Posted on 10/24/2005 1:22:58 AM PDT by Eurotwit
An 18-year-old man has died in hospital after he was shot close to the scene of weekend rioting in Birmingham.
Two men have been arrested over the incident on Sunday in the Newtown area but police do not yet know if it is linked to the weekend violence.
Saturday's rioting involved youths from the black and Asian communities and was said to have been sparked by a claim that a girl of 14 had been raped.
Police say "rumour, myth and speculation" had fuelled the violence.
Mosque 'attacked'
Detectives stressed that forensic experts had been to the location of the alleged attack on the girl in the Lozells area but no formal complaint had been received.
Residents' fear at violence In pictures: Clashes
On Sunday night further disturbances took place in the Lozells area, where a heavy police presence was in place.
Gangs of youths had gathered in response to an alleged attack on a nearby mosque.
Police said they were dispersed by a series of operations between 2200 and 0100 BST and the heavy rain across the West Midlands also helped to break up the crowds of youths.
On Sunday night police were called to Melbourne Avenue, about a mile from Lozells, several hours after the latest disturbances, in response to reports that a man had been seen with a firearm in the area.
City with history of tension The force said the Independent Police Complaints Commission had been informed purely because armed officers were in the area at the time.
The operation came several hours after several hundred youths were said to have marched "aggressively" down Lozells Road.
The violence on Saturday night culminated in the stabbing to death of a 23-year-old man.
A total of 35 people were taken to hospital with police reporting up to 80 separate criminal incidents. Five people were arrested.
Of those injured, nine remain in hospital, one with a fractured skull.
'Outrageous, unacceptable'
A number of petrol bombs were also thrown and at least 12 gunshots were reported.
Chief Supt Tom Coughlan said Sunday had been a much calmer night: "There was a lot of work done to reassure the community yesterday, using many, many community leaders and I think that message has started to get through.
"Added to the real policing presence last night that had the effect of calming the situation."
Baroness Uddin, Labour peer and advocate for social justice, human rights and equality, said: "What on earth has led to an unsubstantiated rumour leading to this kind of violence?
"There is absolutely no place for minority communities in Britain fighting amongst themselves in this way.
"Surely if there are criminal elements in our society by working together you could get to the criminal much better, I think this is absolutely outrageous and unacceptable."
She said if nobody had actually been sexually assaulted the actions were even more "amazing".
"We should stop giving speeches, stop debating it and get to the reasons why there is violence once again in our inner city streets," she said.
Looks like some Muslims raped the wrong girl. They will now learn to not piss off the Yardies
"What on earth has led to an unsubstantiated rumour leading to this kind of violence?"
The policies of your party, you cloth-headed twit.
Is Birmingham the well-known predominately black neighborhood in London?
Why? Because people keep swallowing the BS about Islam being the "religion of peace". It's the cult of death, it spreads by blood.
Birmingham is England's second city located in the Midlands. It's a city of some 2 million people.
I think many areas and sections of Birmingham are dominated by minorities.
Birmingham is England's second city located in the Midlands. It's a city of some 2 million people.
I think many areas and sections of Birmingham are dominated by minorities.
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I nearly went to University there. Full of Asians/Indians. Lots of Afro-Caribeans as well but then Asian population is risign whereas the afros have stayed around the same.
It is very odd to speak to an indian with a brummie accent.
There will be more and more of this as as Mohamedan cultural practices clash with other groups' sensibilities. Everybody else just has to learn to accomodate a different culture and rape must be redefined to harmonize with the everyday religious observances of that culture that culture.
Ya know. It's hard to feel sorry for people who see the train wreck coming and just don't bother to put on the brakes.
You assume it wasn't a muslim girl who got raped? I heard it was an asian girl so so much for assumptions.
BTW this has nothing to do with islam. It's asian gangs vs black gangs.
read #11
Many of the "Asians" in England are Muslim Pakistanis.
"Many of the "Asians" in England are Muslim Pakistanis."
And many are Hindus.
and you assume it wasn't blacks who carried out the rape, and not asians? I don't see it on any news site. They mention that it is a problem between two race communities, but they are too PC to specify race in any of the incidents. They describe everything in terms of "youths did this", "youths did that".
Instead of islam you could have blamed rap music
This sentence is 6 words too long.
I never blamed this on Islam; I was just pointing out that this statement of yours wasn't necessarily entirely true:
BTW this has nothing to do with islam. It's asian gangs vs black gangs.
The Asians (whichever side they were on in the conflict) could very well have been Muslims. I just wanted to make sure you were aware that "Asian" is sometimes used differently in Britain.
I am sure some of them are, but from the pictures it looks to me that this is youth gangs with nothing better to do and egos to uphold.
Sorry if I seemed a bit snappy, I am having a bad day.
you're probably thinking of Brixton.
Multi-culturalism hard at work.
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