Who are the rioters?
Paul Lewis and James Harkin
Wednesday 10 August 2011
Anyone who has witnessed the disturbances up close will know there is no simple answer to the question: who are the rioters?
It can't be said that they are largely from one racial group. Both young men and women have joined in.
Take events in Chalk Farm, north London. First the streets contained people of all backgrounds sprinting off with bicycles looted from Evans Cycles.
Three Asian men in their 40s, guarding a newsagent, discussed whether they should also take advantage of the apparent suspension of law.
"If we go for it now, we can get a bike," said one. "Don't do it," said another.
Others were not so reticent; a white woman and a man emerged carrying a bike each.
One man said: "Hampstead, bruv. Let's go rob Hampstead." Another, looking at his BlackBerry, said: "Kilburn, it's happening in Kilburn and Holloway." A third added: "The whole country is burning, man."
By the following day, as the looting spread to other north London suburbs, there appeared to have been a slight shift in the demographic, which started to look younger. In Enfield most of those who gathered in the town centre were white. The youngest looked about 10-years-old.
A middle-aged Afro-Caribbean man explained that some young people were targeting Asian and Afghani shops, the result of petty local disagreements. And there's no denying that a small minority are simply out to hurt people. A Chinese student, the same man said, had been set upon by a gang and beaten quite badly, simply for taking a picture.
A young black teenager, aged about 14, came out smiling, carrying another bike, only for it be snatched from him by an older man.
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Whole country burns. Sheer lawlessness. Even Looters got robbed
