Comment on Boy, 15, is first person charged with riot over recent English disorder

• ilovecheese@feddit.uk ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  It’s good they’ve started with the online ‘influencers’, but is it likely that so many young (11-15 iirc) kids became so radicalized so quickly just from these online sources?

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  • Emperor@feddit.uk ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    That would imply that the vast majority of rioters are fascists and it is likely they aren’t. The people being convicted so far (and as the article says, they have tended to be charged with lower order offenses, it seems like those who were most heavily involved are coming down the pipe and will get harsher sentences) tend to be knuckleheads, opportunists, career criminals and people with nothing to loose who just want to watch the world burn.

    It should be no surprise that in Liverpool riots took place in Walton, one of the most deprived areas of the country. A lot of the kids there have no future, so will take any excuse to smash things up (stupidly, including a community-run library).

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    • ilovecheese@feddit.uk ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      So it’s more a case of general ‘mob mentality’ rather than a belief in their bigoted cause? That makes sense.

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      • Emperor@feddit.uk ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        We probably aren’t going to get a simple, coherent narrative out of this but it is too early to tell. The initial rounds of convictions have been the easy ones for general disorder and thievery, which are easy to prove from footage of the incidents (think the lad robbing Greggs, the boy who stole thousands of pounds worth of vapes or the guy rather casually looting Lush). They tend to all be local and it all undermines the comforting story people were telling themselves, that it was largely fascists bussed in for trouble.

        However, we are now seeing people charged fir riot and inciting violence on social media, which are likely trickier to prove but come with a much higher sentence. I’d assume they’ll keep working up the chain and we’ll see some fascists prosecuted eventually, it may even be some are done under terror offences.

        So it’s still early days and there’s likely a lot to unpick. However, a picture seems to be emerging of the hardcore organising things on Telegram, with it bubbling up to the larger social media platforms thanks to useful idiots and those posts then get jumped on an amplified by bots and troublemakers. Once the location of riots are confirmed and the knowledge is widespread you can have a core of actual fascists, joined by a larger mob of knuckleheads, opportunists and people with nothing to lose. It’s quite a cunning “force multiplier” as you don’t just have to rely on a handful if far right bovver boys and they can make it look like their are a lot more of them than there are.

        If you are looking for who to.blame for radicalising this mob, then it is the Tory government who have spent years scapegoating minorities to distract from their lack of funding for pretty much anything that would make a lot of people’s lives better. I doubt they are going to be swept up in this.

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