England riots

Really? This much rioting because of a video game? Lmfao!

Unless someone has developed brainwashing technology and is testing it on London with "Grand Theft Auto" as the test product, they're far out of the ballpark.

this is akin to blaming the shootings in Sweden a month or so ago on MW2.

[video=youtube;RAtJ_30xz_w]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAtJ_30xz_w[/video]

Video showing the aggresiveness of the riots. Absolutely terrifying.

this is akin to blaming the shootings in Sweden a month or so ago on MW2.

Not even close. At least that guy specifically commented on using MW2 as a means of training. They just pulled this out of no where.


Note: I'm not suggesting that either is right but you're wrong in saying that.

That video just reminded me of how like zombies come out of nowhere and swarm you in some games. Quite sad though that those people actually got so violent.

they're about an hour from where i live now, setting fires in places where i have friends that live (or lived, presumably, houses and buildings being torched). this is awful.

the sad thing is, if the police start retaliating, people will become even more outraged.

weird though, we had small riots after the Steelers won the super bowl here in Pittsburgh and there were mounted police, and even smoke canisters everywhere, but you dont seem to see that here...

People who get that violent should be subdued. They're a danger to everything.

"Armed escort" is delightfully vague.

the sad thing is, if the police start retaliating, people will become even more outraged.

I don't know, theres a point where it becomes ok to retaliate with force, and I think this is way past that point. When they can do this

 Spoiler

to our police officers who don't seem to have any proper weapons to defend themselves with when they selflessly go out to try and protect innocents and their property from these thugs, I stop caring about them and just want them dealt with. If they called in the army to deal with them, I'd probably support the move.

weird though, we had small riots after the Steelers won the super bowl here in Pittsburgh and there were mounted police, and even smoke canisters everywhere, but you dont seem to see that here...

There have been mounted police, though theres no signs of water cannons, tear gas, or anything other than batons.

Where the hell are the sandbag guns at? Good god these rioters would think twice after they see some people get popped with those.

edit: Like this pomegranate lol.

[video=youtube;lqOEyjfBzIQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqOEyjfBzIQ&feature=related[/video]

'Protesters' my ass. These people are thieves looking to make a quick buck while the police are preoccupied.

I don't know, theres a point where it becomes ok to retaliate with force, and I think this is way past that point. When they can do this

 Spoiler

to our police officers who don't seem to have any proper weapons to defend themselves with when they selflessly go out to try and protect innocents and their property from these thugs, I stop caring about them and just want them dealt with. If they called in the army to deal with them, I'd probably support the move.

I actually agree with you, i think that the extent to which this has gone is far beyond a reasonable protest or even social upheaval. Once looting became the main objective, the whole thing lost its legitimacy as a display of public disapproval. However, I think society today isnt going to jive with too aggressive of a response. People find any reason they can to blame police and government for any and everything, whethere its merited or not. If the army comes in and someone gets killed or seriously injured, things will get worse. Basically, all im saying is that yes, these riots need to be quelled, and force is probably necessary, but if that force isnt calculated and restrained, the situation is only going to snowball.

Wait wait stop arguing about if rioting is okay or not and clarify for me the reason the riot started.

Article said police shot Mark Duggan = a black drug dealer with a gun. So they started a riot over something like that??? Am I missing something?

Wait wait stop arguing about if rioting is okay or not and clarify for me the reason the riot started.

Article said police shot Mark Duggan = a black drug dealer with a gun. So they started a riot over something like that??? Am I missing something?

Yeah thats pretty much what started it. Maybe that was a factor on the first night, now it's a non-issue. I'm very sure that none of the rioters care about Mark Duggan, and I bet most of them couldn't even name him.
And it looks like riots are starting again
Also: Bullet/ gun test results

The results show:

• The bullet lodged in the police radio is a "jacketed round". This is a police issue bullet and, while it is still subject to DNA analysis, it is consistent with having been fired from a Metropolitan police Heckler and Koch MP5 submachine gun.

• The firearm found at the scene was a converted BBM "Bruni" self-loading pistol. This is not a replica; the scientist considers it to be a firearm for the purposes of the Firearms Act and a prohibited weapon and is therefore illegal.

• The handgun was found to have a "bulleted cartridge" in the magazine, which is being subject to further tests.

• At this stage there is no evidence that the handgun found at the scene was fired during the incident. The FSS has told the IPCC that it may not be possible to say for certain; however further tests are being carried out in an attempt to establish this.

So he didn't manage to fire his own gun, but he was carrying a loaded gun, which as it says above is illegal in the uk, and the situation seemed to have escalted when they tried to arrest him. Fun fun fun...

My grandparents are stuck right in the middle of it in London :/

Apparently its starting in Manchester now too where i live, i'm not surprised since people in Manchester are idiots and riot all the time, except for the fact my mum has to go right into the center for an audition for a tv show next week. I'm a bit worried to be honest. People, families, businesses, everyone is suffering because of some damn violent yobs who are raging for no reason.

It sickens me to be born in the same generation as these people, honestly.

The basic summary of this phrase is "White Cops with Guns shot Black Gang Member with (illegal) gun, lets loot some flatscreens". There's no justification for this. And using violent video games is the same scapegoat that's been there for the past decade. I don't know why they don't use the other more questionable "poisons" out there in pop culture. Also, even if it did inspire this, does a handful of fucking idiots have to ruin it for all of us? I know the answer is inevitably "yes", but..

But seriously, this IS NOT a protest. This is blatant DESTRUCTION and ANARCHY. now if they peacefully just held signs and yelled at the police, then it would have been fine.

I'm not trying to undermine my stance here. This kind of violent "protest" and looting is horrendous. But what good is peaceful protesting going to do? We all know how viable that solution is. It isn't. Like Eolias was quoting: their peaceful protests would not have gotten any media coverage, and would have been largely pointless, because the media wouldn't have given them a second thought.

But some of the posters here are right, this might escalate into a lot more than looting.

Like Eolias was quoting: their peaceful protests would not have gotten any media coverage, and would have been largely pointless, because the media wouldn't have given them a second thought.

They shouldn't be protesting anyway, peaceful or otherwise. a bad man who did bad things was killed trying to do bad things to good people. Why protest over it? It's like when Raoul Moat went batshit and went and killed a load of people because he was "pushed to the edge" by his cheating girlfriend or something. People all over England were calling him a legend because he was able to outrun the police, and when he was killed, people were UPSET, started calling him a hero. It was completely sickening.

The sense of authority in this country is down the toilet. They all hate, abuse and protest against the police force, yet still get upset and demand help when they are in trouble. The police should just disappear for a while to teach them all a lesson when the country goes to hell >_>

They shouldn't be protesting anyway, peaceful or otherwise.

They have the rights to protest peacefully against the state, regardless of what we think about the case. This is not a protest, though.

Man every day I wake up sh'it is starting to get worse now.....this is looking like the 1992 LA race riots in some way or form.

Can't they just bring in the military and use strong-arm tatics to take everything out? =\