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Pardon me, that was the story I have heard.

My reference to skin color was that, when a person with a dark skin color is shot, the media and public generally goes with the "hate crime/racism" angle. Something which is most often the cause of an "outrage".

I can assure you that I meant nothing racist by that statement, and I'm sorry if you interpreted it that way.

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I take pictures so quickly, my highschool was "Continuous High".

I would suggest a little caution when commenting about the riots, feelings are running high, and the details about Mark Duggan are not fully known yet. Many people in his community are saying he was not a drug dealer, other people disagree. One thing is clear, he did not shoot at the Police.

It is not unusual for a group that sees itself as disadvantaged to have a simmering hostility that will erupt when a trigger incident occurs, especially if someone with an agenda provides encouragement or incitement. The participants in the rioting will not necessarily share much with the person involved in the trigger incident, nor with those providing the encouragement or incitement. Curiously, some cities will erupt much more readily, and on a larger scale, than others.

As for police who seem to fail to respond, keep in mind that dying a glorious death is not in the culture of civilian police. There is no acceptable casualty rate for a police force in a civilized society. This does not mean that individual police are not brave; on the contrary, many are very, very brave. Riots require a coordinated response, with a sufficient number of personnel, and unless a police agency has experience quelling riots, the necessary leadership will usually not be in the right place at the right time.

In a civilized, free society, the force needed to truly nip a riot in the bud may well result in murder or manslaughter charges against the police officer(s) who use(s) that level of force. A few times, I found myself with shotgun in hand, using the force of my personality to try so very hard to keep from having to prove I was NOT bluffing. (I wear a badge, in a large city that, fortunately, is not as prone to large riots as some other cities, larger and smaller.)

Being a citizen of the USA, and a resident of Texas, I can only imagine what
a Brit family would feel with a riot occurring in the street in front of the
home. I heard on BBC of London families uniting with neighbors to use pots and pans to try to hold rioters at bay. Pots and pans...

Please pardon the rambling thoughts; I do not claim to have any answers.

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Canon 7D/5D/40D/1D2N; Nikon F6, FM3A, & Coolpix A; Canon 40mm Pancake, 135L, 50L, 35L, pre-II 50mm 1.8, 100mm 2.8L Macro, 10-22mm EF-S, 28-135 EF, 400mm 5.6L; Nikkor 50mm 1.2 AI-S, 50mm 1.4G, 50mm 1.8D, 16mm 2.8D Fisheye, 180mm 2.8D, 100-300mm 5.6 AI-S; Tokina 17mm & 100mm 2.8 Macro

Hi everyone, remember to tread carefully regarding politics here. The off-topic section should still be photography related.

That said, I'm glad I'm not in my old home town of London right now.

off-topic: so the police waited to be coordinated,haven't thought of that. still,the TV said "chaos" instead of "control". images always show only a part of the human reactions & emotions,so it's understandable. I'm glad that it turned out ok. These days,many countries have riots starting,from economical & financial reasons.

on-topic: somebody post some photos of the riot,please?

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Gear: Nikon D80, 18-105mm, 35mm F/1.8, 85mm F/1.8, SB-600
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I'm amazed there aren't any pictures of the riots on here. Not sure I would have had the guts to take any though.

I would think it very risky to be seen with a camera anywhere near rioters; looting tends to occur during riots, and a camera is a material item that a have-not would be glad to have, at the photographer's expense.

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Canon 7D/5D/40D/1D2N; Nikon F6, FM3A, & Coolpix A; Canon 40mm Pancake, 135L, 50L, 35L, pre-II 50mm 1.8, 100mm 2.8L Macro, 10-22mm EF-S, 28-135 EF, 400mm 5.6L; Nikkor 50mm 1.2 AI-S, 50mm 1.4G, 50mm 1.8D, 16mm 2.8D Fisheye, 180mm 2.8D, 100-300mm 5.6 AI-S; Tokina 17mm & 100mm 2.8 Macro

Its all finished and everyone is getting arrested and sentenced now...

End of thread!!

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Mark Osborne
My life through an iPhone