August 6th of this year marked the beginning of tension in the Tottenham area ofLondonthat many are saying may result in an all out civil war. On that day police are claimed to have shot a man named Mark Duggan dead, and the facts that are associated with the occurrence are anything but clear.
There is a very large group of people who believe that the shooting was a major injustice, and some of those people feel that it is their duty to seek that justice. In cases like these it is not uncommon to see violence, but the violence that has taken place inLondonis severly uncharacteristic of the area where the shooting and the subsequent marching demonstration took place. For four days violence continued to plague the area, resulting in multiple arrests and injuries of both cilvilians and police officers, but since then the violence has been minimal. Still, though, once such a sensitive situation results in violence the opportunity for more violence to occur is definitely there.
The thing is, though, the people ofLondon’s Tottenham area did not really start out with a reason to act in a violent manner towards one another, but rather the police that they felt were responsible for Duggan’s death. And “civil war” is defined as being a war between the people of a certain area. It seems that if civil war was inLondon’s future that the violence that occurred in that first week of August would not have ceased, but the fact is that things seem to be much more settled down in the city now, even though it is still being monitored by police forces. Just as the violence that occurred in August came out of nowhere, though, beginning within only two days of Duggan’s shooting, violence can come about quickly again, and escalate even quicker, especially when the people feel that an injustice has been served.
The chances of violence breaking out in London’s Tettenham area again in the near future, and ultimately leading to civil war, really has to do with the proceedings regarding the police and the rioters involved in the August riots. The people ofLondonare not going to forget what they feel is a major injustice committed against an innocent man, and the police are not going to stand for the violence brought on by rioters, which means tensions will likely remain high. While the situation seems to be under control for the time being it must not be forgotten how quickly violence can escalate.
The situation that led to the riots, the shooting of Mark Duggan, is currently being investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Commission. If the Commission finds the truth regarding what happened, and the people feel that justice is served for Duggan, it is possible that the violence thatLondonrecently saw will not be repeated. But if the people ofLondondo not feel that justice has been served it is hard to tell what may happen in the Tottenham area next.
William Goonges is a political observer and flash templates designer
