The original spark to the riots is found here:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904480904576498540000034196.htmlTottenham, is a primarily black ghetto. The police that patrol this area, are issued firearms, due to the illegal guns and crimes in this area.
By PAUL SONNE
LONDON—As Britons debate the causes of the London riots, more details are emerging about the initial spark that set off the unrest—the killing by police of 29-year-old Mark Duggan in North London last week.The Independent Police Complaints Commission, an oversight group probing the matter, said Tuesday night there was no evidence so far that Mr. Duggan fired at police before being shot fatally in the chest by an officer in North London last week.
Mr. Duggan died Thursday in an incident that began when police officers stopped a silver minivan taxi carrying Mr. Duggan in London's Tottenham neighborhood intending to arrest him, for reasons not yet clear. Soon after, a police officer from the unit, which investigates illegal gun crime, fired two shots that landed in Mr. Duggan's bicep and chest. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police recovered an illegal handgun from the car, initially raising questions about whether Mr. Duggan had fired on one of the officers. Also raising questions was the fact that a police officer's hand-held radio was struck by a bullet. But that later turned out to be from a bullet from another police officer's gun.
A police officer from the unit, that investigates gun crime in the black community, was also shot, but not killed."At this stage there is no evidence that the handgun found at the scene was fired during the incident," the IPCC said in a statement Tuesday. Forensics experts are carrying out more tests, but they may not be able to say for sure whether the illegal handgun was fired, the IPCC said. It is also conducting a broader probe into the incident.
The fatal shooting—a rare occurrence in the U.K. because police generally don't carry guns—has led indirectly to riots across London.
On Saturday, a crowd of protesters that included Mr. Duggan's partner, Semone Wilson, gathered in front of Tottenham's police station, demanding that a high-ranking official address questions about the shooting.
Hours later, the underprivileged North London neighborhood erupted into violence, as rioters attacked police cars, smashed windows and set fire to a double-decker bus and a carpet store.
Since then, copycat riots have spread to other areas of London and Britain.Mr. Duggan's death, however, has become a forgotten footnote rather than any sort of cohesive rallying cry. His family has condemned the riots.
"We're not condoning any kind of actions like that all," Mr. Duggan's brother, Shaun Hall, said in an interview on a British news channel. "There was a domino effect from that, which we don't condone at all."
Ms. Wilson, Mr. Duggan's partner, and Mr. Hall have also denied reports in the British press describing Mr. Duggan as a gang member.
Ms. Wilson criticized the police's handling of the incident in a TV interview on Monday.
"There's a lot of angry people out there. People who don't even know Mark are angry at the way it was dealt with," she said. But she added: "It has got out of hand. It has gone way past. It's not connected to this anymore, I don't think."
The Metropolitan Police welcomed the update from the IPCC in a statement on Monday and said it was doing everything possible to assist with the oversight body's investigation of the fatal shooting.
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Methinks somethings certainly afoot, and the "Bobbie's" are not releasing all the details....
Pretty much "whitey shootin' brotha's" whether the BG was a gang member, or was in possession of an illegal firearm is irrelevant.
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