Violence, reminiscent of the 1980s race riots, engulfed a predominantly Afro-Caribbean neighbourhood in north London late on Saturday and early Sunday leaving many injured as a peaceful protest over the death of a local man in police shooting earlier in the week turned ugly.
For several hours, Tottenham High Road witnessed widespread arson, attacks on businesses and looting as angry protesters set fire to vehicles, including a double-decker bus and police cars; hurled petrol bombs at shops; and threw missiles at police officers. Shops were looted with people seen coming out carrying goods.
A number of families were forced to flee after their homes were attacked. Some were set on fire.
“I am now homeless and I don't know where to go,'' said one man pointing to his wrecked house while one woman said that she had “lost everything I owned''.
There were claims that “thugs'' from outside the area were behind the violence.
Police were criticised for their handling of the situation allowing small skirmishes to turn into a full-blown riot in one of London's poorest areas with a history of racial tension and poor community-police relations. It was the worst outbreak of violence in Tottenham since the race riots of 1985.
Hours after the violence, the area was still littered with stones, broken glass and burnt vehicles as police and local leaders called for calm.
Local MP, Labour's David Lammy, said: “A community that was already hurting has now had the heart ripped out of it.”
The man whose death sparked the violence was identified as Mark Duggan (29), a father of four. The exact circumstances in which he was shot were still not known except that he was travelling in a minicab which police intercepted to arrest him as part of what was described as “a pre-planned operation''. Police claimed a shot was fired from inside the cab injuring one officer.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission, investigating the incident, said: “Shots were fired and a 29-year-old man, who was a passenger in the cab, died at the scene.''
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article2333102.ece
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