London's Burning

[bluebrit]

All of the looters should be arrested and from the number of photos taken it shouldn't be too hard to track them down. They should then be marched to the places they destroyed and publicly flogged. Then they should be prosecuted to the max and made to pay for everything destroyed and stolen no matter how long it takes them. Maybe then people would think twice about trashing the cities they live in and destroying other peoples lives with stupid acts of violence and theft. I would also go so far as to make sure that anyone arrested who was an immigrant still awaiting permission to live in the country permanently, be put on a plane back to where they came from. Its long overdue that someone stood up for the honest man in the streets and said enough is enough.

[Bill]

I am still wondering what the folks doing the rioting and looting were thinking, what kinds of stories they were telling themseves in their heads.

Lore is, england is the most highly surveiled country in the world - did they not know they would be on cameras and likely be tracked down afterwards?

I saw some photos of a boy setting a store on fire, then standing there, face in full view, watching it burn.

What was the culture that made this seem like a good idea? If it was just dumbness, what does that say about the society that produced such dumb people?

The lenient on minors thing explains some of it - but why would kids decide to rampage? (I've watched a few vids, about a 16 year old girl the cops beat up, with commentary suggesting the rapid passing along of that video was a spark. But what poured on the gasoline that the spark ignited?)

I"m still waiting for followup articles that try to explain all this.

[ecchi]

Originally Posted by Bill

I am still wondering what the folks doing the rioting and looting were thinking, what kinds of stories they were telling themseves in their heads.

During the riots, one radio station interviewed a few kids as they ran off and asked them that question. The replies I can remember were "It's a laugh", "I got a couple of free things", "I want to do this every night" and, probably the most telling reply "We are telling the police that we can do what we want, and they can't stop us".

Originally Posted by Bill

did they not know they would be on cameras and likely be tracked down afterwards?

In answer to this question, one typical reply was "What are they going to do about it? It is my first offence. They will give me an ASBO or community service" (an ASBO is little more than being told not to do it again, and it being publicly recorded that you were warned).