Click to play
Clasford Stirling, a resident of Tottenham for 32 years, said the area looked like a battlefield
The Metropolitan Police has launched a "major investigation" into the riot in Tottenham which saw attacks on people, fires and looting.
Officers on the inquiry, codenamed Operation Withern, will interview witnesses and review hours of CCTV in a bid to identify rioters. Fifty-five people arrested during the disorder are being questioned.
On Sunday evening, windows at two shops in Enfield High Street were smashed and a police car damaged.
Conservative MP for Enfield North, Nick de Bois, said on Twitter there were "lots of people about" in Enfield, describing the situation as "not a riot, but serious disturbance".
A BBC producer said 100-120 hooded youths were hanging around station, but the situation appeared to be contained.
The Met said it has put additional high visibility patrols working across the capital on Sunday night.
Commander Christine Jones said: "We are carefully monitoring any intelligence and ensuring we have our resources in the right places. No one wants to see a repeat of the scenes that we witnessed last night in Tottenham."
The violence erupted on Saturday night and Sunday morning following a protest over the fatal shooting of a local man.
Shops were attacked and looted, 26 police officers and three others hurt and buildings and vehicles were set ablaze.
'Rocked the heart'
Parts of Tottenham are still cordoned off, as what the Met described as "a slow and painstaking" examination of the riot scene is conducted by officers and forensic teams.
The inquiry, led by Det Supt John Sweeney, is made up of detectives from the Homicide and Serious Crime Command, specialist investigators from the Public Order Branch, and police support staff.
A number of buildings were set alight "The disorder and violence we saw last night was pure criminality and cannot be justified. We are determined to arrest those responsible."
He warned people not to believe rumours.
"Throughout the day we have been monitoring social networking sites and I'd like to say right from the outset, we're conscious of some really ill-informed speculation on those sites relating to potential further problems."
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
End Quote Jake Manu South Bank University studentThe police never talk to us, they ignore us, they don't think we're human in this area”
He said the force was "actively posting accurate information to correct this".
Twenty-six officers and three others were hurt in the violence which broke out after a protest over the fatal shooting by police of 29-year-old Mark Duggan on Thursday.Rachel Cerfontyne, commissioner with the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) which is investigating Mr Duggan's death, said the 29-year-old had not been "assassinated in an execution style" and that there was "misinformation" about the death on Thursday.
"The distress that Mr Duggan's family are in the midst of is understandable, but the violence and disorder we have witnessed over the last 24 hours can never be acceptable," she added.
During the riot people threw petrol bombs, reducing many buildings and vehicles to charred wrecks.
Shops and homes were raided and cash machines ripped out in Tottenham.
A double-decker bus, two police cars and a carpet shop were among the vehicles and buildings destroyed.
Mark Duggan was fatally shot by police The front window of Currys electrical store was smashed and the door of Argos was shattered after looters raided the stock room.
Every handset was stolen from a mobile phone store.
Teenagers and adults were said to have turned up in cars to Tottenham's retail park and filled the vehicles' boots with stolen items, unimpeded by police.
Others arrived on foot and piled shopping trolleys high with looted electronic goods, a local woman, who did not want to be named, said.
Shops including Vision Express, the Body Shop and Boots, in nearby Wood Green's High Street were also raided. Two cars there were burnt out.
Politicians have been reacting to the disorder throughout the day.
- London Mayor Boris Johnson said he had full confidence in the police and that London remained one of the safest cities in the world.
- Tottenham Labour MP David Lammy described it as an "attack on shopkeepers, women and children".
- Home Office Minister Lynne Featherstone thanked police officers "who put themselves in harm's way" and said anyone intent on causing harm would face the full force of the law.
- London's deputy mayor Kit Malthouse said: "It's absolutely outrageous to see it on the streets of London. We'll do as much as we can to ensure there's no recurrence tonight."
- The Reverend Nims Obunge, Pastor at the Freedom's Ark Church, in Tottenham, said: "It is right that this community should have questions they have answered."
Meanwhile, the family of Mr Duggan said they were "not condoning" the violence that erupted.
"Please don't make this about my brother's life, he was a good man," his brother Shaun Hall said.
BBC crime reporter Ben Ando said there were rumours in the community that a teenage girl who was part of the peaceful protest had been in a kind of confrontation with police.
Click to play
IPCC commissioner Rachel Cerfontyne said the investigation was her priority, and would address community concerns.
As well as Mr Duggan, a police officer was also shot in Thursday's incident, which happened in what was called a "pre-planned" event, under Operation Trident, which investigates gun crime in the African and Caribbean communities.
Police had stopped a minicab which Mr Duggan had been travelling in.
No comments:
Post a Comment