London riots

18 Stories

Graffiti Artists Paint Babies to Prevent Rioting

London shop owners willing to try street-art experiment

(Newser) - Could you look at a baby's sweet face and still want to riot and pillage? Several London shop owners victimized by last year's riots are guessing the answer is no, the BBC reports. So they agreed to let graffiti artists paint cute-as-the-dickens portraits of local babies near their...

Hogwarts Bully Gets 2 Years for Rioting

Jamie Waylett found guilty of violent disorder

(Newser) - Jamie Waylett's face is familiar to millions thanks to his role as a school bully in the Harry Potter movies, so police didn't have much trouble tracking him down after he was caught on camera holding a petrol bomb and swigging from a looted bottle of champagne during...

Police Test Laser to 'Blind Rioters'

British police try new technology after summer riots

(Newser) - In the wake of this year's rioting , British police are testing a laser that would temporarily blind looters with a wall of light, the Telegraph reports. The $40,000 laser can reportedly reach people up to 500 yards away and spot them in poor visibility with an infrared scope....

London Cops Clash With 1K Right-Wing Protesters

1,500 come out in counter-demonstration

(Newser) - Ignoring a government ban on marches in London, hundreds of far-right activists held a protest in the capital today and some clashed with police. It was the first large-scale protest in London since a wave of looting and riots shook it and other major British cities in early August . Police...

UK Police Release Video of Rioters Firing Guns

They say officers were shot at 11 times

(Newser) - British police have released security video footage of rioters firing gunshots at them earlier this month. Police say at least 11 shots were fired in all, and they asked the public to come forward to help identify the hooded shooters. The video also shows 30 or 40 men wreaking havoc...

2 Brits Get 4 Years for Pushing Riots on Facebook

... Even though their pages didn't lead to specific riots

(Newser) - As sentencing continues in last week’s riots across Britain, some observers fear the punishments far outweigh the crimes. Two young British men who used Facebook to call for local rioting have each received four-year jail sentences—though the riots they suggested never took place. In one case, a 20-year-old...

London Youth, 16, Charged With Murder After Riots

68-year-old man was beaten while trying to put out fire

(Newser) - A 16-year-old was charged today in the murder of a retiree who tried to put out a fire during the London riots. Richard Mannington Bowes, 68, was trying to douse flames in a bin near his house when a group of rioters surrounded him, according to video footage viewed by...

Cameron Condemns UK's 'Moral Collapse'

Riots a 'wake-up call' for 'broken society': PM

(Newser) - In the aftermath of rioting across Britain, David Cameron blasted the nation’s “slow-motion moral collapse”—a matter he plans to “take on and defeat.” Facing a “demoralized” state, “I will not be found wanting,” the prime minister said today at a youth...

UK Teen Charged With Inciting Riots Via BlackBerry

Police say she texted friends to join the looting

(Newser) - Among the approximately 700 people facing charges in the aftermath of the London riots is an 18-year-old accused of using her BlackBerry to incite violence. The teen allegedly used the Blackberry Messenger IM service to encourage friends to join in on the looting on Aug. 8, reports the Telegraph . An...

London Riots: Coming Soon to USA?
 London Riots: 
 Coming Soon 
 to USA? 
Peggy Noonan
Aug 12, 2011 1:04 PM CDT

London Riots: Coming Soon to USA?

Peggy Noonan sees reason to worry in stats about American youth

(Newser) - Don't dismiss the London riots as just another foreign story, warns Peggy Noonan in the Wall Street Journal . "What we're seeing on the streets in Britain right now is something we may be starting to see here," she writes. "It hasn't come together in...

London Rioters Helped Hurt Student—Then Robbed Him
London Rioters Helped Hurt Student—Then Robbed Him
bad samaritans
Aug 12, 2011 8:58 AM CDT

London Rioters Helped Hurt Student—Then Robbed Him

1,700 arrested, 600 charged in unrest

(Newser) - In a video that’s prompted outrage across Britain, including stern words from David Cameron, a 20-year-old student is pictured on the ground after his jaw was broken in a knifepoint attack. Rioters help him up in what appears to be a good Samaritan act—until they proceed to unzip...

Face-Recognition Software Used in Hunt for UK Looters

Police using Scotland Yard's high-tech software

(Newser) - Facial-recognition technology being considered for London's 2012 Games is getting a workout in the wake of Britain's riots , with officers feeding photographs of suspects through Scotland Yard's newly updated face-matching program. A law enforcement official told the AP that to use the technology "you have to...

Due to 1886 Law, UK Police to Foot Bill for Riot Damage

Riots expected to cost police authorities upwards of $320M

(Newser) - As the dust settles from days of rioting in London and other English cities, it turns out that police finances may have suffered the heaviest damage of all. An 1886 law specifies that police authorities are required to compensate victims when damage is caused by people "riotously and tumultuously...

London Riots Raise Olympic Fears
London Riots Raise
Olympic Fears
Aug 10, 2011 3:20 AM CDT

London Riots Raise Olympic Fears

Games will be secure, organizers vow

(Newser) - An outbreak of rioting and looting just as officials from almost 200 Olympic committees were visiting London has left organizers scrambling to reassure the world that security won't be an issue at the 2012 London Games. Officials say they are confident that local authorities will be able to handle...

London Calms, But New Riots Splinter England

Unrest hits Manchester, Nottingham

(Newser) - Looting and arson spread to several cities in central and northern England today but calm prevailed in London, where thousands of extra police officers patrolled the streets. The most serious unrest was in Manchester, which had sent 100 officers to assist in London, the Guardian reports. Hundreds of young people...

Man at Center of London Riots Didn't Fire at Cops

16K officers now on city streets

(Newser) - The man whose death at the hands of police prompted London’s massive riots did not shoot at the cops, a public investigatory body has concluded. Though Mark Duggan had a loaded gun, there was no evidence he fired it, the watchdog group said. A bullet stuck in a police...

London Riots: Iran to London Cops: Hey, Show Restraint

 Iran to London Cops: 
 Hey, Show Restraint 
london riots
Aug 9, 2011 7:56 AM CDT

Iran to London Cops: Hey, Show Restraint

And other updates from the chaos

(Newser) - Police are struggling to restore order on the streets of London after three days of rioting and looting. Here are some updates from the Telegraph's exhaustive coverage:
  • David Cameron seemed to criticized the police effort , saying it needed to be “more robust,” and saying that the number
...

Tense London Burns a 3rd Night

Here's a look at the latest from the British capital

(Newser) - Fires blazed across London as riots continued unabated into a third night in Britain's capital city and even beyond. Metropolitan Police's Twitter feed says that more than 225 people have been arrested, but the official response is coming under fire and one pub manager tells the BBC that...

18 Stories