News

The death of three British Asian men in Birmingham in the early hours of today has raised fresh fears of inter-communal violence.

Community leaders are looking to calm understandable anger after brothers Shazad Ali and Abdul Mussavir, 32 and 30, and Haroon Jahan, 21, were hit by a speeding car in Dudley Road.

Locals say they had been part of a large group of Asian men who had just finished nightly prayers at the mosque and were guarding the street from potential rioters.

It was almost inevitable that there would be certain elements of society such as the BNP and EDL who were ready to take advantage of the civil disturbances and further their race hate politics.

Recently convicted criminal Stephen Lennon, leader of the English Defence League (EDL) stated that 'they were ready to defend the country against the looters'.

Lennon has put out a 'call-to-arms' to supporters of the group to come out on to the streets and stop the riots.

Just as it was feared, the Independent Police Complaints Commission has said that there is no evidence that Mark Duggan had fired at police before being shot dead.

The IPCC stated that the a converted BBM ‘Bruni’ self loading pistol had been found at the scene but there is nothing to suggest that it was used in what we were led to believe was a shootout between Duggan and the authorities.

His family are right to be angry and frustrated by the slow release of such information surrounding the death of the 29-year-old.

A coalition of BME leaders including Reverend Jesse Jackson have come together to voice their concerns about the recent events which have hit Britain.

Read the full statement below:

We, the undersigned, condemn the wanton violence and looting that has been perpetrated in our communities over the last few days. Above all it is good people in our areas such as Tottenham, Enfield, Walthamstow, Birmingham, Liverpool, Brixton who are most affected by these unacceptable actions.

Black politicians, church leaders, and activist have been in disbelief at the turn of events which started with a legitimate and peaceful protest, which has transformed into an anarchic looting spree causing mayhem and fear. From affluent Ealing to inner city Peckham, organised looting quickly spread to other parts of the country including nation’s second city Birmingham, Liverpool, Leeds and Nottingham.

I remember the original Broadwater Farm riots clearly.

So it was a heart-stopping moment on Saturday night to realise that, 26 years later, Tottenham was in flames again. But in 2011, a lot is different. For one thing, the first I heard about the riots was on Twitter; complete with photographs of burning police cars. And, if I was alerted in that way, I suspect that thousands of others were. For most of us it was just a piece of shocking news. But for some, it was a cue to get down there.

Aspiring female black activists will be honoured at a ceremony named after one of the country's top civil rights heroines.

Nominations are open for the inaugural Olive Morris Memorial Award which will be given to three young women who are following in Morris' footsteps.

The awards are being organised by the Remembering Olive Collective (ROC), made up of a group of women from all backgrounds which was active between 2008 and 2010.

After a weekend of unrest and anarchy on the streets in Tottenham and other pockets of London, many are wondering what triggered it off.

Tensions have been running high in Tottenham following the death of Mark Duggan, who was fatally shot by the police on Thursday.

His family, along with around 100 people held a silent protest outside Tottenham police station on Saturday evening.

The troubled News International Group’s flagship tabloid last week demonstrated that it could do investigative journalism that fellow journalist and the public at large can be proud of.

Brian Flynn literally put his life at risk to go undercover to film BNP bosses gorging themselves on extreme fascism along with other European neo-Nazis.

Londoners in Tottenham, Enfield, Brixton and Walthamstow will today be counting the cost of the weekend’s civil disturbances financially, socially and emotionally.

Businesses were burned, shops looted, and the police attacked. When these acts occur the whole community suffers. All these acts should be rightly condemned. There is no justification for such wanton criminality.

It is sad however, that although looters and rioters were made up of many communities, it is the Black community which will largely blamed in regards to criminality.