For former soldier Ernie Taylor, the Hackney riots brought back the senseless violence and trauma of Northern Ireland, triggering memories of horrors almost four decades old.
In an attempt to record and deal with the extreme emotions that last year’s criminal uprising generated, he went out on to the streets near his east London home to record the wreckage the following morning, 9 August 2011.And…what did he find?
He recalled an eerie quiet around his home in Hackney last year before the riots erupted. “I went out in my mobility scooter towards the centre.
I saw a photographer with a broken nose and another with a black eye who complained they had stolen his cameras.
It just took me back to Belfast, bricks all over the place, glass all over the place, things burning.”So is he planning to blame the government, the police, the lack of youth clubs in the area?
The following morning he re-emerged to take these photographs, a hobby he has used for years to keep his emotions under control:
“I was up before 6am. I needed to record it. It was gross stupidity, there was no reason for it whatsoever. It made me extremely angry. What is the point of destroying something instead of using it? These were adults behaving like children having a tantrum.”Ah. How refreshing.
And how unsurprising, that someone who has seen real violence, real conflict, can see the London Riots for what they were...
The riots started after friends and family of Duggan went to Tottenham police station as information was limited. A young girl of 16 asked the police who were heavily armed at the front doors for some cooperation when she was man handled by the police,thats when all hell broke loose, it was on the BBC interviewing a local but only aired once. So tell me is enough,enough from police ignorance that poor lady who has just had her son killed no one deserves that
ReplyDeleteXX A young girl of 16 asked the police who were heavily armed at the front doors for some cooperation when she was man handled by the police,...... enough,enough from police ignorance that poor lady who has just had her son killed no one deserves that. XX
ReplyDeleteSo,what? You are telling us that the Mother was 16 years old?
You make no sense.
I could eat a bowl of alphebetti spaghetti and SHIT a better written post than that.
wayno0007 bugger off with your riot excuses. It wasn't protest it was crims pure and simple. I know this cos I was living round there at the time. Duggan wasn't exactly a pillar of the community was he? After all these riot incidents there are dickheads like wayno0007 who pop up with excuses for the vile savages who robbed the proper hardworking people of their liveihoods.
ReplyDeleteHow about that you fuck off?
Last week while the BBC's Martha Kearney and the rest of the lefty liberal handwringing fuckwit luvvies went around wailing over the anniversary of last August's looting spree, she interviewed a couple of young ladies of african-carribean heritage who were adamant that the riots were just an excuse for thieves and tosspots and nothing to do with Duggan's demise. Luckily she soon managed to find several yoot workers who were able to bring 'stop & search' into the equation, Funnily enough all the aggrieved were male while the critics were female, Amazing too that with all the structural and ecruitment changes to the Met Police, the huge non-stop diversity shite, the fact that the police are so, so different than those of 30 years ago these useless losers still want to claims whitey's chain around their ankles and walk wiv dat pebble in dere shoo.
ReplyDeleteCouldn't find any of Ernie's photos. Sad really as it would have given me even more reasons never to go anywhere near London (or Manchester, or any other cities where the undead rule).
ReplyDeleteWe have our new Police Commissioner....
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteBlack people no more or less.
ReplyDeleteDuggans Mum was on Radio 2 last week wailing on (with full support from Beeboids) about how unfair it was that the Police had not apologised for killing her darling boy (ie a prerequisite for compo).
ReplyDelete"... when she was man handled by the police..."
ReplyDeleteUnderclass Translation Service: "When a screaming, tooth-sucking, stroppy female yoot was persuaded (non too gentry) to take the chip on her shoulder elsewhere..."
"I could eat a bowl of alphebetti spaghetti and SHIT a better written post than that."
:D
"Amazing too that with all the structural and ecruitment changes to the Met Police, the huge non-stop diversity shite, the fact that the police are so, so different than those of 30 years ago these useless losers still want to claims whitey's chain around their ankles and walk wiv dat pebble in dere shoo."
Spot on!
"We have our new Police Commissioner...."
Nah, none of Wayno0007's mates will bother voting. How will they see where to put a 'x' on the paper through all the cannabis smoke?
XX How will they see where to put a 'x' on the paper....? XX
ReplyDeleteYou are assuming any of them know how to SPELL "x".