[Osem]

These events have little to do with the shooting, racist oppression, the legacy of slavery, government cuts or any of the other well worn excuses. They have everything to do with a large mob of lowlife **** taking advantage of a situation for their own nefarious aims. In so doing they showed themselves to have no interest in the lives/wellbeing of the 'community', Mr Duggan, the protest or even (in the case of those who live in the area) their own environment. They looted, set fire to shops/homes and attacked entirely innocent people like the driver of that bus and the fire crews being sent to the scene. I also heard first hand reports of a local shopping area overrun by a mob who were openly ransacking shops and threatening anyone taking pictures or using their phones. The police truly are damned if the do and damned if they don't. They act too soon and they're blamed, they act too late and they're blamed. They respond too harshly and they're wrong and they act too softly and they're wrong. This time the police are being blamed for not intervening swiftly enough with the result that matters got out of hand but how much of that decision was due to previous criticism when they have intervened promptly/forcefully to snuff out trouble and were then accused of overreacting to things that didn't happen. I dare say if people have died in the resulting fires the police will be blamed for that too! The only people to blame were the thugs and the mob!

I think we're on a seriously rocky road when it's common knowledge that our police are so tactically and politically hamstrung that you can freely mask yourself up, have yoursleves a nice little riot and walk away with a trolley load of looted goods as a bonus. This **** showed they have no respect for law and order, no fear of the police or authority in general and not one iota of care for their own 'communities'. Unless the excuses stop and the police's tactics change we can expect more of this sort of thing.