Brixton riot (1981)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Brixton riot of April 11, 1981 was the most serious riot in London, UK, of the 20th century.

Brixton in south London was an area of deep social and economic problems — high unemployment, high crime, poor housing, no amenities — in a predominantly black community^{[citation needed]}. The police were strongly disliked and seen as largely reactionary and distant. An attempt at proactive crime control did much to increase tensions. The Metropolitan Police began Operation Swamp 81 at the beginning of April, aimed at reducing serious street crime, mainly through the heavy use of the so-called sus law. The inevitable concentration on black youths was poorly regarded.

The actual riot was unplanned, almost spontaneous. On the evening of the 10th, at around 5.15pm, a black youth with a knife wound was stopped by a police patrol. As he was being escorted by two police officers along Railton Road towards a waiting vehicle a large crowd intervened. The police were attacked and the struggle only ended when more police officers arrived; the youth was taken to hospital.

Through the night of the 10th and on Saturday 11th the police brought a very strong force into the area. Tensions built throughout the day as crowds slowly gathered. In early evening, as the police attempted to make some arrests on Atlantic Road, the tension broke: a few bricks were thrown and windows smashed. More police closed in and more missiles began to be thrown. The police retreated, leaving their vehicles to be burned. Other vehicles were burned and shops looted on Railton Road, Mayall Road, Leeson Road and Brixton Road before the police, notably the Special Patrol Group, returned.

The police sealed the Atlantic-Railton-Mayall area, although a number of other streets had groups of looters. Following agreed tactics the police formed deep shield walls and moved to reclaim the area. The rioters responded with bricks, bottles, and petrol bombs — the first British use of these incendiary devices outside of Northern Ireland. Cars and buildings were set alight and fire engines attacked as they tried to deal with the flames.

The destructive efforts of the rioters peaked at around 8pm, with two public houses, schools and other structures burning. Two hours later the police had the area under some control, although the fire brigade refused to return until the following morning. By 1am the area was largely subdued, with no large groups — except the police — on the streets. Attempts to reignite violence on the 12th failed quickly, with more than 1,000 officers on the streets.

The riot resulted in almost 300 police injuries and 65 serious civilian injuries; over a hundred vehicles were burned, including 56 police vehicles; almost 150 buildings were damaged, with thirty burned. There were 82 arrests.

Between July 3 and 11 of that year, there was more unrest fueled by racial and social discord, in Handsworth, Southall, Toxteth, and Moss Side. There were also smaller pockets of unrest in Leeds, Leicester, Southampton, Halifax, Bedford, Gloucester, Coventry, Bristol, and Edinburgh.

There was a public inquiry into the riot headed by Lord Scarman. The Scarman report was published on November 25, 1981.

The riots inspired the Eddy Grant song, "Electric Avenue." The Clash also made a song about Brixton, "The Guns of Brixton." This song precedes the actual riots of 1981 (The album was released in 1979), but it shows the general feeling of discontent in the area.