Burning with Rage in Britain

A peaceful protest that was staged in Tottenham Saturday by supporters of Mark Duggan, who was shot and killed last week, has now blown into a violent rampage of looting and burning across several cities.

Across the Atlantic in 1992, a similar situation of violence broke out in Los Angeles, in the case of the excessive force used by police on the African American Rodney King.

In each incident, violence that shocked these cities broke out just from the starting point of a single incident. Social media- facebook, twitter and instant communication of the Internet helped flame the passions and gather people.

The use of social media helped to gather and rally people in Egypt, ushered in the Arab Spring and brought down Husni Mubarak's dictatorship of 30 years.

In a commentary about the rioting in Britain, the Christian Science Monitor writes:

'Whether it is rooted in the ills of urban poverty (20 percent or more unemployment among youths 16-24) or represents simple criminal lawlessness is just one of the soul-searching debates now under way. Like many nations Britain has undertaken austerity measures that will cut welfare payments and thousands of government jobs in coming years. Job prospects for most urban youths are bleak.

Two girls who took part in the rioting Monday night boasted to a BBC journalist that they were showing police and “the rich” that “we can do what we want.”

As is often the case with urban riots, the poor neighborhoods themselves are taking the worst hit. “Tottenham [where Mr. Duggan died] didn’t have much, now [it’s] got a lot less,” said a British journalist who lives in that mixed-race neighborhood.

The rioting also provides yet another referendum on social media. Hooded and masked vandals are using social networks – Twitter and Facebook but especially Blackberry messages, which can’t be traced by police – to coordinate looting of a street. They then are tipped off by message if police are about to arrive and they vanish.

But honest Britons have been using social media for good, too. The Twitter hashtag #PrayForLondon asks people to “Please Pray for the protection of lives and properties in London, and Peace in the UK.” And #riotcleanup has become a rallying point for those who want to help. It has motivated people to take to the streets with trash bags and brooms to tidy up the mess the looters leave behind. '