After hearing about the horrible riots that are occuring across the pond in my #1 favorite country of all time, I thought of my British friends here. Any British WFer here that have been affected by the riots? Know friends/family that have been affected? If so, please share.
Me There's been some near my area and it's really starting to make me angry. Why do people think this is cool and think they are achieving things?
Yeh i'm going back to London next week....not looking forward to it :S I'd much rather stay in Germany a few more days >< Is it really as bad as everyone says? London burning etc?
It's worse, it's spreading. One man shot in London, three-four areas of London lost to Rioters tonight, the police will take it back in the daytime but more than likely it'll happen again tommorrow night. Its spread to Birmingham, Liverpool, Bristol and Manchester apparently. Alot of buildings and cars on fire, one huge warehouse in Enfield (London) ablaze, Police have no hold over it. Some good reports coming out though. Turkish families protecting buidlings in Stoke with baseball bats and Muslim communities in London protecting streets near their families. Do NOT come to London at this moment, not until this has been sorted.
Yay....i'm back next Wednesday...hope it will be better then...I wander what it's like in Heathrow :S Also I study in Nottingham and can imagine it being bad there to. All of this reminds me of the UK movie Shank....its exactly like that lol!
If this carries on, I expect Heathrow will be closed. Nottingham it hasn't spread to, i'm in Derby and we're ok currently here. Don't know how things are going to progress yet though, could all die down tommorrow or it could flare up even worse and in even more places. Just keep watching the news.
I'm over here across the pond in America and practically live off the grid -- well without TV, anyway but with internet. I haven't been listening to news lately at all, work etc. What was the cause of all the rioting? I haven't heard one thing...At all...Hope whoever is near the riots is okay...
Yeh I am. I wanna hear it from a UK viewpoint though...not a German. I really hope Heathrow is not closed next week. Still wanna go to V festival lol! It would really suck if it were to spread to Nottingham and Derby...most of my friends live there
A 29 year old bloke was shot and killed last thursday (I think) after an alledged shoot-out with police. His family claimed he didn't have a gun or fire at the officer, and a large band of family/friends went to protest. Out of this big group of protesters, a fair few became rowdy and a small skirmish happened. Police were heavy handed with a 16 year old girl, and that enraged even more of them. Then it just kicked off into something bigger than all of that, it stopped being a protest gone bad and just turned into a riot. People are being attacked, everything is being set on fire, it's like something from a film. It's spreading now, looting and fighting kicking off in other parts of England. Us in Derby and Notts should be ok for now Daydream, or atleast I hope so. I'll be in Derby city centre tommorrow night as there's a football match on, if it spreads to our area in the next 24 hours alot of us are going to be in the middle of it. Hope it doesn't come to that.
I live in the boonies here in the States and don't have access to T.V. so can't follow this that well, so I have a question for y'all over there. I read some articles on these riots, and the rioters are always called "youths" However I remember during the 2005 riots in France that youths was a politically correct euphemism for non-european immigrant/muslims/non-whites. This is a bit of a callous question but is there a clear ethnic aspect to these riots that isn't really being told? Or is this actually just a bunch of young people running around and causing havoc?
In English, Youth means youngster. That could be anything from 11 year olds to 19 year olds, but it's not a racial thing no. I think the word youth in French must have different connotations.
Not directly. I have a couple of friends who were. It seems quiet where I work, and trains were running ok this morning to and from London. It amazes me again just how difficult it is to do anything against that 'mob mentality'. It's almost too easy for them.
No, not directly affected anyway. A few of my friends have had to change plans because of it. But the thing that is really worrying me is that it's spreading. I don't want to see my city go the same way. The PM will be making a speech related to the riots soon.
I'm worried about it spreading further too. I'm in Kent (under London) and I really don't want it to move here. Apart from London, it's already spread to Bristol, Liverpool, Birmingham and Nottingham. I think the main big cities are the most at risk though. Also, what's even more worrying is that the police can't even stop it. They are trying to, and I commend anyone trying to, but it just seems out of control. A protest, a fairly peaceful one from what I know, about that man who was shot has just spurred into rioting. I hope it soon gets under control, and that it doesn't last much longer. I don't want more people nor their businesses/homes hurt. Keep safe, everyone.
The main problem is social networking sites. Like Facebook and Twitter. I see people acting in rash, immature ways too. My friend has said some posts have said Police should use lethal force against the rioters. In this there is a great danger in missing the underlying problems, clearly there because it's spreading.
Guh, I'm stuck in North London at the moment... Which is silly because I don't even live here. We're holed up in a house at the moment. Don't have tickets to go home until the weekend. The street we're staying near (Turnpike Lane or thereabouts) has dozens of shops now with boards over the windows, and one of the bus stops was roped off. We came home early and just sat inside listening to sirens rushing past and listening to news reports. Hate how it's spreading.
I know. Except one person, none of the people on my friends list have said anything like that thankfully. Everyone I know is supporting the police, and getting angry about how some people are being racist and saying to use more lethal force. And they're questioning why this is happening too.
Just seen Parliament is to be recalled. I can't believe it's taken three days of rioting to get the government to do anything. It's embarrassing. Whatever happened with the shooting of Mark Duggan and the immediate aftermath, the police and emergency services have performed admirably despite being over-stretched. Hopefully this will demonstrate just how dangerous police cuts are. I'm going to be travelling home, across London today. My heart nearly stopped when I saw that it had reached Ealing (where I change trains). I think I'm gonna go a bit earlier, before it can kick off again.
I don't think it's 'Embarrassing'. That's maybe too strong a word. There are a lot of riots every year, though not on the scale of the original riot a few days ago. It's becoming a national crisis anyhow. It's the perfect time for Parliament to be recalled.
