Riot From Wrong… Why we Can’t Afford to Dismiss the UK Riots as an Act of Mindless Violence

By August 2011, the average Brit had endured months of headlines detailing shocking deceit and manipulation. With the News of the World phone hacking scandal having taken place under the editorship of then Conservative Party Communications Chief Andy Coulson, and overseen by David Cameron’s long-time Christmas bunting chum Rebekah Brooks, public confidence in our newly elected coalition government was at an all-time low.

This was nothing compared to what was to follow shortly after, during what has been labelled as the biggest civil unrest seen in the UK for more than thirty years. The English media relished the opportunity to brandish young people as feral hoodies, and none more so than the young black male victim of a police shooting in Tottenham, the catalyst which sparked the UK riots of 2011.

Shortly after the death of Mark Duggan, tabloid newspapers published slanderous articles in an attempt to defame his character. As quickly as they were printed, these tales were juxtaposed with the ‘word on road’ gospel, and further cemented by family, friends, campaign groups and peers aiming to expose the defamation with their first hand version of events.

Many believed that Duggan had been murdered by the police, and debate continued across independent and social media networks as clarity was sought between conflicting media reports, a farcical game of “passing the buck” between the Metropolitan Police and the IPCC, and the affirmation of character from those who knew him well.

Mark Duggan, at 29 years old and hailing from one of the most deprived and violent estates in London, had no criminal convictions, and ballistics tests by the IPCC proved that bullets he reportedly fired were in fact fired from a police issue Heckler and Koch submachine gun.

On the fourth day of the riots, having witnessed the contradictions between independent and mass media, we decided as the fourteen young people who make up Fully Focused Community, to go directly to Broadwater Farm Estate and speak to the family and friends of Mark Duggan. This was the beginning of our feature-length documentary, Riot From Wrong.

The more people we interviewed, the clearer it became that people were angry, and rightfully so. A family was left distraught by a lack of communication from the police and negative media lies as a result of dishonest, unethical journalism. Attempts to defame Duggan luckily ended up being short-lived, transparent and weak.

The summer of 2011 saw cuts to the Educational Maintenance Allowance, Housing Benefit for the under 25’s and increased university tuition fees, not to mention cuts to youth clubs, youth programmes, Connexions centres and youth counselling services. When you factor in unaffordable housing costs and steep unemployment, this culminated in one of the bleakest outlooks for Britain’s youth in recent times. Unemployment among young black men rose from 28.8% in 2008 to 55.9% in the last three months of 2011.

The expenses scandal had been gathering pace for some time, the banking crisis tightened its grip, austerity became the new buzzword and our MPs went off on their summer holidays.

We note this period as it is easy to dismiss the sociological impacts of the greed and immoral behaviour of our politicians and those in the financial sector and mass media on their fellow citizens, the poor and black “underclass.” Newly defined by words such as “Chav”, “Hoodie” and “Feral Youth”, they were suddenly united in aggression and economic hopelessness against an increasingly detached elite and those perceived to protect the haves from the have-nots: the police.

Like most of the country, the Fully Focused Community Team reacted with bewilderment, confusion, anger and fear throughout the riots, however we made a commitment to search for solutions and rather than dismiss a generation that feel they have nothing to lose, we offered a platform for honest dialogue and critical debate.

The riots were dismissed as a domestic problem triggered by the shooting of Mark Duggan. In retrospect, violent street protests were also unfolding in Greece, Portugal, France and Spain throughout 2011 – a European rebellion against draconian austerity measures, poorly articulated, if at all, by the UK rebellion.

On many levels, producing Riot From Wrong was a cathartic experience for the Young Steering Group at Fully Focused Community, as we had the opportunity to engage with those involved in events on a real, honest street level. At the same time though, we were detached via the lens of the camera, enough to look deeper and gain a clearer perspective on ourselves, our peers and our communities.

What we unearthed were complex and deep-rooted issues within wider society, and it soon came to light that the connecting thread of the majority of our interviewees was the necessity to address the underlying issues within our own communities, take personal responsibility, and hold to account the moral misconduct and greed of our leaders.

London is now revelling in post-Olympic glory, but continuing the dialogue to address issues of hopelessness and marginalisation remains vital. It is for this reason that Fully Focused Community remains committed to looking deeper through the lens, searching for solutions.

Fully Focused Community (@UKFullyFocused) create high quality youth-led media to build platforms of expression with global potential. We are a non-profit Organisation dedicated to providing industry standard, hands-on film and media training, offering opportunities to young people across London. Our objective is to open minds and broaden horizons, while encouraging young people to tackle issues that are important to them.