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Tag: Riot

  • Jerusalem Riot Disbanded by Israeli Police

    Israeli police mobilized at a sensitive holy site in Jerusalem Wednesday, employing tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse a riotous protest formed by Palestinian Muslims, who were attempting to block Jews from entering the compound.

    Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said that the unruly mob threw stones and firecrackers from atop the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism. To Muslims, The Temple Mount is known as the “Noble Sanctuary” and is regarded as Islam’s third-holiest site. Israel captured the compound along with the rest of east Jerusalem from Jordan during a 1967 war, and skirmishes still occur at the site.

    Jews typically worship at the Western Wall, and while Israel allows them to climb the Temple Mount for visits, they aren’t permitted to pray at the site. The riot started when some Islamic worshippers barricaded themselves inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque to “defend” the site from Jewish groups, according to Sheikh Azzam Tamimi, head of the Waqf, the Islamic authority that manages the Temple Mount. Jewish pilgrimages at times foster rumors that Israel is planning to take over the site.

    Here is some raw footage of the situation in Jerusalem as it escalated:

    Tamimi commented that roughly 30 people suffered from tear gas inhalation or had been hit by rubber-coated bullets, though none of the injuries appeared to be life-threatening.

    Jews historically gather at the Western Wall during the Passover holiday, and police restricted access to the adjacent Temple Mount after Wednesday’s clash. Jews see the compound as the site where the two biblical Jewish Temples stood, and believe that one day a third Temple will be constructed. Muslims on the other hand believe that the golden dome of the shrine, called Dome of the Rock, holds the rock where the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven. The site has been the center of religious and territorial conflict between Israel and its surrounding Arab neighbors.

    Tensions in the area had already been rising due to the recent shooting of an Israeli police officer who was en route to celebrate the Passover holiday with his family in the West Bank.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Thailand Declares State Of Emergency; Opposition Stands Firm

    This week, Thailand declared a state of emergency in Bangkok amid intense political unrest.

    The government has issued a 60-day clampdown which gives them the right to issue curfews, censor the media and use military force against the public if necessary. The Thai government did, however, say that it does not intend to use force against protesters, even though protesters have been disrupting the capital Bangkok for weeks now.

    Demonstrators in Thailand are pushing to overthrow Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. The demonstrations, which started back in November, have left at least nine people dead and over 450 more wounded said Thai authorities.

    Ever since Shinawatra started office she has been viewed as a controversial figure. Her billionaire brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, was ran out of the country in 2006 after accusations of corruption. A large percentage of the Thai population view her as a “puppet” who is simply doing the bidding of her brother.

    In an attempt to calm anti-government protesters Prime Minister Shinawatra dissolved the parliament and has agreed to new elections on Feb. 2. Her actions have proven insufficient — protesters are demanding that she leave office and have a “people’s council” oversee a new election.

    On Saturday, Thailand’s main opposition party said it would boycott the February elections, reaffirming the position of the anti government protesters. “The election on Feb. 2 is not the solution for the country,” said  Mr. Abhisit Vejjajiva, a former prime minister and opposition leader, “It will not lead to reform.” The opposition believes that the election will only result in the “same old power grab” by the ruling party.

    For now, Army commander Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha said they are monitoring the situation to see whether the state of emergency will ease the violence. Those who are opposing the prime minister have refused to negotiate but Prayuth says he is in favor of discussions that will result in peace.

    Image via YouTube

  • Moscow Riot Ensues After Stabbing of Ethnic Russian Man

    Yegor Shcherbakov was an ethnic Russian man who was returning to his home in Moscow on Sunday night who, after a dispute with a North Caucasus man over Shcherbakov’s girlfriend, was stabbed to death. Shcherbakov’s death sparked a race-related riot, with hundreds of protesters invading Biryulyovo, a working-class area of southern Moscow, targeting a fruit warehouse where the suspected killer supposedly worked.

    Tensions were already high between ethnic Russians and the migrant workers that populate the mostly-Muslim North Caucasus region. Many ethnic Russians think ill of the migrants, whom they often accuse of raising the crime rate and of taking jobs away from ethnic Russian people. Many people gathered at a market place near Biryulyovo, voicing their support of the riots as protesters turned over cars, smashed windows, and threw trash cans, as well as invading the warehouse. Hundreds of protesters were detained, but only two were arrested, and seventy more were fined.

    These anti-migrant riots have ignited a strange response from Russian police; where they failed to arrest the non-migrant rioters, they made up for by arresting the migrant workers who were threatened. The warehouse that was raided and destroyed by the rioters was shut down for using migrant labor, and thousands of migrant workers have been detained or arrested by the police as a result of the riots.

    Fear of repeated incidents similar to the 2010 Moscow riots by soccer fans and North Caucasus natives over the killing of an ethnic Russian man seems to be the source of this strange response. Many ethnic Russians seem complicate, if not downright pleased, by this backlash against migrant workers; retiree Elvira Ablosimova referred to the rioters as “patriots,” and said that their “little riot… attracted attention (to the issue).” The issue being the commonly held belief that migrant workers are in cahoots with politicians and employers to slight ethnic Russians from job opportunities.

    The actual stabber has yet to be found, but thousands of migrant workers are still detained at this time.

    [Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.]

  • Walmart Food Stamps, EBT Glitch Empties Shelves

    If a temporary glitch incorrectly showed that there were no restrictions to your bank account, would you proceed to max out the card with unlimited merchandise? A similar situation involving the EBT system for food stamp benefits took place at the following two Walmart locations: Mansfield, Louisiana, and Springhill, Louisiana.

    According to Springhill Police Chief Will Lynd, “I saw people drag out eight to ten grocery carts. It was definitely worse than Black Friday. It was worse than anything we had ever seen in this town. There was no food left on any of the shelves, and no meat left. The grocery part of Walmart was totally decimated.”

    Shoppers continued pounding store clerks with carts full of merchandise until Saturday at roughly 9 p.m. CT. At that time, a Walmart employee made an announcement over the intercom explaining that the complications derived from the EBT system had been resolved where the computers were able to show accurate balance amounts. Shopping carts loaded down with every imaginable food item were left vacant in the aisles.

    Springhill Police Chief Will Lynd surmised that situation. “At that point in time, they knew the jig was up and they couldn’t purchase what they wanted to,” he said.

    Shopper Stan Garcia said, “That’s plain theft, that’s stealing that’s all I got to say about it.”

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klqqfaZg1wE

    While the situation in Louisiana left many store clerks with an unprecedented amount of unnecessary work, employees at the Walmart in Philadelphia, Mississippi, became fearful when a small riot broke out according to the Clarion-Ledger. When the EBT cards were not working, many of these grocery shoppers left the store without paying for goods.

    Walmart spokeswoman Kayla Whaling talked with KSLA-TV about handling the situation, and choosing the best avenue to ensure safety for the customers.

    “For the safety of our customers we did make a management decision to close the store. We’re looking into everything; looking at surveillance video and working with the local police,” Kayla Whaling said.

    Seventeen states were affected by this EBT system glitch, and people were unable to purchase groceries as a result.

    [Images Via YouTube]

  • Ten Cent Beer Night: Famous Riot Remembered On 39th Anniversary

    Does ten cent beer night ring a bell to you? It should if you’re a baseball fan, or over the age of 45.

    Today is the 39th anniversary of one of the worst riots in baseball history – Ten Cent Beer Night. It happened at Cleveland Stadium in a game between the Cleveland Indians and Texas Rangers on June 4, 1974.

    In an attempt to attract more fans, the Cleveland Indians decided to offer ten cent beers. The beers contained 12 fluid oz. of 3.2 percent alcohol with a limit of six per customer. Even with such low alcoholic content, many fans became drunk and belligerent as the night went on. In the ninth inning, a drunk fan had run out onto the field attempting to steal an outfielder Jeff Burrough’s hat. Needless to say, things got out of control quickly. The teams and the fans converged on the field in a massive brawl that saw many players and fans injured.

    After the event, you would think that the stadium would be done with ten cent beer night. But alas, the stadium went ahead with the promotion, but with some strict parameters in place. On the next ten cent beer night, staff were only allowed to serve two beers per person.

    Since then, the ten cent beer night has become somewhat of a legend among baseball fans. It even got its own ballad from “Yet Another String Band:”

    [h/t: Wikipedia] [Image: Homage]

  • Foxconn Riot Ends With Injuries and Arrests

    Workers at Foxconn’s Tiayuan plant in Northern China rioted Sunday evening, injuring 40 people and resulting in several arrests.

    The riot was made up of about 2,000 people and took place outside of the workers’ dormitories. The cause of the riot is not certain, though The Next Web reports that Baidu posts claim the violence started when security guards began hitting a worker.

    It is also unclear how much damage was done to the facility. The Next Web states that the Tiayuan facility is the same one infiltrated by an undercover journalist earlier this month to document the working conditions. That reporter worked on assembling parts for the iPhone 5 during his time there, meaning these riots could conceivably delay the shipment of more iPhone 5s.

    This isn’t the first time Foxconn has seen a riot at one of its city-sized plants. In June of this year workers at Foxconn’s Chengdu plant rioted after workers accosted security guards in the worker dorms.

    Foxconn is a Chinese manufacturer that is well-known for manufacturing Apple’s iPhones and iPhone parts. The company in the past has been criticized for its working conditions and for the multiple suicides committed by its workers. Foxconn has recently committed to cutting workers’ long hours and improving safety in their facilities.

    Below is a video taken during the event, though the hectic nature of the footage and poor lighting make it nearly impossible to see what is happening. The second video appears to have been taken after the riot, and shows a bit of the aftermath, including the large police presence.

  • Foxconn Factory Riot Leads To Multiple Arrests

    A riot at Foxconn’s Chengdu plant in Sichuan, China earlier this week led to dozens of arrests, according to Chinese news sources. The exact cause of the riot is unknown, but there appear to have been several hundred workers involved.

    According to Taiwan’s Want China Times, security guards attempted to stop a suspected thief in one of the men’s dormitories on the plant’s campus. Some workers who had grievances against the plant’s security staff stepped in to hinder the guards. The scuffle quickly turned into a full-blown riot. As many as a thousand workers got in on the action, causing significant amounts of damage to the facilities. Foxconn officials quickly called police, though it took about two hours to settle things back down. Dozens of workers were arrested.

    Foxconn is a major electronics manufacturer, and is best known for contracting with Apple to assemble a variety of their most popular products, including the iPhone and iPad. The company has been in the news several times this year over allegations of low wages and poor working conditions, though Apple and Foxconn appear to be taking steps to improve the situation.

  • UK Man Jailed For Inciting Riot Via Blackberry

    21 year old Sam Lowe plead guilty to charges of inciting violent disorder and has been jailed for 3.3 years by a UK court. Apparently, Lowe sent messages to 160 people last year as they gathered in Nottingham city centre in August. He was prompting them to commit acts of violence with the messages.

    Detective Rich Henson from the Nottinghamshire Police comments on the events and subsequent conviction of Lowe:

    “Lowe broadcast his initial message to the 160 BlackBerry users he’d added to his contacts list and subsequently deleted it”

    “Not only did we manage to gain access to Lowe’s BlackBerry Messenger messages, we were able to retrieve his deleted messages, which are also very difficult to recover due to rigorous security settings.”

    Police caught onto Lowe after he texted the people involved encouraging them to rise up against the police:

    “It is impossible to quantify the impact and effects of the messages he sent that night. It is clear, however, that this was an irresponsible and criminal act at a time when people were rising up against the police on a national scale.”

    There has been over 140 arrests related to the riot and so far, there’s been almost 90 convictions.

    Henson adds:

    “Let this be a clear warning to those criminals out there who think they are safe using BlackBerrys to orchestrate or commit crime. There is no where to hide.”