Surrender! Powerless police let the mob seize the streets, looting shops and starting fires in their wake
(Daily Mail) — Left-wing politicians have cynically sought to make political capital out of the riots, blaming government cuts for the orgy of violence.  Labour MPs and activists lined up to make excuses for the thugs, spouting claims that disadvantaged youth had no option but to smash up high streets.   Chris Williamson, Labour MP for Derby North, suggested the Government’s austerity drive was to blame.
On Twitter, he said: ‘The Tories are back alright. Why is it the Tories never take responsibility for the consequences of their party’s disastrous policies. #tottenham’
Minutes earlier he had endorsed the comment of another Twitter user who said: ‘Riots. Protests. Cuts. Unemployment. Disaffected Youth. Strikes. Recession. Police Brutality.’
Swift to jump on the bandwagon was Lee Jasper, a former adviser on policing to Ken Livingstone when he was Mayor of London.
He blamed the ‘economic violence’ of the government for the riots and expressed no sympathy for businesses that were smashed up.  He claimed some were attacked because they do not help create projects for under-privileged youths and was quoted as asking: ‘When did Curry’s build a school?’ (read more)

And the chaos is spreading……

LONDON    — A wave of violence and looting raged across London and spread to  three other major British cities on Tuesday, as authorities struggled to contain  the country’s worst unrest since race riots set the capital ablaze in the  1980s.
In London, groups of young people rampaged for a third straight night,  setting buildings, vehicles and garbage dumps alight, looting stores and pelting  police officers with bottles and fireworks. The spreading disorder was an  unwelcome view of London’s volatility for leaders organizing the 2012 Summer  Olympics in less than a year.
Police called in hundreds of reinforcements — and made a rare decision to  deploy armored vehicles in some of the worst-hit districts — but still struggled  to keep pace with the chaos unfolding at flashpoints across London, in the  central city of Birmingham, the western city of Bristol and the northwestern  city of Liverpool.

The riots appeared to have little unifying cause — though some involved in  the violence claimed to oppose sharp government spending cuts, which will slash  welfare payments and cut tens of thousands of public sector jobs through  2015.
Others appeared attracted simply by the opportunity for violence. “Come join  the fun,” shouted one youth, racing along a street in the east London suburb of  Hackney, where shops were attacked and cars torched.
Prime Minister David Cameron reversed an earlier decision and cut short his  summer vacation in Italy, heading home for a meeting of the national crisis  committee on Tuesday morning.
The crisis will be a major test of Cameron’s coalition government, which  includes members who had long suspected its program of tough budget restraints  could provoke popular dissent.
Cameron was expected to seek to toughen the response in meetings with  ministers and police chiefs on Tuesday. Some communities complain that stretched  police were simply unable to reach some of the fast-spreading unrest.

Rioters were left virtually unchallenged in several neighborhoods and able to  plunder from stores at will or attempt to invade homes. Restaurants and stores  closed early across London, fearful of looting.
Disorder flared throughout the night, from gritty suburbs along the capital’s  fringes to central London’s famously posh Notting Hill neighborhood. London’s  Ambulance Service said it had treated 16 patients, of whom 15 were hospitalized.  Police said 334 people had been arrested and 69 people charged with  offenses.


Three people were arrested on suspicion of the attempted murder of a police  officer left hospitalized after he was struck by a car in the early hours of  Tuesday. The officer, who is in a stable condition, had stopped a number of cars  in Brent, north London, following looting at a nearby electrical store.
Police said one car drove away, striking the officer and a colleague, who  suffered minor injuries. The vehicle was later stopped again and three people  arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.
Violence first broke out late Saturday in the low-income, multiethnic  district of Tottenham in north London, where outraged protesters demonstrated  against the fatal police shooting of Mark Duggan, a 29-year-old father of four  who was gunned down in disputed circumstances Thursday.
A brief inquest hearing into Duggan’s death will take Tuesday, though it will  likely be several months before a full hearing is convened.
Duggan’s death stirred old animosities and racial tensions similar to those  that prompted massive riots in the 1980s, despite efforts by London police to  build better relations with the city’s ethnic communities after high-profile  cases of racism in recent decades.
But, as the unrest spread, some pointed to rising social tensions in Britain  as the government slashes 80 billion pounds ($130 billion) from public spending  by 2015 to reduce the huge deficit, swollen after the country spent billions  bailing out its foundering banks.
In the south London district of Croydon, police said a 26-year-old man was  shot and seriously injured Monday but were unable to say immediately whether the  incident was linked to rioting there.
A massive blaze ravaged a 100-year-old family run furniture store in Croydon  and sent thick plumes of smoke into the air, forcing nearby homes to be  evacuated. In the Clapham Junction area of south London, a mob stole masks from  a fancy dress store to disguise their identities and then set the building on  fire.

Sony Corp. said a major blaze had broken out at its distribution center near  Enfield, north London, damaging stocks of DVDs and other products. So many fires  were being fought in the capital that Thames Water, which supplies most of  London, warned that some of its customers could see their water pressure  drop.
Dozens of people attacked shops in Birmingham’s main retail district, and  clashed with police in Liverpool and Bristol — spreading the chaos beyond London  for the first time.
In Hackney, hundreds of youths left a trail of burning trash and shattered  glass. Looters ransacked a small convenience store, filling plastic shopping  bags with alcohol, cigarettes, candy and toilet paper.
“This is the uprising of the working class. We’re redistributing the wealth,”  said Bryn Phillips, a 28-year-old self-described anarchist, as young people  emerged from the store with chocolate bars and ice cream cones.
Phillips claimed rioters were motivated by distrust of the police, and drew a  link between the rage on London’s street and insurgent right-wing politics in  the United States. “In America you have the tea party, in England you’ve got  this,” he said.
Police acknowledged Tuesday that major new bouts of violence had flared in at  least five locations, badly stretching their resources.
“The violence we have seen is simply inexcusable. Ordinary people have had  their lives turned upside down by this mindless thuggery,” police commander  Christine Jones said.

Though the unrest escalated through Sunday as disorder spread among  neighboring areas, the crisis worsened Monday — with violence touching areas in  the east and south of London previously untroubled by the chaos.
Some residents called for police to deploy water cannons to disperse rioters,  or call on the military for support and questioned the strength of leadership  within London’s police department — particularly after a wave of resignations  prompted by the country’s phone-hacking scandal.
“I have never seen such a disregard for human life. I hope they rot in hell.  The grief they have caused people, the fear they have put in people’s hearts,  decent people who have done nothing to anyone,” said Alan McCabe, a resident in  Croydon watching the violence unfold.
About 100 young people clashed early Tuesday with police in the Camden and  Chalk Farm areas of north London, smashing their way into a bicycle store and  mobile phone shop.
The small groups of youths — most with their heads and faces covered — used  SMS messages, instant messaging on BlackBerry smartphones and social media  platforms such as Twitter to coordinate their attacks and stay ahead of the  police.

Once the preserve of businesspeople, BlackBerry handsets are popular with  teenagers, thanks to their free, fast instant messaging system. Blackberry’s  manufacturer, Research in Motion, said in a statement that it was assisting  authorities in their investigation and “feel for those impacted by the riots in  London.”
Police were also monitoring Twitter, and warned that those who posted  messages inciting the violence could face arrest.
In the Peckham district of south London, where a building was set ablaze  along with a bus — which was not carrying passengers — onlookers said the scene  resembled a conflict zone. Cars were torched in nearby Lewisham, and in west  London’s Ealing suburb the windows of each store along entire streets had been  smashed.
“There’s been tension for a long time. The kids aren’t happy. They hate the  police,” said Matthew Yeoland, a 43-year-old teacher watching the unrest in  Peckham. “It’s like a war zone and the police weren’t doing anything. There were  too many people and not enough police.”
Police said Duggan was shot dead last week when police from Operation Trident — the unit that investigates gun crime in the black community — stopped a cab he  was riding in.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission, which is investigating the  shooting, said a “non-police firearm” was recovered at the scene, and media  reports said a bullet had been found in an officer’s radio. However, the  Guardian newspaper reported that the bullet in the radio was police-issue,  indicating Duggan may not have fired at the officer.
Duggan’s partner, Semone Wilson, insisted Monday that her fiance was not  connected to gang violence and urged police to offer more information about his  death. But she rejected suggestions that the escalating riots were linked to  protests over his death. “It got out of hand. It’s not connected to this  anymore. This is out of control,” she said.
“It’s nothing to do with the man who was shot, is it?” said 37-year-old Marcia Simmons, who has lived in Tottenham, an ethnically diverse north London neighborhood, all her life. “A lot of youths … heard there was a protest and joined in. Others used it as an opportunity to kit themselves out, didn’t they, with shoes and T-shirts and everything.”
The past year has seen mass protests against the tripling of student tuition  fees and cuts to public sector pensions. In November, December and March, small  groups broke away from large marches in London to loot. In the most notorious  episode, rioters attacked a Rolls-Royce carrying Prince Charles and his wife  Camilla to a charity concert.
However, the full impact of spending cuts has yet to be felt and the  unemployment rate is stable — although it remains highest among youth,  especially in areas like Tottenham, Hackney and Croydon.
Some people caught up in the unrest insisted that joblessness was not to  blame. “It’s just an excuse for the young ones to come and rob shops,” said  Brixton resident Marilyn Moseley, 49.
Police urged communities to help clear the streets of people, and called on families to contact their children and ensure that they were not involved in the chaos. An 11-year-old boy was charged with burglary by police, and at least 100 of those arrested were aged 21 or younger. About 35 police officers had been injured in the violence, police said.
Home Secretary Theresa May, the Cabinet minister responsible for policing,  and London Mayor Boris Johnson also cut short summer vacations in an attempt to  deal with the crisis.

Police in the city of Birmingham, 120 miles (195 kilometers) north of London,  confirmed that officers had arrested 35 people amid disorder across the city  center, where shops were being vandalized. In Bristol, police urged residents to  avoid the city center after 150 rioters went on the rampage.  (read more)
Sheeesh, this is exactly what Glenn Beck was warning would happen last year.   From Greece, to Spain, to London, to …… The United States ?? 
Check out this site which is tracking flash mob type activity in the United States.  CLICK HERE and bookmark.