Exclusive: Teen Gang Reveals (London) Looting Spree

Source: Sky News

5:19am UK, Friday August 12, 2011
Tom Parmenter, Sky News correspondent

Four teenagers who looted in neighbourhoods across London have told Sky News it was like a 'shopping spree'.

Speaking on condition of anonymity the group admitted that they stole iPads, Blackberry tablets, games consoles, laptops, clothes, trainers and even nappies and clothes for their children.

They claim that they used a transit van to move between different boroughs and grabbed so many different items that the van was filled several times and emptied between their sprees.

=snip=

One 16-year-old said: "Everything we wanted we could get. I couldn't believe the van could hold so much stuff."

Read more: http://news.sky.com/home/uk-news/article/16048584

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Video of the interview at the link. One of the dumbass looters tells the interviewer exactly which store he was refused a job at and stole from in revenge, no doubt the police are currently investigating all the job applications that store has received.

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These were just thugs driving round and robbing stores. They've got the CCTV footage of them, via that famous seven-thousand-camera system they've had in place for eons... I'm betting they'll round up more than a few, and get those to rat out even more.

About the only thing this event had to do with the "Middle East" is that some of those bastards might have stopped in and had a falafel takeaway after a night of looting.

I can't understand the attitude of people who think this is "ok." It's not cool, it's theft by violent means. I feel sorry for the shop owners; they're not operating on huge profit margins, and this is devastating to them.

Liberating iPads and Blackberries from their oppressive owners is the new in thing.

overly simplistic thinking.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1716444

"Morons, Riots, and Amnesia"

- snip -

It was no surprise to me or my friends, but a huge shock to most of the UK, isolated from the black inner city, when the Brixton riot erupted in April 1981. Brixton had been subjected to "Operation Swamp", during which the number of stop-and-searches rocketed. Ostensibly this was an attack on crime; in reality it was the invasion of Brixton by a racist, violent gang. Of the many stories circulating at the time, a minor one stays with me for some reason: during a raid on a black house, the police smashed a guitar and a TV set, claiming they were looking for drugs inside. The people of Brixton (and other black areas around the country) were being deliberately wound up into a rage, which became all the more consuming for lack of any means of dealing with it. There were few black or Asian people in the police force or media, and even the most well-meaning news outlets had no idea what was going on. When Brixton exploded, so did other areas of London, Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool and other cities. A few blocks of Brixton became a police-free zone for three days, defended at "the front line" on Railton Road. At the front line, people defended the area. Inside was a carnival, celebrating freedom - a police state had been temporarily liberated. Some of my older friends travelled to Brixton to witness or join the festival. People of all races partied and battled the police together; despite propaganda at the time, this was no race riot - it was a community uniting against the police. Yes, there was mindless looting and burning, despite the efforts of older community leaders. Once all respect for law and order has collapsed, this can only be inevitable.

- snip -

Then came 9/11. One of the many after-effects of those attacks (although Britain at that stage had never been under threat) was a massive increase in stop-and-search against young men, primarily black and Asian (though affecting whites as well). Within months, the friendly new face of the police had morphed back into something resembling that of the 1980s. I noticed an increase in sirens - and since there was no terrorist threat until after the Iraq invasion, I wondered what all those police were doing with their new-found anti-terrorist powers. The answer: they were stopping and searching hundreds of thousands of young men. In all this time, not a single terrorist suspect has been caught using stop and search. But the result has been an increased hatred for the police among young Londoners. Stop and search is often accompanied with verbal abuse and heavy-handed treatment. The old, violent SPG was dissolved in the 80s, but its successor, the Territorial Support Group (TSG) was becoming known for the same tactics.

- snip -

And then last Thursday, Mark Duggan was shot dead. The Metropolitan Police immediately reported that there had been an "exchange of fire". Yesterday, this was revealed to be untrue - not for the first time, the police had leaked a false story, only to have it overturned days later. Only two shots had been fired, both by police officers. On Saturday, a peaceful protest march was held; peaceful, that is, until a 16 year old girl who confronted police was attacked with batons and riot shields. That was the trigger for everything that followed.

- snip -

For those that point out the shooting of Duggan or the attack on the girl are no excuse for the destruction that followed: please stop stating the obvious. Everybody realises this, especially the people who live in those areas. The vandals, looters and muggers must be caught and face justice - that goes without saying. But Londoners also know the rage that exists against the police, on a huge scale. It's inevitable that mindless morons will take advantage of chaos and begin looting and burning. It happens whenever a riot starts, for whatever reason. It's a symptom of the situation, not a cause.

Watch it and you will see for yourself that they openly admitted they are just opportunistic thieves. "Christmas came early!"

As the poster I was replying to said, I can't believe some people defend these actions.

Oh, and no one should accept what some random English blogger says is the gospel truth.

So were most of the people at the LA riots. Listened to interview of a Black British guy tonight who was arrested, pushed to the ground and searched (they found nothing), taking his phone in the process. He was simply photographing a police action. The British police have even more powers of search and arrest than police do in the U.S. (there is no Bill of Rights there: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14426001).

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/apr/14/kettling-g20-protesters-police-illegal

Kettling of G20 protesters by police was illegal, high court rules
Aggressive tactics used by Met against Climate Camp activists in 2009 were unlawful, says judgment
Follow live coverage of the Ian Tomlinson G20 death inquest

...interviewed in the OP.

FWIW I know a lot about the societal problems and police tactics in England as I have previously lived there (East,West & Central London amongst other areas) for several years and have been on a few peaceful demonstrations.

The context creates the "opportunities" for the looters.

I was mainly responding to the commenters, a couple of the comments no longer with us, not the video itself. I have been to London several times and been in on a few peaceful demonstrations. The fact that I would very like to use a tire knocker and go upside the head of some of these guys if I saw them in the act or they were attacking my or my neighbors shop front does in no way mean that David Cameron's rhetoric and analysis of the situation is not utterly useless.

...kettling in response to my reply to post #1 is extrapolating what I was saying, not the other posters above.

The topics above are only tangentially related to the looting in the OP, IOW openly stealing from shops on an industrial scale. And now you mention David Cameron's rhetoric and analysis which is the first time anyone in this thread (including the looters in the OP) has brought it up. Yes, you were/are extrapolating.

And BTW, here's where the blog post you are promoting is fatally flawed when they say:

"It's inevitable that mindless morons will take advantage of chaos and begin looting and burning"

The looting and the burning burning down people's homes/businesses/cars *is* the chaos.

I watched it all live via satellite TV and the fighting with the police (which could also be called "chaos") was happening when they came to stop them from looting and burning down people's homes/businesses/cars.

I just checked my email and it turns out that literally as I was replying to you my brother had emailed me this photo called "Is Nowhere Safe?"...

:rofl:

Sort of pic which will come up at the end of Have I Got News For You in the near future I'm guessing.

:hi:

...

cords along with the electronics!!!!

There's just no justifying it. It's aggravated burglary. I'm amazed that anyone can justify it!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1716444

For those that point out the shooting of Duggan or the attack on the girl are no excuse for the destruction that followed: please stop stating the obvious. Everybody realises this, especially the people who live in those areas. The vandals, looters and muggers must be caught and face justice - that goes without saying. But Londoners also know the rage that exists against the police, on a huge scale. It's inevitable that mindless morons will take advantage of chaos and begin looting and burning. It happens whenever a riot starts, for whatever reason. It's a symptom of the situation, not a cause.

More than likely his mum was 16 when she had him...and has always lived off benefits. This is an example of bad parenting, among other things.

So let them eat it!

Violence never solved any problems. The nonviolent Gandhi and MLK did cause great social change. These children obviously slept during history class and must have flunked throughout school.

P.S. Thanks for all the great threads you start.

Since I never seem to be able to get a thread started before someone beats me to it, I've kind of given up on trying. All the more reason that I appreciate posters like you and kpete so much.

I probably spend about 99% of my DU time in LBN. Posters like you two make LNB a great forum.

telling me what to think.

to where they made any mention of the protest with respect to which you claim they are acting as spokesmen.

someone trying his or her darndest to influence thought implicitly?

Who else would I ask about that?

They thanked someone for telling them what to think.

I asked them who they were accusing of telling them what to think.

I'm still waiting for an answer from them to clarify what they meant by what they said.

What's it got to do with you anyway?

If one in four times that you go shopping in your local town, you get in the neck from various 'officials', security guards, trainee police, etc., do you have the right to take revenge ?

...another attempt to distract from the underlying issue here. Attack the kids and therefore the issue is ignored. Very predictable.

There is NOTHING so far to suggest that they are on the fringe.
The bastards who were smashing windows and stealing the contents
were the MAJORITY of the "rioters", not a few "innocent kids" being
"attacked" by the victims.

"Attack the kids"? Pathetic.

We are DEFENDING the kids - including MY kids of a similar age - by pointing out
that it was just a bunch of selfish greedy fuckers who decided to go on a looting
rampage rather than stopping and thinking for ten seconds.

Very predictable indeed.