap about reconsidering a trip. Now Iraq and Afghanistan I can understand, but England....honestly. What a group of cowards. Has our government and media got you so brow beaten that you are afraid of your own shadow or is this just fake concern.

I have experience going into risky areas. You use common sense and know your surroundings. Many areas here are far more dangerous and media skews our perception of actual risk.

[socialshockwave]

32. Generally not in favor of using tear gas or live ammunition...

but these people are out of control. They're mindless looters, arsonists and - if they aren't stopped - they could kill people.

[T_i_B]

35. The measure I hear people mention most often...

...as preferred ways of dealing with this are curfews and water cannons. It has to be said that these riots are bringing out the Daily Mail reader in most people, which is actually understandable given the pure criminal nature of the riots.

[joshcryer]

40. Proportion. Unarmed protesters should not be shot even if they're holding a lighter, etc.

[postatomic]

42. That seems a bit reactionary

Same 'mindset'. Kettle meet Kathy.

It would make things much worst if your suggestion was implemented.