Heroes & Villains of the England Riots

On Saturday August 6th 2011, rioting started in Tottenham, London, following the shooting of Mark Duggan by police. The riots then spread across the capital city, and across the country until most of England's major cities had seen dramatic unrest in the form of rioting, looting and violence. You all know the story, you all know the reasons and you will all have your own opinions about the events. This is not another piece of writing about the "hows and whys" of the riots, I'm going to be writing about things which you may not have seen. Some of the stuff is horrific, and some is pretty funny - but hopefully all of it will be interesting!


I thought I'd kick things off with some more light hearted stories as all you'll have heard will be bad news lately!


Riot Clean Ups

One of the best things to come out of the riots have been the show of solidarity from the affected areas. Thousands of people have been helping to clear the streets after the riots. These voluntary acts of kindness have not only helped out and saved the Government a lot of money, but they have reminded us that there are still a lot of good in the country. Many quotes have stuck out to me, such as "there are more of us than there are of you", "we won't stop", "some of us are proud of our cities" and "no matter what, we will stick together and pull through this". The vast majority of us have been horrified by the images we have seen, and it's a great comfort to know that we can still pull together and times like this and get stuff done. Here are some of my favourite clean up images.

Operation 'Cup Of Tea'


Organise by Sam Pepper through social networking sites, Operation Cup of Tea is an anti-riot movement aimed at showing people you're not part of the riots by posting photos of yourself drinking tea every night. Whilst this sounds like a very simple idea, it has been very popular and has kept people amused as well as reminding the public that most youths are good and want to put an end to these riots. What started off as a quirky idea has turned in to a huge movement on twitter (#operationcupoftea) and, most impressively of all, is now a fully fledged website aiming to raise awareness and collect donations for victims of the riots. Sam has decided to make the most of the popular idea by asking for donations and creating products - the profits from all of these will be put back in to the community. I love the humour in this, I just see it as proof that the great British sense of humour remains intact and always shines! KEEP CALM & DRINK TEA


http://www.operationcupoftea.com/
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=261568193854371

I've seen a few videos of some of the other "heroes" of the riots. These guys pretty much speak for themselves!

http://i.imgur.com/JCQWV.gif
Hero! End of story. I wish I had the chance to do this!

BOOM! This is really satisfying to watch! Read the description first, otherwise it looks a bit harsh :)


Now for the villains...


I'm not going to focus too much on this, as I think it's pretty obvious who the villains would be labelled as! I just wanted to share a few things i've seen and heard which just makes me realise what idiots these people are! Hopefully again some of these things may be new to you.

This guy is such a tool! I don't really need to say much, except that he is an embarrassment to Manchester.

This video will no doubt give some people a little bit of satisfaction after what has happened... watch carefully and wait until the end! This guy deserves everything he gets - he was an assistant at a primary school - what an awful role model!

No doubt you will all have seen this video - but what a disgrace! I can't believe human beings can actually do this... I really hope he gets what's coming to him.

These girls are again an embarrassment, how the hell can they be proud of what they have done!?




More stuff...
Enough of watching & listening to horrible people - i'm sick of them! I've found a few more pictures, videos and quotes from the riots which are pretty funny - hopefully you'll all think the same!

Looks like everyone was getting in on the act in London!

During the riots in Manchester, a Waterstones employee was asked whether the shop was going to close to be safe. The employee replied: "We'll stay open, if they steal some-books they might learn something". 

Pretty adequate reason to close the shop I think...

Extreme planking right there...

Anyway, i'll quit boring you now. I hope you've enjoyed my blog - i'm sure the other will be more interesting but since i'd found loads of pictures and videos I thought i'd share them with you rather than blabbing on :)

I hope you've enjoyed it. If you find any more pictures or videos - post them to me and i'll gladly take a look and add them on to here. Stop by again and leave some comments :)

Alex x