1 00:00:09,483 --> 00:00:11,523 [reporter] Have you any idea what caused the fire yet? 2 00:00:11,603 --> 00:00:13,923 [detective] No, we have no idea, we’re keeping very much an open mind. 3 00:00:14,003 --> 00:00:16,563 [reporter] But it has been suggested it may have been started deliberately. 4 00:00:16,643 --> 00:00:18,523 [detective] Well, that’s a possibility. 5 00:00:18,603 --> 00:00:23,403 The New Cross fire was started, it was not an accident. 6 00:00:24,163 --> 00:00:28,803 This whole thing was about youngsters being murdered. 7 00:00:28,883 --> 00:00:32,843 [Sandra Ruddock] I just remember kids burnt till they were pink. 8 00:00:32,923 --> 00:00:36,243 And a smell of burning flesh... 9 00:00:36,363 --> 00:00:37,963 that will go to my grave. 10 00:00:38,043 --> 00:00:40,803 [Alex Wheatle] The New Cross Fire, it just shocked everybody. 11 00:00:40,883 --> 00:00:43,883 We could all relate, because that could have been any one of us. 12 00:00:43,963 --> 00:00:47,523 You know, we were in parties all the time, so the horror, you can imagine, 13 00:00:47,603 --> 00:00:49,803 the horror, it’s really frightening. 14 00:00:49,883 --> 00:00:52,323 [Leila Hassan] When you went outside the house, 15 00:00:52,403 --> 00:00:56,403 your mind had to kind of be a young person in a party 16 00:00:56,483 --> 00:00:58,443 and being burnt alive in a house 17 00:00:58,523 --> 00:01:01,683 and that of course, just fuels more anger and more rage. 18 00:01:03,883 --> 00:01:08,043 [Sybil Phoenix] Why haven’t parliament said anything? 19 00:01:08,123 --> 00:01:10,483 Children have been burnt. 20 00:01:10,563 --> 00:01:13,883 Not West Indians, Black British! 21 00:01:13,963 --> 00:01:15,963 That is what I want said! 22 00:01:16,963 --> 00:01:18,843 They are burning our children! 23 00:01:20,323 --> 00:01:22,403 ["New Crass Massahkah" by Linton Kwesi Johnson plays] 24 00:01:36,283 --> 00:01:37,523 [crowd chatter] 25 00:01:37,603 --> 00:01:40,283 Our people united We'll never be defeated 26 00:01:40,363 --> 00:01:43,283 Our people united We'll never be defeated 27 00:01:43,363 --> 00:01:45,243 -What do we want? -[people] Freedom! 28 00:01:45,323 --> 00:01:47,323 [Christopher Icha] My name is Christopher Icha 29 00:01:47,403 --> 00:01:50,323 In 1981, I was 16. 30 00:01:50,403 --> 00:01:53,843 and I remember going to college and somebody came and said, 31 00:01:53,923 --> 00:01:56,323 "There's a march going on for the New Cross fire." 32 00:01:57,603 --> 00:02:00,603 Instantly, we all came out of our lessons, 33 00:02:00,683 --> 00:02:02,083 jumped on the bus, 34 00:02:03,443 --> 00:02:06,323 sea of Black people was there already. 35 00:02:06,403 --> 00:02:08,763 [reporter] Today, after weeks of growing resentment 36 00:02:08,843 --> 00:02:11,843 at what is seen as police failure to bring charges, 37 00:02:11,923 --> 00:02:14,643 Black groups staged a protest march through London 38 00:02:14,763 --> 00:02:16,443 [Christopher Icha] It was an eye opener. 39 00:02:16,483 --> 00:02:20,363 That’s where my political life really began. 40 00:02:20,443 --> 00:02:22,603 Was the first march I ever went on. 41 00:02:22,643 --> 00:02:25,923 [dub reggae music] 42 00:02:33,443 --> 00:02:37,603 I grew up in Kennington, which is an area about a mile and a half, 43 00:02:37,643 --> 00:02:39,483 maybe two miles from Brixton. 44 00:02:41,843 --> 00:02:44,843 We had a sound system, we had a group of friends, 45 00:02:45,923 --> 00:02:50,363 and most Saturdays, we’d be playing out on the street to test them, 46 00:02:50,443 --> 00:02:51,603 stringing up the sound. 47 00:02:51,683 --> 00:02:54,603 I was like... I was the technician guy, yeah. [laughs] 48 00:02:54,683 --> 00:02:58,443 So I’d be soldering wires together, and that was our life. 49 00:03:02,683 --> 00:03:06,043 Loads of fun. The sound system days were the best fun 50 00:03:06,163 --> 00:03:10,803 You’re enjoying yourself, you’re not having to focus 51 00:03:10,883 --> 00:03:13,763 about this outside shadow world. 52 00:03:13,843 --> 00:03:15,403 [indistinct children chatter] 53 00:03:17,243 --> 00:03:19,243 Kennington was a very racist area. 54 00:03:19,323 --> 00:03:21,243 You know, "Niggers go home." 55 00:03:21,323 --> 00:03:22,723 NF on the walls. 56 00:03:23,883 --> 00:03:25,763 You saw that everywhere. 57 00:03:25,843 --> 00:03:28,763 Even the little children would sing songs, 58 00:03:28,843 --> 00:03:31,643 "Nig nog gollywog, go back to Brixton." 59 00:03:31,723 --> 00:03:34,843 That’s how I found out what Brixton was, from that song they used to sing. 60 00:03:34,923 --> 00:03:37,963 "Nig nog gollywog, go back to Brixton." 61 00:03:38,043 --> 00:03:40,923 [indistinct chatter] 62 00:03:41,003 --> 00:03:43,003 My name is Sheldon Thomas. 63 00:03:43,123 --> 00:03:46,723 Me and Chris met in Kennington, and he was seven, I was six. 64 00:03:46,803 --> 00:03:50,723 We were a close knit family, all of us were first generation, 65 00:03:50,803 --> 00:03:52,243 born to west Indian parents, 66 00:03:52,323 --> 00:03:57,203 and most of us had suffered some form of racial abuse as kids. 67 00:03:57,283 --> 00:03:59,643 So we could all understand each other 68 00:03:59,723 --> 00:04:01,643 because of what we was going through. 69 00:04:02,563 --> 00:04:04,483 We lived in a block of flats... 70 00:04:04,563 --> 00:04:08,243 and they were being redeveloped, 'cause they were falling apart basically. 71 00:04:10,723 --> 00:04:13,163 So we all kind of moved out at the same time. 72 00:04:15,203 --> 00:04:18,723 Moving to Brixton was like moving to a whole new country 73 00:04:18,803 --> 00:04:21,363 that was like, not even a country, a galaxy. 74 00:04:21,403 --> 00:04:23,723 It was like moving to a whole new planet. 75 00:04:23,803 --> 00:04:25,963 It was completely different. 76 00:04:30,283 --> 00:04:32,283 Everything was colorful. 77 00:04:32,963 --> 00:04:34,843 There was music everywhere. 78 00:04:34,963 --> 00:04:36,483 [indistinct chatter] 79 00:04:36,563 --> 00:04:38,923 And everybody spoke with a Jamaican accent. 80 00:04:40,403 --> 00:04:44,283 It was just so uplifting. You didn’t have to... hide. 81 00:04:44,403 --> 00:04:47,123 I didn’t have to run no gauntlet no more. 82 00:04:49,963 --> 00:04:53,683 [reporter] Brixton, where more than 20,000 West Indians now live 83 00:04:53,763 --> 00:04:56,083 It’s always been a flourishing trade center, 84 00:04:56,163 --> 00:05:00,403 and an area, which today, has all the color you’d see in a Caribbean market. 85 00:05:05,163 --> 00:05:07,083 [Alex Wheatle] My first memories of Brixton Market, 86 00:05:07,163 --> 00:05:10,723 well, um, I had to have a friend with me to identify what foods are what 87 00:05:10,803 --> 00:05:13,243 because me coming from the children’s home in Surrey, 88 00:05:13,283 --> 00:05:15,923 I sometimes... I didn’t know what a yam was 89 00:05:16,043 --> 00:05:19,283 or a green banana was or a dasheen was. 90 00:05:19,403 --> 00:05:21,803 The matoke comes from West Africa 91 00:05:21,843 --> 00:05:24,763 right, but they grow yam and that out there, 92 00:05:24,843 --> 00:05:27,483 and yam, green bananas... 93 00:05:27,563 --> 00:05:30,683 okra. You know, okra is a thing that you put in your dinner. 94 00:05:31,203 --> 00:05:35,203 [Ros Griffiths] They have a saying that it takes a village to raise a child. 95 00:05:35,283 --> 00:05:37,843 And I was very much part of that village. 96 00:05:37,963 --> 00:05:40,163 ["Could You Be Loved" by Bob Marley plays] 97 00:05:42,643 --> 00:05:45,643 My name is Ros Griffiths, and in 1981, 98 00:05:45,723 --> 00:05:48,603 I was about 15 coming onto 16. 99 00:05:48,683 --> 00:05:51,563 Brixton is where I became of age. 100 00:05:51,643 --> 00:05:53,483 ♪ Could you be loved? ♪ 101 00:05:54,523 --> 00:05:55,563 [indistinct children chatter] 102 00:05:55,643 --> 00:05:57,523 ♪ And be loved? ♪ 103 00:05:57,603 --> 00:05:59,803 Growing up on a council estate, 104 00:05:59,883 --> 00:06:02,803 it was vibrant, there were people that looked like me. 105 00:06:02,883 --> 00:06:06,003 I could play out with my friends, we had fun. 106 00:06:06,083 --> 00:06:07,603 ♪ Don't let them fool ya ♪ 107 00:06:07,683 --> 00:06:10,643 One thing for sure, morning, noon, and night, 108 00:06:10,723 --> 00:06:11,923 reggae music would be played. 109 00:06:12,003 --> 00:06:15,363 ♪ Love would never Leave us alone ♪ 110 00:06:15,443 --> 00:06:18,443 ♪ A-in the darkness Ya must come out to light ♪ 111 00:06:19,963 --> 00:06:22,563 [Alex Wheatle] When I first heard "Could You Be Loved" by Bob Marley, 112 00:06:22,643 --> 00:06:26,483 for me, that made me reflect back on my own life 113 00:06:26,563 --> 00:06:29,283 and what I had experienced all throughout my childhood. 114 00:06:29,363 --> 00:06:30,563 Could I be loved? 115 00:06:30,643 --> 00:06:33,643 ♪ Could you be loved? ♪ 116 00:06:33,723 --> 00:06:36,483 But then I’d be up again, you know. 117 00:06:36,563 --> 00:06:39,523 bouncin' on the street, feeling confident again. 118 00:06:39,603 --> 00:06:42,963 "You know what? I'm valuable. I can be loved." 119 00:06:43,043 --> 00:06:45,563 You know, it was very important for me, that song. 120 00:06:45,643 --> 00:06:47,323 ♪ We've got a mind of our own ♪ 121 00:06:47,403 --> 00:06:51,163 ♪ So go to hell if what You're thinking is not right ♪ 122 00:06:51,243 --> 00:06:54,243 [Ros Griffiths] At the time, I was trying to figure out 123 00:06:54,323 --> 00:06:57,003 what kind of woman I needed to go forward and be. 124 00:06:57,083 --> 00:07:00,323 So I started to listen to the message. 125 00:07:00,403 --> 00:07:03,603 ♪ The road of life is rocky And you may stumble too ♪ 126 00:07:03,683 --> 00:07:07,643 Bob Marley, his music, his words, 127 00:07:07,723 --> 00:07:10,723 it was all about knowing where you’re coming from... 128 00:07:10,803 --> 00:07:14,803 in terms of who you are, as... as a people. 129 00:07:15,523 --> 00:07:18,203 [Sheldon Thomas] For many Black boys at that time, 130 00:07:18,283 --> 00:07:21,483 we were trying to find, "Where are we going to fit in?" 131 00:07:21,563 --> 00:07:25,243 And that’s the reason why Brixton became so prominent to us. 132 00:07:25,323 --> 00:07:28,083 Because we fit in to Brixton, 133 00:07:28,163 --> 00:07:30,923 the whole thinking of Jamaican life. 134 00:07:31,003 --> 00:07:32,683 [indistinct street chatter] 135 00:07:32,763 --> 00:07:36,403 [Leila Hassan] We squatted a Victorian town house in Mail Road, 136 00:07:36,483 --> 00:07:38,283 which is parallel with Railton Road. 137 00:07:39,003 --> 00:07:42,243 When we moved there, Brixton was a poor neighborhood. 138 00:07:42,323 --> 00:07:45,523 it was a rundown neighborhood, it was an immigrant neighborhood. 139 00:07:45,603 --> 00:07:48,283 In my social life, if I said I lived in Brixton, 140 00:07:48,363 --> 00:07:50,963 they’d be eyebrows raised. [laughs] 141 00:07:52,523 --> 00:07:55,003 ♪ I was born on the lane ♪ 142 00:07:55,083 --> 00:07:57,843 [reporter] For these young people, life on the streets of London is tough 143 00:07:57,923 --> 00:08:00,243 and view outsiders, particularly the police, 144 00:08:00,323 --> 00:08:01,683 with deep suspicion. 145 00:08:01,763 --> 00:08:04,483 They think of Railton Road, in the heart of Brixton, 146 00:08:04,563 --> 00:08:07,243 quite literally, as the frontline in a war zone. 147 00:08:07,323 --> 00:08:10,803 Outside tensions bring the Black community together there. 148 00:08:20,243 --> 00:08:22,163 [Leila Hassan] Railton Road was called the front line, 149 00:08:22,243 --> 00:08:27,203 I think, because it was a place of... resistance. 150 00:08:28,643 --> 00:08:30,243 You felt when you went down the front line 151 00:08:30,323 --> 00:08:33,803 that you were very much kind of in a Black stronghold. 152 00:08:33,883 --> 00:08:36,003 When you’re on the front line, you feel safe. 153 00:08:36,083 --> 00:08:39,363 You know, they feel together, they feel like this is their home 154 00:08:39,443 --> 00:08:42,683 There is no way that anybody's gonna take it away from them. 155 00:08:42,803 --> 00:08:45,283 [Christopher Icha] So the weed was there, the Jamaicans was there, 156 00:08:45,363 --> 00:08:48,083 the bars were there, and they had the club... 157 00:08:48,163 --> 00:08:49,443 Shepherds. 158 00:08:56,563 --> 00:09:00,443 Every Wednesday, every Friday, sound system... you would play there, 159 00:09:00,523 --> 00:09:01,563 so we’d always be there. 160 00:09:02,803 --> 00:09:05,083 Um... darkened spot. 161 00:09:05,163 --> 00:09:09,203 [chuckles] Two rooms, chockablock, sweat pouring out the place. 162 00:09:10,483 --> 00:09:14,803 Tune... My light, Gregory Isaacs! 163 00:09:14,923 --> 00:09:16,163 ♪ ...to make it quick ♪ 164 00:09:18,483 --> 00:09:20,043 ♪ Whom attend to the sick ♪ 165 00:09:20,123 --> 00:09:22,803 Yeah, man, that’s... that's what I'm saying, man. 166 00:09:22,923 --> 00:09:25,203 Can you imagine the vibe, the vibe there, 167 00:09:25,283 --> 00:09:28,443 the music, the food, and you’re crabbing down with your girl. 168 00:09:28,523 --> 00:09:30,803 ♪ Night nurse ♪ 169 00:09:30,883 --> 00:09:33,003 "Night Nurse," oh, we loved that song. 170 00:09:33,083 --> 00:09:34,763 That was called a rub down song. 171 00:09:34,803 --> 00:09:37,403 ♪ Tell her it's A case of emergency ♪ 172 00:09:38,283 --> 00:09:41,923 ♪ There's a patient By the name of Gregory ♪ 173 00:09:42,043 --> 00:09:44,323 [Peter Bleksley] One night we was to go on a raid, 174 00:09:44,403 --> 00:09:46,883 there was illegal blues party. 175 00:09:46,923 --> 00:09:51,683 They were illegal, in so much as people got charged for alcohol. 176 00:09:51,803 --> 00:09:55,203 This was regarded, almost as like crime of the century, 177 00:09:55,283 --> 00:09:57,643 and had to be stamped down upon. 178 00:09:57,763 --> 00:10:01,243 So we were briefed as to what to do. 179 00:10:01,323 --> 00:10:05,683 Which quite frankly, was just go and break up or smash up this party, 180 00:10:05,803 --> 00:10:11,123 and I was told to stick with a PC and not leave his side. 181 00:10:11,203 --> 00:10:15,563 This is... this is nigh on my first experience of policing. 182 00:10:15,683 --> 00:10:16,803 [sirens blare] 183 00:10:16,883 --> 00:10:18,563 -So we stormed in. -[record scratches] 184 00:10:19,563 --> 00:10:21,283 It was pandemonium. 185 00:10:21,363 --> 00:10:26,203 I saw little bags of cannabis being ditched by people onto the floor. 186 00:10:26,283 --> 00:10:30,563 And I saw police officers attributing them to whoever they fancied. 187 00:10:30,683 --> 00:10:33,123 "You’re nicked," and dragging them out. 188 00:10:33,203 --> 00:10:37,403 My PC, from inside his truncheon pocket, 189 00:10:37,483 --> 00:10:39,323 he pulled out a knitting needle. 190 00:10:39,403 --> 00:10:42,803 And then he went up to the speakers and pierced it 191 00:10:42,883 --> 00:10:46,163 right through the center of one speaker, 192 00:10:46,243 --> 00:10:50,363 went to the other big speaker and stuck it straight in. 193 00:10:50,443 --> 00:10:52,883 That would have rendered the speakers irreparable. 194 00:10:52,923 --> 00:10:57,803 He then stamped on just about each and every record, one by one. 195 00:10:57,883 --> 00:11:01,883 Slamming his size tens down on to the records. 196 00:11:03,443 --> 00:11:06,563 Well, for me in my hostel, in Elm Park, 197 00:11:06,683 --> 00:11:08,323 which is opposite Brixton prison, 198 00:11:08,403 --> 00:11:10,203 there was the house party. 199 00:11:11,443 --> 00:11:15,003 Some neighbor complained about the noise and the police came. 200 00:11:15,683 --> 00:11:20,483 They stormed in and arrested not just me, but many others. 201 00:11:21,683 --> 00:11:23,363 I remember sitting in a cell. 202 00:11:23,443 --> 00:11:25,843 And the owner of the sound system, 203 00:11:25,923 --> 00:11:27,363 he was a man called Trevor. 204 00:11:27,443 --> 00:11:29,243 He was in a cell next to me. 205 00:11:30,163 --> 00:11:31,883 I mean, I am fresh to Brixton, 206 00:11:31,963 --> 00:11:34,643 so I'm thinking, "Okay, they might want to scare us, 207 00:11:34,723 --> 00:11:36,483 they might want to intimidate us." 208 00:11:38,643 --> 00:11:40,843 And Trevor was a big guy. 209 00:11:40,923 --> 00:11:44,683 He was a big guy, I have no idea how many officers came to assault him. 210 00:11:44,763 --> 00:11:45,603 [cells unlock] 211 00:11:47,283 --> 00:11:49,163 The sound I heard from him, 212 00:11:49,243 --> 00:11:50,363 his voice... 213 00:11:51,003 --> 00:11:54,683 raging and flinching and wailing in pain. 214 00:11:56,923 --> 00:11:59,803 It's scarring to experience that. 215 00:12:02,043 --> 00:12:04,003 Never forgotten it, and I don’t think I ever will, 216 00:12:04,083 --> 00:12:07,563 you know, that was my first experience of real police violence. 217 00:12:10,403 --> 00:12:11,483 -[crowd clamoring] -[car horn honking] 218 00:12:11,603 --> 00:12:14,443 ♪ A suffering man in the ghetto ♪ 219 00:12:14,563 --> 00:12:17,843 ♪ He must carry this Heavy load now ♪ 220 00:12:17,923 --> 00:12:19,563 [reporter] Riot-equipped police are descending on 221 00:12:19,643 --> 00:12:21,163 the West Indian community in Bristol 222 00:12:21,243 --> 00:12:22,563 to try and quell what is probably 223 00:12:22,643 --> 00:12:25,163 the worst street violence the city has ever seen 224 00:12:25,243 --> 00:12:27,043 [reporter 2] The trouble began mid-afternoon 225 00:12:27,123 --> 00:12:29,723 when an angry crowd hurling bricks, bottles, slates, 226 00:12:29,803 --> 00:12:31,403 anything they could lay their hands on. 227 00:12:31,483 --> 00:12:33,363 Police had come to raid a café 228 00:12:33,443 --> 00:12:36,603 but the police decided to pull out and abandon the area. 229 00:12:37,483 --> 00:12:40,523 ♪ We want to see the light ♪ 230 00:12:40,603 --> 00:12:44,003 ♪ So we got to unite ♪ 231 00:12:44,083 --> 00:12:47,603 [Alex Wheatle] After the riots in Bristol, it made people think 232 00:12:47,683 --> 00:12:50,203 that wow, that the police actually withdrew, 233 00:12:50,283 --> 00:12:55,083 so if something kicks off in Brixton, would they do the same? 234 00:12:55,163 --> 00:12:56,403 [male] When you come down in such a force, 235 00:12:56,523 --> 00:12:59,043 it doesn’t look like you’re out to raid a café right? 236 00:12:59,123 --> 00:13:01,123 And you put the wrong impression on people. 237 00:13:01,203 --> 00:13:03,683 [reporter] The point being emphasized over and over again 238 00:13:03,763 --> 00:13:06,923 is that last night’s rampage was not a race riot. 239 00:13:07,003 --> 00:13:10,363 It was a boiling over of Black anger against the police. 240 00:13:10,443 --> 00:13:14,323 We are angry about it, and what I am saying is not a local thing. 241 00:13:15,283 --> 00:13:18,403 It’s a conspiracy with the government, and the police. 242 00:13:19,723 --> 00:13:20,883 [Leila Hassan] We were aware that there was 243 00:13:20,963 --> 00:13:24,203 a growing hostility to the police, that we did expect to blow. 244 00:13:24,283 --> 00:13:27,603 So Bristol for us, was a sign that that hostility 245 00:13:27,683 --> 00:13:29,363 was really coming to the fore. 246 00:13:33,403 --> 00:13:35,843 And then I think in '81, 247 00:13:35,923 --> 00:13:38,483 the atmosphere in Brixton after New Cross, 248 00:13:38,563 --> 00:13:41,003 feelings were running extremely high. 249 00:13:41,083 --> 00:13:43,003 [reporter] It's understood the report rules out, 250 00:13:43,083 --> 00:13:44,563 a racial motive for the blaze 251 00:13:44,643 --> 00:13:47,843 and it's unlikely that there will be any prosecutions. 252 00:13:47,923 --> 00:13:49,403 [Leila Hassan] We all know why. 253 00:13:49,523 --> 00:13:51,363 The police had round up Black youth 254 00:13:51,483 --> 00:13:54,563 in order to negate the racist attack theory. 255 00:13:54,643 --> 00:13:58,843 And that fuels more anger about how this fire was being treated 256 00:13:58,923 --> 00:14:01,803 and how we as Black people were being treated within the society. 257 00:14:01,883 --> 00:14:05,443 The New Cross fire happened on January the 18th. 258 00:14:05,523 --> 00:14:07,523 And on the 13th of March, 259 00:14:08,603 --> 00:14:11,963 the coroner told us that he was going to hold an inquest, 260 00:14:12,043 --> 00:14:14,043 in the interests of racial harmony. 261 00:14:14,603 --> 00:14:16,083 This is madness. 262 00:14:16,163 --> 00:14:18,083 How can we hold an inquest, we haven’t invest... 263 00:14:18,163 --> 00:14:20,283 you know, we’ve not fully investigated this. 264 00:14:20,363 --> 00:14:22,043 You made the case come forward 265 00:14:22,123 --> 00:14:23,963 and say for racial harmony. 266 00:14:24,043 --> 00:14:26,043 Racial who? How? 267 00:14:26,123 --> 00:14:28,323 The coroner called in the inquest early. 268 00:14:28,443 --> 00:14:30,283 I think it was an absolute knee-jerk reaction 269 00:14:30,363 --> 00:14:31,843 to the Black people's day of action. 270 00:14:31,923 --> 00:14:33,803 It's politics, isn't it? 271 00:14:33,883 --> 00:14:35,963 Thousands have been mobilized on this issue. 272 00:14:36,043 --> 00:14:38,963 We need to be shown to be doing something. We better get on with the inquest. 273 00:14:39,683 --> 00:14:41,723 I was laying in a hospital bed, 274 00:14:41,803 --> 00:14:45,563 one leg cocked up in the air, two arms hanging off the side of the bed. 275 00:14:45,643 --> 00:14:47,523 Can’t do anything. I can’t go on these marches, 276 00:14:47,603 --> 00:14:48,963 I can’t help anybody. 277 00:14:49,043 --> 00:14:50,923 How did I feel about it? 278 00:14:51,683 --> 00:14:54,163 I was mad. I was angry. 279 00:14:57,483 --> 00:14:58,643 [reporter] In the past few years, 280 00:14:58,723 --> 00:15:02,283 many people in London have warned of an increasingly hostile relationship 281 00:15:02,403 --> 00:15:05,523 between the police and the Black and Asian communities. 282 00:15:05,603 --> 00:15:07,003 [indistinct chatter] 283 00:15:07,083 --> 00:15:08,963 The biggest problem is sus, 284 00:15:09,043 --> 00:15:11,243 the controversial suspected persons charge, 285 00:15:11,323 --> 00:15:15,883 which allows police to arrest anyone they suspect is about to commit a crime. 286 00:15:15,963 --> 00:15:18,923 [Leila Hassan] Sus gave the police carte blanche really, 287 00:15:19,003 --> 00:15:22,643 and you could just feel... I mean, you could feel the... in the air, 288 00:15:22,723 --> 00:15:25,083 that it was getting tenser and tenser. 289 00:15:25,563 --> 00:15:27,523 -[questioned man] Nothing to say! -Okay. 290 00:15:27,603 --> 00:15:30,203 [interviewer] If a police officer calls a black man a nigger, 291 00:15:30,283 --> 00:15:31,963 shouldn’t he be dismissed? 292 00:15:32,043 --> 00:15:34,883 No! Why should... No. Indeed not. 293 00:15:34,963 --> 00:15:37,203 Like everything else, why should he... 294 00:15:37,283 --> 00:15:39,683 Why should he be dismissed for calling him a nigger? 295 00:15:39,763 --> 00:15:41,363 [interviewer] Because it’s a term of abuse. 296 00:15:41,443 --> 00:15:43,043 That’s a matter of opinion. 297 00:15:44,243 --> 00:15:45,923 [Cecil Gutzmore] Here was the Metropolitan police, 298 00:15:46,003 --> 00:15:49,603 in the aftermath of what had happened in Bristol the year before, 299 00:15:49,683 --> 00:15:51,723 thinking that what happened there 300 00:15:51,803 --> 00:15:54,283 couldn’t happen successfully in London 301 00:15:54,403 --> 00:15:58,483 days after this massive march of Black people, 302 00:15:58,563 --> 00:16:00,763 out of racist over-confidence, 303 00:16:00,843 --> 00:16:04,683 mounting this operation, named in celebration 304 00:16:04,763 --> 00:16:06,803 of a racist Margaret Thatcher speech. 305 00:16:06,883 --> 00:16:10,483 This country might be rather swamped by people with a different culture. 306 00:16:10,563 --> 00:16:14,083 [Peter Bleksley] As Operation Swamp was largely a stop and search operation, 307 00:16:14,163 --> 00:16:18,403 whereby every officer that could be cobbled together, 308 00:16:18,483 --> 00:16:21,523 was put out on to the streets of Brixton 309 00:16:21,603 --> 00:16:26,483 with the instructions that if it moved, stop it, and search it. 310 00:16:26,563 --> 00:16:30,683 [Len Adams] Our own view about the control of street crime 311 00:16:30,763 --> 00:16:33,843 is as many officers on the street as possible. 312 00:16:33,923 --> 00:16:37,083 [Juliet Alexander] It was almost like a show of strength. 313 00:16:37,163 --> 00:16:41,363 They said, "Whatever you think you are 314 00:16:41,443 --> 00:16:46,843 whatever you think your reasons for demanding justice, 315 00:16:46,923 --> 00:16:48,603 we are here to say that, you know, 316 00:16:48,683 --> 00:16:50,723 we can do what we want with you." 317 00:16:50,803 --> 00:16:54,083 It was as if the... the whole Black community 318 00:16:54,963 --> 00:16:58,723 was back against the wall, was on trial. 319 00:16:59,603 --> 00:17:02,163 [Alex Wheatle] At the height of Operation Swamp, 320 00:17:02,283 --> 00:17:05,203 there was one particular day I was stopped three times. 321 00:17:06,003 --> 00:17:08,963 The first time was when I walked down Brixton Hill. 322 00:17:09,043 --> 00:17:11,483 I was asked to empty my pockets. 323 00:17:11,563 --> 00:17:12,843 For no reason. 324 00:17:13,523 --> 00:17:16,603 They searched me. I went about my business. 325 00:17:16,683 --> 00:17:21,043 I signed on at the dole office. I came out. Then I was stopped again. 326 00:17:21,123 --> 00:17:24,963 They said they was looking for someone who fitted my description 327 00:17:25,043 --> 00:17:27,603 And then I was stopped again. 328 00:17:27,723 --> 00:17:30,803 I think I just looked into a jewelry shop or... or something, 329 00:17:30,843 --> 00:17:32,123 just looking at jewelry. 330 00:17:32,243 --> 00:17:34,043 They said that I was acting suspiciously. 331 00:17:35,323 --> 00:17:36,523 Suspiciously? What? 332 00:17:36,603 --> 00:17:38,843 I can’t even look into a jeweler's window? 333 00:17:39,763 --> 00:17:43,963 When people talk about Operation Swamp, sus, and all of that, 334 00:17:44,043 --> 00:17:48,563 what people are failing to understand is the brutality that comes with that. 335 00:17:48,603 --> 00:17:52,003 People think it's, "Oh, you know, I just want to check your pockets," 336 00:17:52,083 --> 00:17:53,803 It wasn't like that. 337 00:17:53,843 --> 00:17:56,723 When they stopped you, there was a punch first. 338 00:17:56,803 --> 00:17:59,443 [shouting] 339 00:17:59,523 --> 00:18:02,763 And that’s when I realized this is war. 340 00:18:02,843 --> 00:18:06,603 I am going to go out of my way to hurt you. 341 00:18:12,043 --> 00:18:14,043 My name is Stephen Margiotta. 342 00:18:14,123 --> 00:18:18,043 In 1981, I was a probation police officer 343 00:18:18,123 --> 00:18:19,923 at Brixton Police Station. 344 00:18:20,003 --> 00:18:24,203 I had been there about six months, after I finished at Hendon. 345 00:18:24,283 --> 00:18:26,243 -[street chatter] -It was warm, I remember that much 346 00:18:26,323 --> 00:18:28,483 because I was in shirt sleeves most of the week. 347 00:18:29,683 --> 00:18:31,963 Just like any other day, going to work. 348 00:18:32,043 --> 00:18:33,963 I just called up and accepted a call of, um, 349 00:18:34,043 --> 00:18:37,083 criminal damage further down Railton Road. 350 00:18:38,483 --> 00:18:40,763 [Sheldon Thomas] So that day, from the afternoon, 351 00:18:40,843 --> 00:18:41,963 all we talked about was Shepherds 352 00:18:42,043 --> 00:18:43,963 because we’re all dance hall people, innit? 353 00:18:45,203 --> 00:18:48,203 So on the Friday night, we was going to go loosen up. 354 00:18:48,283 --> 00:18:51,003 I made my way down to Railton Road. 355 00:18:51,083 --> 00:18:52,763 And then, I think I heard someone shouting. 356 00:18:52,843 --> 00:18:54,003 And I looked back down the road 357 00:18:54,083 --> 00:18:56,243 and I saw this guy come running towards me. 358 00:18:56,323 --> 00:19:00,963 Quite certain by even my naïve experience 359 00:19:01,043 --> 00:19:02,843 that he was being chased by somebody. 360 00:19:02,923 --> 00:19:06,003 And I thought this can’t be right, 361 00:19:06,083 --> 00:19:08,963 and I could see his shirt lifted up and he had a huge... 362 00:19:09,043 --> 00:19:10,683 huge gash in his back. 363 00:19:10,763 --> 00:19:12,123 It was bleeding. 364 00:19:12,243 --> 00:19:14,563 So, "Oh, bugger, what’s happened here?" 365 00:19:14,603 --> 00:19:16,003 I tried to talk to him. 366 00:19:16,123 --> 00:19:18,203 But I was immediately surrounded by people 367 00:19:18,283 --> 00:19:20,603 asking me what I was doing and why I was doing it, 368 00:19:20,723 --> 00:19:21,843 and what’s he done? 369 00:19:21,963 --> 00:19:24,123 And I got on the radio and I called the station, 370 00:19:24,203 --> 00:19:26,563 and I said that this guy was seriously hurt. 371 00:19:26,603 --> 00:19:29,763 Unless someone gets to him very soon, he’s going to die 372 00:19:29,843 --> 00:19:31,443 because he’s losing so much blood. 373 00:19:32,603 --> 00:19:34,443 Uh, and that was it, he was off again. 374 00:19:34,523 --> 00:19:36,523 I couldn’t chase him anymore. 375 00:19:37,363 --> 00:19:39,483 [Sheldon Thomas] We’re coming out of Shepherds Youth Center, 376 00:19:39,563 --> 00:19:41,603 walking down Atlantic Road. 377 00:19:41,723 --> 00:19:44,123 and then that’s when we saw the police 378 00:19:44,203 --> 00:19:48,123 surrounding a Black guy... who had been stabbed. 379 00:19:49,323 --> 00:19:53,523 and for us, the argument was take him to the hospital. 380 00:19:54,363 --> 00:19:56,123 I can’t remember how long later it was 381 00:19:56,243 --> 00:20:00,283 and the van unit called up and said that the van had been surrounded by people 382 00:20:00,363 --> 00:20:02,763 and assuming they were doing him harm, 383 00:20:02,843 --> 00:20:04,603 greater harm than had already been done to him. 384 00:20:05,843 --> 00:20:07,963 And then they asked for urgent assistance, 385 00:20:08,083 --> 00:20:09,683 and, uh... 386 00:20:10,363 --> 00:20:12,123 then it all kicked off from there. 387 00:20:12,203 --> 00:20:14,043 [indistinct police chatter] 388 00:20:14,123 --> 00:20:17,323 [Peter Bleksley] In the late afternoon, an urgent assistance call came up. 389 00:20:17,363 --> 00:20:20,363 Railton Road. Yeah, we’ll have a lump of that. 390 00:20:20,483 --> 00:20:21,443 [sirens wail] 391 00:20:21,523 --> 00:20:25,323 When we got there, it was bit of a chaotic scene. 392 00:20:25,363 --> 00:20:27,843 There were some angry people. 393 00:20:27,923 --> 00:20:31,043 Nobody was really clear what was going on. 394 00:20:31,123 --> 00:20:33,043 "Leave him alone. Blah, blah, blah." 395 00:20:33,123 --> 00:20:35,243 You know, that kind of shouting thing. 396 00:20:35,323 --> 00:20:38,083 But then somebody threw a brick. 397 00:20:39,723 --> 00:20:41,483 And then I threw a brick. 398 00:20:42,203 --> 00:20:43,803 And then we all threw bricks. 399 00:20:43,843 --> 00:20:46,323 Things started getting slung at us, 400 00:20:46,363 --> 00:20:50,123 bits of rubble, the occasional half a house brick. 401 00:20:50,243 --> 00:20:52,363 A little skirmish took place. 402 00:20:52,443 --> 00:20:54,283 Nothing serious, I would say. 403 00:20:54,363 --> 00:20:56,763 But that’s when I think people started saying, 404 00:20:56,843 --> 00:20:59,323 "We are going to have to do something, we can’t have this no more." 405 00:21:01,003 --> 00:21:04,683 Not very long into this, a call came up, 406 00:21:04,763 --> 00:21:07,923 which was issued from Brixton police station, 407 00:21:08,043 --> 00:21:13,123 that told us to patrol in a convoy in a never-ending loop, 408 00:21:13,203 --> 00:21:17,083 which went down Railton Road, back down a bit of Brixton High Street, 409 00:21:17,123 --> 00:21:18,443 -and round again. -[police siren] 410 00:21:18,523 --> 00:21:22,763 And we did that, quite literally, for hours. 411 00:21:22,843 --> 00:21:26,083 At one point, a lady flags us down. 412 00:21:26,123 --> 00:21:27,603 -So we stop. -[indistinct radio chatter] 413 00:21:27,723 --> 00:21:30,803 One of our colleagues opened the back door, 414 00:21:30,843 --> 00:21:34,603 and she slid a crate of light ales. 415 00:21:34,683 --> 00:21:37,683 Turns out she was the landlady of a pub. 416 00:21:37,763 --> 00:21:40,763 She said, "There you go boys, thank you very much for what you’re doing, 417 00:21:40,843 --> 00:21:42,283 have a drink on me." 418 00:21:42,363 --> 00:21:44,483 "Thank you very much," we thought. 419 00:21:45,523 --> 00:21:47,523 And off we went again. 420 00:21:47,603 --> 00:21:49,363 Round and round and round. 421 00:21:49,483 --> 00:21:52,603 Antagonizing people endlessly. 422 00:21:52,683 --> 00:21:57,363 [EKG beeps and flatlines] 423 00:21:57,443 --> 00:22:00,283 [reporter] The violence had broken out in Brixton in south London, 424 00:22:00,363 --> 00:22:03,123 when about a hundred Black youths surrounded policeman, 425 00:22:03,203 --> 00:22:05,723 questioning a youth who had been stabbed in the back. 426 00:22:05,803 --> 00:22:08,003 Community leaders have complained of tension 427 00:22:08,083 --> 00:22:11,803 between Brixton’s Black community and the police for several years now. 428 00:22:12,963 --> 00:22:16,083 [Alex Wheatle] That morning, on the 11th, I got up early. 429 00:22:16,163 --> 00:22:20,363 And I walked down to Brixton from about 9:00 430 00:22:20,443 --> 00:22:22,723 and even from that point in the morning, 431 00:22:22,803 --> 00:22:24,763 there was an increased presence of the police. 432 00:22:24,843 --> 00:22:27,963 Things were getting serious, they were everywhere now. 433 00:22:30,283 --> 00:22:33,323 [Patrick Bishop] It was Saturday morning, I went into work as usual 434 00:22:33,403 --> 00:22:36,403 and was told there had been some trouble overnight in Brixton 435 00:22:36,483 --> 00:22:39,723 and I was sent down there with a photographer, Neil Libert. 436 00:22:40,563 --> 00:22:44,203 When we got there, you could sense that trouble was in the air. 437 00:22:44,283 --> 00:22:46,203 There were lots of police on the street. 438 00:22:46,283 --> 00:22:50,163 And quite a lot of young men looking at them suspiciously 439 00:22:50,243 --> 00:22:52,323 There was a sort of standoff, if you like. 440 00:22:52,403 --> 00:22:54,563 [Alex Wheatle] I think it was round about lunchtime 441 00:22:54,643 --> 00:22:59,203 that I saw a wave of people moving towards Atlantic Road. 442 00:22:59,283 --> 00:23:01,923 And when I got there, there seemed to be this standoff. 443 00:23:02,003 --> 00:23:05,443 There was a swell of Black people by that point. 444 00:23:05,523 --> 00:23:07,003 [indistinct chatter] 445 00:23:07,083 --> 00:23:09,763 [Patrick Bishop] Neil and I were standing in Atlantic Road 446 00:23:09,883 --> 00:23:12,403 when suddenly out of nowhere, 447 00:23:12,483 --> 00:23:15,283 these two thuggish-looking guys 448 00:23:15,363 --> 00:23:19,323 darted into the crowd and grabbed ahold of a young Black man. 449 00:23:19,403 --> 00:23:22,123 We immediately realized these were undercover policemen. 450 00:23:22,203 --> 00:23:24,643 And with the immortal words, "You’re nicked," 451 00:23:24,723 --> 00:23:27,603 they dragged him towards a police van. 452 00:23:28,483 --> 00:23:30,323 [Alex Wheatle] And the police were very arrogant 453 00:23:30,403 --> 00:23:33,723 about the way they were manhandling this, um, Black man, 454 00:23:33,843 --> 00:23:37,163 and I don’t think they expected what happened next. 455 00:23:37,243 --> 00:23:40,163 Because by that time, there were so many of us, 456 00:23:40,243 --> 00:23:43,643 that there was a rush to free this man who was arrested. 457 00:23:44,523 --> 00:23:46,483 [Patrick Bishop] The police were completely taken by surprise 458 00:23:46,563 --> 00:23:49,003 I think they weren’t expecting this reaction at all. 459 00:23:49,083 --> 00:23:52,243 It was an incredibly stupid thing to do. 460 00:23:52,323 --> 00:23:54,403 It really was asking for trouble, 461 00:23:54,483 --> 00:23:56,323 and they certainly got trouble. 462 00:23:56,443 --> 00:24:00,323 -[reggae music plays] -[people clamoring] 463 00:24:00,403 --> 00:24:03,003 We were in the garage playing our music, 464 00:24:03,083 --> 00:24:05,323 testing our sounds, building our amps. 465 00:24:06,643 --> 00:24:09,243 And then, we heard a helicopter... 466 00:24:10,243 --> 00:24:12,643 virtually on the roof of my house. [laughs] 467 00:24:12,723 --> 00:24:13,883 That’s what it sounded like. 468 00:24:13,963 --> 00:24:17,723 So we opened the garage to look what this noise was. 469 00:24:17,843 --> 00:24:21,043 And then number two bus come down his road. 470 00:24:21,123 --> 00:24:22,683 No buses never come down Chris’s road. 471 00:24:22,803 --> 00:24:24,403 It’s a side road. 472 00:24:24,483 --> 00:24:26,003 So we knew something was up. 473 00:24:26,083 --> 00:24:29,203 So we just switched off all the equipment, 474 00:24:29,283 --> 00:24:31,243 went out to Brixton... 475 00:24:31,323 --> 00:24:34,523 When we got to the high street, 476 00:24:34,603 --> 00:24:35,923 Wow. 477 00:24:36,923 --> 00:24:38,923 I... I have to say... 478 00:24:39,003 --> 00:24:42,083 it’s one of the proudest moments in our life. 479 00:24:42,163 --> 00:24:44,443 -[indistinct shouting] -Hundreds of us, 480 00:24:44,523 --> 00:24:46,243 all my age group, 481 00:24:46,323 --> 00:24:49,163 15, 16, 17, 18 year old... 482 00:24:50,203 --> 00:24:51,443 Hundreds. 483 00:24:51,523 --> 00:24:55,803 ♪ Are you ready to stand up And fight the revolution? ♪ 484 00:24:57,083 --> 00:25:00,963 ♪ Do you know what it means To have a revolution? ♪ 485 00:25:01,043 --> 00:25:02,283 I didn’t know what it meant. 486 00:25:02,363 --> 00:25:04,003 But I found out. [laughs] 487 00:25:07,283 --> 00:25:11,043 I was so shocked and surprised but excited at the same time. 488 00:25:11,123 --> 00:25:13,923 You see people turning over cars, and go and help. 489 00:25:14,523 --> 00:25:16,603 You just join in, you know? 490 00:25:16,683 --> 00:25:19,163 People are smashing shop windows so you join in. 491 00:25:19,243 --> 00:25:21,323 You pick up a brick and you smash some shop windows. 492 00:25:21,403 --> 00:25:25,723 ♪ Are you ready to stand up And fight the revolution? ♪ 493 00:25:27,323 --> 00:25:29,963 [reporter] From early afternoon, gangs of youths, some White, 494 00:25:30,043 --> 00:25:32,763 but predominantly Black, held the police at bay. 495 00:25:32,843 --> 00:25:35,243 Petrol bombs, stones, and bottles were thrown, 496 00:25:35,323 --> 00:25:38,243 buildings and vehicles wrecked and set on fire. 497 00:25:38,323 --> 00:25:40,603 The only way to defuse the situation 498 00:25:40,723 --> 00:25:44,603 is by decreasing the presence of police within the area at the present time. 499 00:25:44,723 --> 00:25:47,483 Because they see the police as their target 500 00:25:47,563 --> 00:25:50,123 [Brian Fairbairn] They want police withdrawal, you see, 501 00:25:50,203 --> 00:25:52,163 -and I'm not prepared to do that. -[reporter] Why not? 502 00:25:52,243 --> 00:25:54,523 Why not? I mean, is that not a reasonable... 503 00:25:54,603 --> 00:25:57,523 No because I think if, um, if we withdraw 504 00:25:57,603 --> 00:26:00,563 then we shall allow them to do as they wish. 505 00:26:00,683 --> 00:26:03,443 There is looting going on already and I'm not prepared to extend that. 506 00:26:04,483 --> 00:26:06,043 [man] What they wanted us to do, all right, 507 00:26:06,123 --> 00:26:08,683 they wanted us to disperse, but we live in Brixton! 508 00:26:08,763 --> 00:26:10,723 They don’t live in Brixton, okay? 509 00:26:10,803 --> 00:26:13,803 So we asked them to disperse, but they wouldn’t disperse. 510 00:26:17,243 --> 00:26:22,043 We got called in and all hell was breaking out. 511 00:26:24,563 --> 00:26:28,243 The windows on our people carrier disappeared fairly quickly. 512 00:26:28,323 --> 00:26:31,523 Once the windows had gone, what we did, 513 00:26:31,603 --> 00:26:36,123 was duck our heads down, so that we were beneath the windows. 514 00:26:36,203 --> 00:26:38,963 So hopefully we wouldn’t be hit if anything else came in. 515 00:26:39,043 --> 00:26:42,043 And we would stick our hands out with our truncheons, 516 00:26:42,123 --> 00:26:44,723 and we would flail them and batter ‘em 517 00:26:44,803 --> 00:26:47,123 and would you feel it whack something from time to time. 518 00:26:47,203 --> 00:26:49,123 You didn’t know if that was a person or a thing. 519 00:26:49,203 --> 00:26:52,523 This was a war zone, we’re in a battle for our lives here. 520 00:26:52,643 --> 00:26:55,523 And if someone’s going to cop for it, so be it. 521 00:26:55,643 --> 00:26:58,123 That was my attitude... for a while. 522 00:26:59,963 --> 00:27:04,043 [Clive Driscoll] I can only describe as we drove into Cold Harbor Lane, 523 00:27:04,123 --> 00:27:06,283 it was like watching a sea, 524 00:27:06,363 --> 00:27:09,763 a crowd that were, you know, stoked up. 525 00:27:09,843 --> 00:27:12,523 And you could almost feel the tension. 526 00:27:12,643 --> 00:27:15,603 You could feel almost hysteria. 527 00:27:18,083 --> 00:27:21,123 That’s really when the missiles started. 528 00:27:22,603 --> 00:27:25,283 Bricks being thrown, bottles being thrown. 529 00:27:26,203 --> 00:27:30,083 They have low front walls in front of their, um, their terrace housing there, 530 00:27:30,163 --> 00:27:32,003 and I remember people kicking them down. 531 00:27:32,083 --> 00:27:33,683 They wanted the bricks for ammunition. 532 00:27:33,763 --> 00:27:39,043 We began to get poles, scaffolding, bricks, baseball bats, dustbin lids. 533 00:27:39,123 --> 00:27:42,483 We wanted to hurt the police any which way we could. 534 00:27:43,203 --> 00:27:47,523 Remember, the first time I heard a policeman say the word gollywog, 535 00:27:47,643 --> 00:27:49,883 I am nine. The next time... 536 00:27:49,963 --> 00:27:52,443 man’s holding me up on my neck, I'm eleven! 537 00:27:52,523 --> 00:27:56,843 People need to understand I felt that the police brutality 538 00:27:56,923 --> 00:27:59,443 that I faced as a Black boy, 539 00:27:59,563 --> 00:28:02,243 was enough of a justification 540 00:28:02,323 --> 00:28:03,923 for me to hurt one of them. 541 00:28:04,003 --> 00:28:07,843 There was like a cinema playing in my mind of all the indignities 542 00:28:07,923 --> 00:28:10,043 that I had experienced with the police. 543 00:28:10,123 --> 00:28:12,603 Especially remembered Trevor’s assault 544 00:28:12,683 --> 00:28:14,123 and his screams and his wails. 545 00:28:14,203 --> 00:28:18,443 And there I was with the opportunity to get some revenge. 546 00:28:18,563 --> 00:28:21,683 And I have to admit, it felt good. 547 00:28:21,763 --> 00:28:24,083 And that Bob Marley song kept playing in my head. 548 00:28:24,163 --> 00:28:26,963 "Slave Driver. The tables are turning. 549 00:28:27,043 --> 00:28:29,723 You catch a fire, you’re gonna get burned." 550 00:28:30,443 --> 00:28:33,003 ♪ Slave driver ♪ 551 00:28:33,843 --> 00:28:35,563 ♪ The table is turned ♪ 552 00:28:37,443 --> 00:28:40,763 I mean, wow. When you hear that as a teenager, 553 00:28:40,843 --> 00:28:42,723 you’re thinking... [exhales sharply] 554 00:28:44,283 --> 00:28:47,043 ♪ Slave driver ♪ 555 00:28:47,123 --> 00:28:49,883 ♪ The table is turned ♪ 556 00:28:51,043 --> 00:28:54,043 ♪ Catch a fire ♪ 557 00:28:55,763 --> 00:28:56,603 [shutter clicks] 558 00:28:57,043 --> 00:29:00,043 [Clive Driscoll] I do remember there was a man standing on the roof 559 00:29:00,123 --> 00:29:01,563 and I remember him shouting, 560 00:29:01,643 --> 00:29:05,003 "I am going to watch you be humiliated in your defeat." 561 00:29:05,083 --> 00:29:06,843 [shutter clicks] 562 00:29:06,923 --> 00:29:10,603 Then it just seemed to be... relentless. 563 00:29:15,843 --> 00:29:17,083 [Peter Bleksley] A lot of chaos... 564 00:29:18,363 --> 00:29:20,283 a lot of coppers getting hurt. 565 00:29:24,203 --> 00:29:26,483 I feared for my life. 566 00:29:26,563 --> 00:29:29,763 And for the lives of my colleagues. 567 00:29:29,843 --> 00:29:32,683 It was that... ghastly... 568 00:29:32,763 --> 00:29:34,523 -[indistinct shouting] -[glass breaking] 569 00:29:41,843 --> 00:29:45,163 to see a substantial number of people 570 00:29:45,843 --> 00:29:49,083 that clearly, as I saw it, 571 00:29:49,163 --> 00:29:51,363 had the intention to kill me. 572 00:29:52,483 --> 00:29:54,883 Not because of me as an individual 573 00:29:54,963 --> 00:29:57,843 but because of the cloth that I wore. 574 00:29:57,923 --> 00:30:00,683 The symbol that I represented. 575 00:30:01,803 --> 00:30:05,643 It was like... what is this all about? 576 00:30:07,683 --> 00:30:10,083 I can only speak personally. I was terrified 577 00:30:11,523 --> 00:30:12,963 -[glass breaking] -[indistinct shouting] 578 00:30:13,043 --> 00:30:17,203 At one stage, I couldn’t see beyond just in front of the shield. 579 00:30:17,283 --> 00:30:21,003 The flames were that high that you couldn’t see past them. 580 00:30:21,083 --> 00:30:25,123 I'd been an ambulance officer, prior to becoming a police officer. 581 00:30:25,203 --> 00:30:28,523 And I had picked up several people with third degree burns 582 00:30:28,603 --> 00:30:31,923 So loads of people often ask me, "Did you think you were going to die?" 583 00:30:32,003 --> 00:30:34,123 I actually didn’t, but did I think I might end up 584 00:30:34,203 --> 00:30:36,243 with third degree burns? Yes, I did. 585 00:30:36,323 --> 00:30:40,203 And anyone who’s ever had the misfortune even to have that injury, 586 00:30:40,283 --> 00:30:43,243 would know that is life-changing forever. 587 00:30:44,563 --> 00:30:46,003 [George Rhoden] We’d make our way to Brixton, 588 00:30:46,083 --> 00:30:48,563 from Piccadilly Circus Regent Street. 589 00:30:48,643 --> 00:30:51,843 On the way there, you can hear comments, 590 00:30:51,923 --> 00:30:55,123 like, uh, "These BBs," these Black Bastards, 591 00:30:55,203 --> 00:30:57,003 You know, they're rioting down there. 592 00:30:57,083 --> 00:30:59,003 You know, why don’t we just let them riot?" 593 00:30:59,083 --> 00:31:01,603 I come thinking, "Don’t they realize that I’m in here?" 594 00:31:03,443 --> 00:31:05,403 And as we hit Brixton High Road, 595 00:31:05,483 --> 00:31:09,563 then I can see, the flicker of flames in the distance. 596 00:31:09,643 --> 00:31:12,683 You can hear shouting and screaming 597 00:31:12,763 --> 00:31:14,203 and you can hear glass breaking. 598 00:31:15,243 --> 00:31:18,363 Then all of a sudden, people are shouting and screaming, 599 00:31:18,443 --> 00:31:20,083 looked up, and saw my face. 600 00:31:24,723 --> 00:31:27,483 Oh, my God, the next thing you know, the bricks... whack. 601 00:31:29,083 --> 00:31:30,203 One of the windows went in. 602 00:31:30,283 --> 00:31:34,003 I could see the fire bombs coming around, the Green Goddesses. 603 00:31:34,083 --> 00:31:36,443 This was a determined effort, I think, 604 00:31:36,523 --> 00:31:38,843 you know, to get to me. 605 00:31:40,683 --> 00:31:42,883 Brixton station was just there. 606 00:31:42,963 --> 00:31:45,523 The officers got off. I could see them pushing off people. 607 00:31:46,363 --> 00:31:49,003 You could see that on either sides of the doors, 608 00:31:49,083 --> 00:31:50,763 the shields were there. 609 00:31:50,843 --> 00:31:54,083 I came out. Some of the officers, they escorted me 610 00:31:54,163 --> 00:31:56,123 into Brixton Police Station 611 00:31:56,203 --> 00:31:58,803 under heavy bombardment. 612 00:31:59,723 --> 00:32:01,963 And all I can say is that those officers, 613 00:32:02,043 --> 00:32:06,003 you know, I didn’t hear one racist comment then. 614 00:32:06,083 --> 00:32:08,483 I mean, all they did was ask if I was all right. 615 00:32:08,563 --> 00:32:10,963 And at that moment, I looked, and I thought, 616 00:32:11,043 --> 00:32:14,443 "All this stuff I’ve been hearing, on the way down here, 617 00:32:14,523 --> 00:32:16,883 was making me angry because I am amongst these people. 618 00:32:16,963 --> 00:32:21,443 Then they are protecting me, um, and I thought, "Wow," 619 00:32:21,523 --> 00:32:23,843 you know, this... "What a turnaround." 620 00:32:25,243 --> 00:32:28,043 [man] Ladies and gentlemen... it’s very difficult work. 621 00:32:28,123 --> 00:32:31,643 [Clive Driscoll] I remember we were still in our line 622 00:32:31,723 --> 00:32:33,443 and all of a sudden from nowhere, 623 00:32:33,523 --> 00:32:37,403 a vicar run alongside and he was screaming, 624 00:32:37,483 --> 00:32:40,723 "It’s all your fault. It’s all your fault. 625 00:32:40,803 --> 00:32:42,603 Now this is all your fault." 626 00:32:43,523 --> 00:32:46,043 [Peter Bleksley] Including the places that were on fire 627 00:32:46,123 --> 00:32:48,563 was the pub, where the landlady 628 00:32:48,643 --> 00:32:51,483 had given us the crate of light ales the night before. 629 00:32:51,563 --> 00:32:54,883 It was deeply shocking. 630 00:32:54,963 --> 00:32:58,483 We had some affection towards that lady because of how she treated us. 631 00:32:58,563 --> 00:33:02,083 Her pub was literally burnt to the ground. 632 00:33:02,163 --> 00:33:04,123 [Alex Wheatle] The flames, when you have a fire like that, 633 00:33:04,203 --> 00:33:07,323 you really thought... I don’t think people quite understand 634 00:33:07,403 --> 00:33:09,603 how you could feel it so much. 635 00:33:10,683 --> 00:33:13,643 For me, it was kind of a bit of karma. 636 00:33:13,723 --> 00:33:15,803 I remember people saying to me, that, um, 637 00:33:15,883 --> 00:33:18,043 they don’t like serving Black people 638 00:33:18,123 --> 00:33:21,283 My father, I remember once I was united with him, 639 00:33:21,363 --> 00:33:23,963 we had a conversation about how he was denied entry 640 00:33:24,043 --> 00:33:27,243 to so many pubs in South London. 641 00:33:27,323 --> 00:33:30,723 And how he felt less than a man because they would not serve him. 642 00:33:30,803 --> 00:33:33,243 But to turn around and see that on fire, 643 00:33:33,323 --> 00:33:34,883 I thought... 644 00:33:36,443 --> 00:33:37,923 [Leila Hassan] I had complete understanding 645 00:33:38,003 --> 00:33:39,763 as to why The George was burned down. 646 00:33:39,843 --> 00:33:42,723 We used to call the George "Rhodesia." 647 00:33:42,803 --> 00:33:45,963 It was not really a place that welcomed Black people so, it's targeted. 648 00:33:46,043 --> 00:33:47,963 They've taken down The George. 649 00:33:48,043 --> 00:33:49,763 Um, and that was at the end of my road, 650 00:33:49,843 --> 00:33:52,443 so I saw the George go up in flames. 651 00:33:54,203 --> 00:33:56,043 [Wayne Haynes] I don’t take fires very well 652 00:33:56,123 --> 00:33:59,403 even now, because it does... it tears at my heart strings. 653 00:34:01,363 --> 00:34:02,643 But do you know what? 654 00:34:05,603 --> 00:34:07,083 they were good fires. 655 00:34:08,043 --> 00:34:09,123 [man] Watch out! 656 00:34:09,963 --> 00:34:10,883 [man exclaims] 657 00:34:12,803 --> 00:34:14,683 They were fires of freedom. 658 00:34:14,723 --> 00:34:16,603 People were breaking the chains. 659 00:34:23,643 --> 00:34:26,323 [George Rhoden] I understood why it was happening 660 00:34:26,403 --> 00:34:28,803 better than I understood anything else really. 661 00:34:28,883 --> 00:34:33,883 But I was in this courtroom of "I understand what my people's about, 662 00:34:33,963 --> 00:34:36,843 they shouldn’t really be violent about it, but they have to make a stance." 663 00:34:36,923 --> 00:34:39,403 There I am as a police officer, to protect the law, 664 00:34:39,483 --> 00:34:41,643 "Blimey, I’ve got to do my job." 665 00:34:44,163 --> 00:34:46,483 [Peter Bleksley] We always thought we were in charge. 666 00:34:46,563 --> 00:34:48,683 We always thought we bossed it. 667 00:34:48,803 --> 00:34:54,323 It was always about winning the battle against the bad guys. 668 00:34:54,403 --> 00:34:58,883 That weekend, we roundly lost. 669 00:34:59,883 --> 00:35:01,003 [reporter] Well into the night, 670 00:35:01,083 --> 00:35:03,043 the police struggled to be seen on the streets 671 00:35:03,163 --> 00:35:04,643 and in control of them. 672 00:35:04,683 --> 00:35:07,203 Now that the alarm bells clamoring in their ears, 673 00:35:07,243 --> 00:35:08,683 they remained in their coaches, 674 00:35:08,723 --> 00:35:12,003 trying to doze, waiting to see if the calm would last. 675 00:35:12,123 --> 00:35:13,923 [Alex Wheatle] There were so many police, 676 00:35:14,003 --> 00:35:17,723 in these coaches, and they were sipping coffee in polystyrene cups, 677 00:35:17,843 --> 00:35:21,003 and they looked at us, and their faces were full of fear. 678 00:35:21,683 --> 00:35:23,083 Full of fear. 679 00:35:23,603 --> 00:35:25,883 It struck me at that point that 680 00:35:25,963 --> 00:35:28,723 the police had somehow been weakened. 681 00:35:28,843 --> 00:35:31,203 And were vulnerable and were fragile. 682 00:35:31,323 --> 00:35:34,683 They were scared. That’s the first time I have seen police scared. 683 00:35:34,723 --> 00:35:37,243 That’s the first time I saw them as human beings. 684 00:35:37,363 --> 00:35:40,443 I didn’t see them as human beings before, we'd see them as robots. 685 00:35:41,123 --> 00:35:43,323 [Peter Bleksley] When I got home that night, 686 00:35:43,403 --> 00:35:46,403 I thought, "I'm an enemy of the people, 687 00:35:46,483 --> 00:35:49,003 I'm not helping the people, 688 00:35:49,123 --> 00:35:53,203 this is not what I joined policing for." 689 00:35:53,323 --> 00:35:56,003 And I just went, "You know, I’ve got to get out of this uniform. 690 00:35:56,123 --> 00:36:00,043 I can’t hack this, I've got to get out of this uniform." 691 00:36:00,123 --> 00:36:01,923 [indistinct chatter] 692 00:36:03,963 --> 00:36:05,683 [Alex Wheatle] I managed to get home round about 693 00:36:05,803 --> 00:36:08,443 half four, maybe five o’clock in the morning. 694 00:36:10,523 --> 00:36:11,883 I just could not sleep. 695 00:36:11,963 --> 00:36:15,683 And I remember writing on the back of a record sleeve, 696 00:36:15,803 --> 00:36:17,683 you know, the starting of a lyric. 697 00:36:18,963 --> 00:36:21,963 ♪ Uprising, this uprising ♪ 698 00:36:22,083 --> 00:36:24,683 ♪ Uprising, this uprising ♪ 699 00:36:25,923 --> 00:36:27,323 ♪ We’re sick and tired... ♪ 700 00:36:29,203 --> 00:36:31,043 ♪ ...and police beating ♪ 701 00:36:31,123 --> 00:36:33,963 ♪ We have no work And we have no shilling ♪ 702 00:36:34,083 --> 00:36:36,323 ♪ We can’t take No more of this suffering ♪ 703 00:36:36,403 --> 00:36:38,363 ♪ You better send for the army... ♪ 704 00:36:39,363 --> 00:36:40,883 [reporter] There is official bewilderment 705 00:36:41,003 --> 00:36:43,203 as to how a rise of this scale occurred. 706 00:36:43,243 --> 00:36:44,723 For nearly six hours last night, 707 00:36:44,843 --> 00:36:48,643 police struggled to retain control of Brixton’s decaying streets. 708 00:36:48,683 --> 00:36:50,883 Their antagonists, were five or six hundred, 709 00:36:51,003 --> 00:36:52,483 mainly Black teenagers. 710 00:36:52,563 --> 00:36:55,483 It was one of the worst riots seen in Britain. 711 00:36:56,843 --> 00:36:58,563 [Christopher Icha] Well, it was the next day really, 712 00:36:58,643 --> 00:37:02,803 then when I went out and I saw it was like a war zone. 713 00:37:02,883 --> 00:37:05,203 Buildings still smoldering, 714 00:37:06,163 --> 00:37:09,563 wrecked cars, rubble everywhere. 715 00:37:10,243 --> 00:37:13,123 It was just... like the world was over really. 716 00:37:13,683 --> 00:37:16,203 [Margaret Thatcher] No one must condone the violence, 717 00:37:16,243 --> 00:37:19,603 no one must condone the disgraceful events that took place. 718 00:37:19,683 --> 00:37:22,683 It should not have happened, they were criminal. 719 00:37:22,723 --> 00:37:24,883 Criminal. And it should never have occurred. 720 00:37:25,683 --> 00:37:27,483 [Leila Hassan] What this resulted in 721 00:37:27,563 --> 00:37:30,203 was worldwide attention on Brixton. 722 00:37:30,323 --> 00:37:32,883 News crews from all over the world 723 00:37:33,003 --> 00:37:35,963 and wanting to know what’s gone on and why it happened. 724 00:37:36,043 --> 00:37:38,883 It seemed to be very biased against us. 725 00:37:39,003 --> 00:37:42,403 but at least it was being debated and discussed. 726 00:37:42,483 --> 00:37:45,403 People might doubt our methods 727 00:37:45,483 --> 00:37:49,003 but no doubt, it made people stand up and take notice 728 00:37:49,083 --> 00:37:52,203 that if you were oppressing people for so long, 729 00:37:52,243 --> 00:37:55,323 one day they're going to rise up and bite your ass. 730 00:37:56,163 --> 00:37:57,243 [protesters chant] 731 00:37:57,363 --> 00:38:00,923 [reporter] Tensions have not evaporated when the home secretary, Mr. Whitelaw, 732 00:38:01,003 --> 00:38:02,803 visited Brixton this afternoon. 733 00:38:02,923 --> 00:38:06,683 As he toured the scarred streets, there were chants of derision 734 00:38:06,723 --> 00:38:09,563 and Mr. Whitelaw was closely protected by police. 735 00:38:09,643 --> 00:38:12,443 He now faces demands by community leaders 736 00:38:12,523 --> 00:38:15,083 for an independent inquiry into police action. 737 00:38:15,163 --> 00:38:17,523 [shouting] 738 00:38:17,603 --> 00:38:21,683 [man] The events of this weekend call for the most high examination. 739 00:38:21,803 --> 00:38:24,683 I have therefore decided to appoint an inquiry. 740 00:38:24,723 --> 00:38:29,043 I have invited Lord Scarman to undertake this inquiry 741 00:38:29,123 --> 00:38:31,243 and I am glad to say he has accepted. 742 00:38:31,363 --> 00:38:33,483 [reporter] Lord Scarman, what sort of information 743 00:38:33,563 --> 00:38:35,803 are you asking people to come forward with? 744 00:38:35,923 --> 00:38:40,563 Two sorts of information. One, about the facts of the riots, 745 00:38:40,643 --> 00:38:42,923 very important, and the other, 746 00:38:43,003 --> 00:38:46,043 to come forward with their views 747 00:38:46,123 --> 00:38:49,003 as to the underlying social conditions, 748 00:38:49,083 --> 00:38:51,683 giving rise to the sort of tensions 749 00:38:51,803 --> 00:38:53,803 which broke out into these disturbances. 750 00:38:55,803 --> 00:38:57,203 [Philip Mawer] My name is Philip Mawer 751 00:38:57,243 --> 00:39:00,483 and I was the secretary of Lord Scarman’s inquiry 752 00:39:00,563 --> 00:39:02,123 into the Brixton disturbances. 753 00:39:03,483 --> 00:39:05,363 It was a concern at the outset 754 00:39:05,443 --> 00:39:09,443 that we might not get the cooperation of the local community 755 00:39:09,523 --> 00:39:11,963 but we had to make the effort 756 00:39:12,043 --> 00:39:14,683 to go and talk to people and explain. 757 00:39:14,843 --> 00:39:18,043 And my main pitch was simply this. 758 00:39:18,123 --> 00:39:20,643 This is an opportunity for you. 759 00:39:20,683 --> 00:39:25,563 If you don’t take this opportunity, your voice will not be heard. 760 00:39:25,643 --> 00:39:28,003 And that will be disastrous. 761 00:39:28,083 --> 00:39:30,363 When Lord Scarman came to us, 762 00:39:31,683 --> 00:39:32,723 We had a little bit of a hope, 763 00:39:32,883 --> 00:39:34,443 and I am going to tell you why I said that. 764 00:39:34,523 --> 00:39:36,523 Because he met with us physically. 765 00:39:36,603 --> 00:39:39,963 Lord Scarman came to... to see us in... 766 00:39:40,043 --> 00:39:42,043 um, the youth center, Shepherds. Yeah? 767 00:39:42,123 --> 00:39:44,683 I don’t remember a White person 768 00:39:44,723 --> 00:39:47,723 in the establishment, ever asking a Black kid 769 00:39:47,883 --> 00:39:51,203 about their feelings, about why you did what you did. 770 00:39:51,323 --> 00:39:52,443 He did. 771 00:39:52,523 --> 00:39:56,003 What was striking about it was the juxtaposition. 772 00:39:56,083 --> 00:39:59,483 Scarman, in a sense quintessential representative 773 00:39:59,563 --> 00:40:02,043 of the British establishment on the one hand. 774 00:40:02,123 --> 00:40:03,403 And on the other hand, 775 00:40:03,483 --> 00:40:07,843 the setting and the intensity of the discussion. 776 00:40:07,923 --> 00:40:10,083 They told him straight 777 00:40:10,163 --> 00:40:12,563 of their experience over the years. 778 00:40:12,643 --> 00:40:15,803 People who had experienced policing 779 00:40:15,883 --> 00:40:18,483 at first hand on the streets of Brixton. 780 00:40:20,963 --> 00:40:24,243 [protesters chanting] 781 00:40:25,643 --> 00:40:26,803 [reporter] From first thing this morning, 782 00:40:26,883 --> 00:40:30,443 about 30 demonstrators were marching up and down outside the coroner's court, 783 00:40:30,523 --> 00:40:33,363 chanting allegations of murder and a police cover up. 784 00:40:33,443 --> 00:40:35,363 With them, they had placards bearing the pictures 785 00:40:35,443 --> 00:40:38,363 of the 13 youngsters who died in the fire. 786 00:40:38,443 --> 00:40:41,563 Lawyers for the victims’ families have insisted very firmly 787 00:40:41,643 --> 00:40:44,123 that an incendiary was thrown through the window 788 00:40:44,203 --> 00:40:47,523 just as firmly the forensic expert has been sticking to his belief 789 00:40:47,603 --> 00:40:50,923 that the fire started inside the house on the carpet. 790 00:40:51,003 --> 00:40:55,043 There is no evidence that indicates that there is any form of racialism 791 00:40:55,123 --> 00:40:57,203 involved in this inquiry whatsoever. 792 00:40:57,323 --> 00:40:59,443 He said that he didn’t think 793 00:40:59,523 --> 00:41:01,843 that this was a racial attack 794 00:41:01,923 --> 00:41:04,323 and I remember the whole court room 795 00:41:04,403 --> 00:41:07,803 just exploding with boos and shouts. 796 00:41:07,883 --> 00:41:11,043 [reporter] For over five hours, Commander Stockwell was cross-examined, 797 00:41:11,123 --> 00:41:14,483 at times jeered derisively by relatives and friends of the victims, 798 00:41:14,563 --> 00:41:18,123 in particular, over his evidence about an alleged fight in the house 799 00:41:18,203 --> 00:41:20,203 shortly before the fire broke out. 800 00:41:20,243 --> 00:41:23,963 Already at this inquest, young partygoers have denied there was a fight, 801 00:41:24,043 --> 00:41:26,803 retracting statements they made while in police custody. 802 00:41:26,883 --> 00:41:29,923 The judge asked me about my police interview and what have you 803 00:41:30,003 --> 00:41:33,323 so I said, "Well, the police were asking me the questions 804 00:41:33,403 --> 00:41:34,723 and answering them themselves." 805 00:41:34,843 --> 00:41:36,923 And that was that... that one line is enough. 806 00:41:37,003 --> 00:41:38,403 The whole court was in uproar. 807 00:41:38,483 --> 00:41:42,123 [reporter] Denise had earlier claimed that police officers had shouted at her. 808 00:41:42,203 --> 00:41:44,043 This was agreed by her father. 809 00:41:44,123 --> 00:41:46,043 Mr. Gooding said the officers were shouting, 810 00:41:46,123 --> 00:41:48,043 "You’re lying! Come on, Denise, you’re lying. 811 00:41:48,123 --> 00:41:49,843 Don’t cover up for anyone. 812 00:41:49,923 --> 00:41:52,123 Remember, you have a dead brother, Andrew Gooding." 813 00:41:52,203 --> 00:41:55,523 It was at this point that Mr. Gooding broke down crying. 814 00:41:55,603 --> 00:41:58,203 The coroner told him, "You must try and control yourself." 815 00:41:58,243 --> 00:42:01,363 To which Mr. Gooding replied, "You don’t know what I am going through. 816 00:42:01,443 --> 00:42:05,203 Listen, sir, I had three children in there and not one came out unhurt." 817 00:42:08,563 --> 00:42:11,323 During the inquest, I went into labor, 818 00:42:12,163 --> 00:42:14,803 and on the 5th of May, I had Janine. 819 00:42:14,883 --> 00:42:17,523 She was born at 14 minutes past five. 820 00:42:17,603 --> 00:42:22,083 Yes, out of all of this madness, she managed to arrive healthy, 821 00:42:22,163 --> 00:42:25,483 bouncing baby girl. 822 00:42:26,403 --> 00:42:29,243 I felt over the moon, joyed and happy 823 00:42:29,363 --> 00:42:33,963 but sad also, because Paul should have been standing with me, too. 824 00:42:34,043 --> 00:42:36,723 and watching our baby being born. 825 00:42:36,843 --> 00:42:39,203 I did it by myself, so... 826 00:42:42,003 --> 00:42:44,203 [reporter] After 13 days in court, 827 00:42:44,323 --> 00:42:46,963 and more than 80 hours of evidence, from nearly 60 witnesses, 828 00:42:47,043 --> 00:42:50,403 it took the jury just two hours to come to an open verdict. 829 00:42:50,483 --> 00:42:52,083 Mrs. Armza Ruddock, who gave the party 830 00:42:52,163 --> 00:42:53,563 and lost two children in the fire, 831 00:42:53,683 --> 00:42:55,043 was in no mood to accept it. 832 00:42:55,123 --> 00:42:57,683 An open verdict... verdict was what I expected 833 00:42:57,803 --> 00:42:59,123 but it is not what it should be. 834 00:42:59,203 --> 00:43:00,803 It should be murder. 835 00:43:00,883 --> 00:43:04,123 It was an open verdict, 'cause it wasn’t investigated properly 836 00:43:04,803 --> 00:43:08,203 I just want to know from that person why they actually done it 837 00:43:08,323 --> 00:43:11,443 and just for someone to say they’re sorry. 838 00:43:11,523 --> 00:43:13,883 But... just closure. 839 00:43:13,963 --> 00:43:18,163 An open verdict, for me, isn’t closure. 840 00:43:19,963 --> 00:43:21,203 I was still in hospital. 841 00:43:21,243 --> 00:43:23,643 My mum came to the hospital, my mum cried. 842 00:43:24,603 --> 00:43:27,083 Because now at this point, for the rest of her life, 843 00:43:27,163 --> 00:43:29,163 she’s going to have to pack up work and look after me now, 844 00:43:29,203 --> 00:43:31,843 so what about... "Oh, and how am I going to take care of my son?" 845 00:43:33,163 --> 00:43:36,523 There ain’t no government help, there ain’t no money coming from nowhere. 846 00:43:36,643 --> 00:43:39,163 And she did, she broke down and cried. 847 00:43:39,203 --> 00:43:41,803 She don’t think it’s fair. She didn’t think it was fair on me, 848 00:43:41,883 --> 00:43:44,843 she didn’t think it was fair on any of the other children. 849 00:43:45,683 --> 00:43:47,563 We got nothing at any time, 850 00:43:47,643 --> 00:43:50,163 whether it be a verdict you’ve caught somebody, 851 00:43:50,243 --> 00:43:51,683 whatever, nothing. 852 00:43:51,763 --> 00:43:54,363 Nothing in our case has gone right 853 00:43:54,443 --> 00:43:55,563 And do you know what? 854 00:43:56,163 --> 00:43:58,443 It’s not fair. 855 00:43:58,563 --> 00:44:00,923 It’s not right. 856 00:44:01,003 --> 00:44:03,603 The verdict signaled to the Black community 857 00:44:03,683 --> 00:44:07,283 that the police, the media, courts, 858 00:44:07,363 --> 00:44:09,283 basically all felt that 859 00:44:10,763 --> 00:44:13,003 those lives didn’t matter 860 00:44:13,083 --> 00:44:15,003 and there were gasps of disbelief. 861 00:44:15,083 --> 00:44:20,163 It was just like a pressure pot and with the lid had just come off. 862 00:44:20,243 --> 00:44:23,843 It was like you couldn’t hold it in anymore. 863 00:44:26,923 --> 00:44:28,443 [bells ringing] 864 00:44:29,403 --> 00:44:30,403 [man] Come on! Come on! 865 00:44:30,523 --> 00:44:32,843 [reporter] Tension had been high in Southall’s Asian community 866 00:44:32,923 --> 00:44:35,803 in recent weeks, but no one was prepared 867 00:44:35,883 --> 00:44:37,803 for the scale of last night’s violence. 868 00:44:37,883 --> 00:44:40,283 [indistinct shouting] 869 00:44:40,363 --> 00:44:44,283 One of the worst and most terrifying rioting ever seen in Britain, 870 00:44:44,363 --> 00:44:46,403 more than a hundred White and colored youths 871 00:44:46,523 --> 00:44:48,763 fought a pitched battle against the police. 872 00:44:48,843 --> 00:44:52,043 Some were as young as 12, the oldest, no more than 20. 873 00:44:52,123 --> 00:44:54,763 It's been building up for years, like Brixton and all that. 874 00:44:54,843 --> 00:44:58,283 but Brixton, it was all Blacks, but last night 875 00:44:58,363 --> 00:45:00,043 was Blacks and Whites. 876 00:45:00,123 --> 00:45:01,643 [reporter] Why... why has it happened? 877 00:45:01,723 --> 00:45:03,243 Because of, um, police brutality, 878 00:45:03,323 --> 00:45:05,243 police harassment, oppression. 879 00:45:05,323 --> 00:45:08,123 We just want respect, and treated like human beings. 880 00:45:08,203 --> 00:45:09,203 That's what we are. 881 00:45:15,123 --> 00:45:17,403 [reporter] The unprecedented outbreak of violence 882 00:45:17,523 --> 00:45:19,123 on the streets of Mainland Britain. 883 00:45:19,203 --> 00:45:22,723 [screaming and shouting] 884 00:45:22,803 --> 00:45:25,603 Last night, like the night before, it was the turn of Manchester 885 00:45:25,683 --> 00:45:27,843 to suffer from rioting and looting 886 00:45:27,923 --> 00:45:30,363 [Gus John] I and a number of youth workers 887 00:45:30,483 --> 00:45:32,283 were running around Moss Side 888 00:45:32,363 --> 00:45:35,243 to get a sense of what was happening. 889 00:45:38,283 --> 00:45:39,763 They were totally fearless. 890 00:45:39,843 --> 00:45:43,283 They could not, on that night, give a damn, 891 00:45:43,363 --> 00:45:46,763 about what was likely to happen or not happen to them. 892 00:45:46,843 --> 00:45:49,323 They felt a sense of strength, 893 00:45:49,443 --> 00:45:51,843 of collective energy 894 00:45:51,923 --> 00:45:55,003 and I think to a large extent, their boldness and confidence 895 00:45:55,083 --> 00:45:57,923 came from the New Cross protest. 896 00:45:58,003 --> 00:46:02,083 Because they were amongst some of the young people 897 00:46:02,163 --> 00:46:04,283 who got on those twelve coaches 898 00:46:04,363 --> 00:46:09,003 that left outside Moss Side education center that day. 899 00:46:09,083 --> 00:46:11,563 to go to London to join the march. 900 00:46:11,643 --> 00:46:13,363 [man] Cease fire! 901 00:46:13,483 --> 00:46:15,323 [upbeat music] 902 00:46:25,123 --> 00:46:28,163 ♪ It was the year of 1981 ♪ 903 00:46:28,243 --> 00:46:30,603 ♪ All in the ghetto of Brixton ♪ 904 00:46:30,683 --> 00:46:33,003 ♪ But the underlying cause Of the friction ♪ 905 00:46:33,083 --> 00:46:35,723 ♪ Brings about a grave insurrection ♪ 906 00:46:35,803 --> 00:46:38,603 ♪ And it spread all over the nation ♪ 907 00:46:38,683 --> 00:46:41,283 ♪ It was truly an historical occasion ♪ 908 00:46:41,403 --> 00:46:45,603 I saw poetry as a cultural weapon 909 00:46:45,683 --> 00:46:49,043 in the Black liberation struggle. 910 00:46:49,683 --> 00:46:52,243 ♪ Every rebel joins a rebel... ♪ 911 00:46:52,323 --> 00:46:54,203 I saw my role as a poet 912 00:46:54,283 --> 00:46:58,603 as chronicling the history of Black people in this country 913 00:46:59,203 --> 00:47:02,163 [singing] 914 00:47:04,523 --> 00:47:08,443 Black people were no longer prepared to be marginalized 915 00:47:08,523 --> 00:47:10,883 and treated like colonials. 916 00:47:10,963 --> 00:47:13,003 [vocalizing] 917 00:47:21,483 --> 00:47:24,643 [Alex Wheatle] The level of damage was unbelievable. 918 00:47:24,723 --> 00:47:26,843 It totally shocked me, you know, 919 00:47:26,923 --> 00:47:30,923 and this was just before Prince Charles and Diana’s wedding. 920 00:47:31,003 --> 00:47:35,043 And so you had this weird juxtaposition. 921 00:47:35,123 --> 00:47:38,243 The establishment was gearing up to this royal wedding 922 00:47:38,363 --> 00:47:40,523 and yet the country was going up in flames. 923 00:47:40,603 --> 00:47:41,923 It was quite something. 924 00:47:42,803 --> 00:47:44,323 [reporter] The Prime Minister has called it 925 00:47:44,403 --> 00:47:46,563 the most worrying ten days of the government. 926 00:47:46,643 --> 00:47:49,523 For all of us, the rioting and burning of or cities 927 00:47:49,603 --> 00:47:51,803 has shaken our unquestioning belief 928 00:47:51,883 --> 00:47:54,923 in a stable, law-abiding multiracial Britain. 929 00:47:55,803 --> 00:47:58,643 [Gus John] We all have a tendency to 930 00:47:58,723 --> 00:48:01,323 what I call moral relativism. 931 00:48:02,403 --> 00:48:05,563 So you would moralize about the conduct of people 932 00:48:05,643 --> 00:48:07,323 who are resisting oppression, 933 00:48:07,403 --> 00:48:09,803 but you're quite prepared to live very happily 934 00:48:09,883 --> 00:48:12,603 with the conduct of those who oppress them. 935 00:48:14,643 --> 00:48:18,963 And that’s been the problem for as long as I have been in this country 936 00:48:19,043 --> 00:48:21,123 and that's since 1964. 937 00:48:22,523 --> 00:48:24,723 [Philip Mawer] Riots are not a pretty thing. 938 00:48:24,803 --> 00:48:26,763 Brixton was bad 939 00:48:26,843 --> 00:48:29,483 but the fact that there were subsequent disorders 940 00:48:29,563 --> 00:48:33,323 heightened the importance of the inquiry process. 941 00:48:33,403 --> 00:48:37,043 Because it was clear that what happened in Brixton 942 00:48:37,123 --> 00:48:39,003 was not unique to Brixton. 943 00:48:39,083 --> 00:48:41,403 There was a national issue here 944 00:48:41,483 --> 00:48:45,163 that gave added impetus to the report. 945 00:48:45,283 --> 00:48:48,483 It gave us the opportunity to give it added breath. 946 00:48:48,563 --> 00:48:50,083 [reporter] Well, in a moment, we’ll be looking at 947 00:48:50,163 --> 00:48:52,763 the growing political argument on what needs to be done 948 00:48:52,843 --> 00:48:55,003 to prevent such scenes in the future. 949 00:48:55,083 --> 00:48:58,163 The Prime Minister Mrs. Thatcher was in no doubt about her views. 950 00:48:58,283 --> 00:49:00,083 [Margaret Thatcher] The latest night of mob violence 951 00:49:00,163 --> 00:49:03,803 had nothing to do with the city's problems of bad housing and unemployment. 952 00:49:03,883 --> 00:49:06,323 It was a spree of naked glee. 953 00:49:07,283 --> 00:49:09,443 [man] They’ve taken away everything that the poor man have. 954 00:49:09,523 --> 00:49:12,043 [chuckles] You know, I mean, they’ve taken everything bit by bit. 955 00:49:12,123 --> 00:49:14,483 So the poor man don’t got nothing apart from his shoes. 956 00:49:14,563 --> 00:49:16,323 Margaret Thatcher don’t care about nothing 957 00:49:16,403 --> 00:49:18,363 to what happen to no Black man in this country. 958 00:49:18,443 --> 00:49:19,643 She don't care. 959 00:49:20,923 --> 00:49:22,803 [Alex Wheatle] Martin Luther King is correct 960 00:49:22,883 --> 00:49:25,883 when he says that riot is a language of the unheard. 961 00:49:25,963 --> 00:49:27,683 We felt unheard and I am sure that 962 00:49:27,763 --> 00:49:31,003 other communities all over the UK felt unheard. 963 00:49:31,083 --> 00:49:35,003 I mean, living under a Thatcher government was incredibly tough. 964 00:49:35,083 --> 00:49:39,043 But, she had to, um, stand up and take notice. 965 00:49:39,123 --> 00:49:41,643 [sirens blare] 966 00:49:44,243 --> 00:49:47,003 [reporter] The Scarman report on this summer’s riots in Britain 967 00:49:47,083 --> 00:49:50,043 It’s already been described as a major challenge to the nation. 968 00:49:50,123 --> 00:49:51,963 [reporter 2] ...welcomed both by the Home Secretary 969 00:49:52,043 --> 00:49:55,123 and the police themselves, but some people take a more cynical view... 970 00:49:55,243 --> 00:49:56,563 [reporter 3] ...are now asking whether it will bring about 971 00:49:56,643 --> 00:49:58,723 any real change in Brixton. 972 00:49:58,803 --> 00:50:02,603 Good evening. Lord Scarman’s report has been welcomed by the government, 973 00:50:02,683 --> 00:50:06,363 praised by the opposition, criticized by the local authority involved 974 00:50:06,443 --> 00:50:08,923 as a bitter disappointment. Yet, for better or worse, 975 00:50:09,003 --> 00:50:11,883 it is now the official text for interpreting, judging, 976 00:50:11,963 --> 00:50:15,523 and trying to prevent a repetition of the summer riots 977 00:50:15,603 --> 00:50:17,603 -in the nation’s major cities. -[indistinct question] 978 00:50:17,683 --> 00:50:19,963 It's available only at eight pounds. 979 00:50:20,043 --> 00:50:22,043 [laughter] 980 00:50:22,683 --> 00:50:27,043 [man] Deprived youngsters who believed that they were deprived 981 00:50:27,163 --> 00:50:29,403 because of the colors of their skin, 982 00:50:29,483 --> 00:50:33,083 unable to get what they thought were fair opportunities 983 00:50:33,203 --> 00:50:35,403 of education, or jobs, 984 00:50:35,483 --> 00:50:39,243 and suffering as they thought harassment, 985 00:50:39,323 --> 00:50:42,803 took to the streets, because they saw no other way 986 00:50:42,883 --> 00:50:44,603 of airing their grievances. 987 00:50:44,683 --> 00:50:48,523 [Philip Mawer] I believe that his report offered a challenge to government 988 00:50:48,603 --> 00:50:50,043 as well as to the police. 989 00:50:50,163 --> 00:50:54,523 It represented for the first time, an occasion on which: 990 00:50:54,603 --> 00:50:57,803 A, the Black voice was heard, 991 00:50:57,883 --> 00:51:02,523 and B, the conditions facing the Black community were exposed vividly. 992 00:51:03,643 --> 00:51:06,243 [Leila Hassan] We knew that a lot of the discussion 993 00:51:06,323 --> 00:51:08,723 was all around the issue of deprivation. 994 00:51:08,803 --> 00:51:12,123 These deprived poor youths, with no hope, 995 00:51:12,203 --> 00:51:16,763 you know, this was the last straw, that nobody really wanted to accept 996 00:51:16,843 --> 00:51:19,243 the real issue, which was the issue of police oppression 997 00:51:19,323 --> 00:51:20,643 in the Black community. 998 00:51:20,723 --> 00:51:23,083 [Philip Mawer] You know, at the heart of all policing 999 00:51:23,163 --> 00:51:26,883 is relationship. It’s about relationship between the police on the one hand 1000 00:51:26,963 --> 00:51:28,123 and the community on the other. 1001 00:51:28,203 --> 00:51:31,763 The tragedy in Brixton was that the relationship had broken down. 1002 00:51:31,843 --> 00:51:35,563 I think Scarman recognized that the police 1003 00:51:35,643 --> 00:51:38,803 needed to change the way that they, 1004 00:51:38,883 --> 00:51:42,003 um, work with the Black community. 1005 00:51:42,123 --> 00:51:45,883 And I think he made some recommendations about policing 1006 00:51:45,963 --> 00:51:49,683 that were, by and large, ignored by the police. 1007 00:51:50,443 --> 00:51:53,923 Of course, to say it needs to be done 1008 00:51:54,043 --> 00:51:57,283 is not the same as it being done. 1009 00:51:57,363 --> 00:51:59,483 [chuckles] Was it taken up? 1010 00:51:59,563 --> 00:52:01,403 No, I don’t think so. 1011 00:52:01,483 --> 00:52:03,963 You see the same old behavior happening. 1012 00:52:04,083 --> 00:52:06,803 A few policies are put into place, you know, 1013 00:52:06,883 --> 00:52:09,283 a little bit stronger supervision, leadership and things, 1014 00:52:09,363 --> 00:52:12,163 but was it robust enough? No. 1015 00:52:12,243 --> 00:52:14,083 Was it supported by the government itself? 1016 00:52:14,163 --> 00:52:15,123 No. 1017 00:52:15,203 --> 00:52:18,483 It was really disregarded by the Margaret Thatcher regime. 1018 00:52:20,363 --> 00:52:22,843 [Philip Mawer] I comfort myself with the thought that 1019 00:52:22,923 --> 00:52:25,203 in a democracy in particular, 1020 00:52:25,283 --> 00:52:30,163 one is perhaps always in the business of taking small steps 1021 00:52:30,243 --> 00:52:33,483 towards a better state of affairs. 1022 00:52:33,563 --> 00:52:38,083 And if Scarman’s report contributed towards doing that 1023 00:52:38,163 --> 00:52:41,643 then, um, it did its job. 1024 00:52:43,603 --> 00:52:46,923 ["Redemption Song" by Bob Marley plays] 1025 00:52:47,723 --> 00:52:51,043 It was important that in 1981, 1026 00:52:51,123 --> 00:52:55,123 more and more people from the African and Asian Diaspora 1027 00:52:55,203 --> 00:52:58,843 gained a belief in collective action to bring about change. 1028 00:52:58,923 --> 00:53:03,723 -♪ Old pirates, yes, they rob I ♪ -[indistinct schoolchildren chanting] 1029 00:53:03,803 --> 00:53:07,243 ♪ Sold I to the merchant ships ♪ 1030 00:53:07,323 --> 00:53:11,843 [Gus John] For me, to be protagonists in pursuit 1031 00:53:11,963 --> 00:53:13,723 of your own liberation, 1032 00:53:13,803 --> 00:53:18,723 demanding a right to be treated with respect, with dignity 1033 00:53:18,803 --> 00:53:21,363 and not have those rights trampled upon 1034 00:53:21,443 --> 00:53:24,243 by others who believe they have the power to do so. 1035 00:53:24,323 --> 00:53:28,283 ♪ We forward in this generation ♪ 1036 00:53:28,363 --> 00:53:31,883 [Alex Wheatle] Bob Marley passed, and then this overwhelming sadness 1037 00:53:32,003 --> 00:53:35,843 that many of us felt, our prophet, our voice, 1038 00:53:35,963 --> 00:53:38,203 our presence in the world. 1039 00:53:38,283 --> 00:53:41,283 It was a very low point in my life, actually, because he passed 1040 00:53:41,363 --> 00:53:43,803 just before I started my term in prison. 1041 00:53:44,803 --> 00:53:47,803 Some weeks after the Brixton uprising, I was arrested. 1042 00:53:47,883 --> 00:53:50,163 I appeared at Campbell Green Magistrates 1043 00:53:50,243 --> 00:53:53,923 and I was given the term of six months in prison, 1044 00:53:54,003 --> 00:53:56,803 um, for assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest. 1045 00:53:56,923 --> 00:54:00,243 It was something that I didn’t believe I would recover from. 1046 00:54:00,323 --> 00:54:02,403 But I met one of the mentors of my life. 1047 00:54:02,483 --> 00:54:06,403 You know, so really, my time there was a blessing in many ways. 1048 00:54:06,483 --> 00:54:08,283 ♪ Won't you help to sing ♪ 1049 00:54:09,763 --> 00:54:12,043 ♪ These songs of freedom? ♪ 1050 00:54:13,163 --> 00:54:15,923 ♪ 'Cause all I ever have ♪ 1051 00:54:18,123 --> 00:54:20,163 -♪ Redemption Song ♪ -[Christopher Icha] None of the uprisings 1052 00:54:20,243 --> 00:54:22,683 are pointless, none of them. 1053 00:54:22,763 --> 00:54:26,803 The uprising sets down a marker, that in this generation, 1054 00:54:26,923 --> 00:54:29,923 we butted heads with Babylon 1055 00:54:30,003 --> 00:54:34,723 to let them know, we need what everybody needs. 1056 00:54:34,803 --> 00:54:36,883 So we have to put our marker down, 1057 00:54:36,963 --> 00:54:40,483 whether the society responds to it or not. 1058 00:54:41,763 --> 00:54:45,083 For me, it's "emancipate yourself from mental slavery." 1059 00:54:45,163 --> 00:54:47,723 ♪ Emancipate yourselves From mental slavery ♪ 1060 00:54:47,803 --> 00:54:51,443 ♪ None but ourselves can free our minds ♪ 1061 00:54:52,483 --> 00:54:54,603 I mean that to me is... I'm gonna cry. 1062 00:54:54,683 --> 00:54:56,603 The story of what we tried to do. 1063 00:54:56,683 --> 00:55:00,243 The energy and the impetus of 1981. 1064 00:55:00,323 --> 00:55:02,443 ♪ How long shall they kill our prophets ♪ 1065 00:55:02,523 --> 00:55:05,083 Just thinking of that song has made me really emotional, I have to say. 1066 00:55:05,163 --> 00:55:07,403 ♪ While we stand aside and look? ♪ 1067 00:55:07,483 --> 00:55:09,883 I think the consciousness that came about 1068 00:55:09,963 --> 00:55:12,043 because of the Black people's day of action 1069 00:55:12,123 --> 00:55:13,523 is one success 1070 00:55:13,603 --> 00:55:17,003 and although we couldn’t get justice within the confines of the system, 1071 00:55:17,083 --> 00:55:19,123 I think in a sense, it was a victory 1072 00:55:19,203 --> 00:55:21,763 because if it wasn’t for the Massacre Action Committee, 1073 00:55:21,883 --> 00:55:23,843 there is no doubt in my mind 1074 00:55:23,923 --> 00:55:28,323 that there would be three or four young Black men, currently in prison, 1075 00:55:28,403 --> 00:55:31,363 having been charged with arson for the New Cross Fire. 1076 00:55:31,443 --> 00:55:33,643 In the sense, that we were able to prevent that, 1077 00:55:33,723 --> 00:55:35,003 that was a success. 1078 00:55:37,643 --> 00:55:42,483 [Wayne Haynes] Rosaline, Gerry, Steve, 1079 00:55:42,563 --> 00:55:44,723 Owen, Glenton. 1080 00:55:44,843 --> 00:55:46,803 That was my ground zero. 1081 00:55:46,883 --> 00:55:51,323 And that was my plan to start rebuilding my life, from that day. 1082 00:55:52,923 --> 00:55:57,123 But it’s never... it’s never been and it never will be the same again. 1083 00:55:57,203 --> 00:56:01,843 [Denise Gooding] My younger brother Andrew was the life of the house. 1084 00:56:03,443 --> 00:56:06,483 It’s hard being a survivor. Especially the youngest survivor. 1085 00:56:06,563 --> 00:56:11,843 It is hard, because everybody’s focused on the children who are not here. 1086 00:56:11,923 --> 00:56:14,003 But the kids who are here suffering... 1087 00:56:14,083 --> 00:56:18,443 I don’t think people really notice it. Yet, you’re alive, that’s the thing. 1088 00:56:18,523 --> 00:56:21,443 But we’re the ones living it, day in and day out. 1089 00:56:21,523 --> 00:56:24,123 I was unfortunate to lose my brother Andrew 1090 00:56:24,203 --> 00:56:26,963 at a very young age, and lose a lot of friends. 1091 00:56:27,043 --> 00:56:28,523 There were some friends that I had at that party, 1092 00:56:28,603 --> 00:56:31,403 that I started secondary school with. 1093 00:56:31,483 --> 00:56:34,083 Tony, I mean, he escaped from there, 1094 00:56:34,163 --> 00:56:37,403 but after about a year and a half, he... you know, it was really sad. 1095 00:56:39,803 --> 00:56:44,083 That fire had a massive, massive impact on Tony. 1096 00:56:44,163 --> 00:56:47,883 Tony was alright before. Tony was alright before. 1097 00:56:49,123 --> 00:56:52,523 And I know it sounds like ridiculous and that, but, you know what? 1098 00:56:52,603 --> 00:56:54,843 I just want Andrew and my friends back. 1099 00:56:54,923 --> 00:56:57,483 So, trying to find out who done it 1100 00:56:57,563 --> 00:56:59,403 and we need to find them... 1101 00:56:59,483 --> 00:57:04,283 But whatever justice we get, it still doesn’t bring back 1102 00:57:04,363 --> 00:57:06,243 Andrew and the rest. 1103 00:57:10,763 --> 00:57:13,283 [somber music] 1104 00:57:24,763 --> 00:57:27,403 I know that Andrew is not going to come back. 1105 00:57:27,483 --> 00:57:31,643 And I probably will go to my grave and I will not know who do that. 1106 00:57:31,763 --> 00:57:36,563 I will not know who start the fire, how it start, or nothing. 1107 00:57:38,403 --> 00:57:42,163 I will have to... I leave him at the foot of the cross. 1108 00:57:44,243 --> 00:57:45,443 [interviewer] What does that mean? 1109 00:57:47,163 --> 00:57:49,003 [chuckles] 1110 00:57:49,083 --> 00:57:52,203 I... I forgive them and forget them. 1111 00:57:54,683 --> 00:57:56,923 [pensive music] 1112 00:58:22,163 --> 00:58:24,083 [Linton Kwesi Johnson] Towards closure... 1113 00:58:24,163 --> 00:58:26,403 these totemic oaks. 1114 00:58:26,483 --> 00:58:31,643 Once fragile saplings, taken root in hostile soil. 1115 00:58:31,723 --> 00:58:34,763 Now bear perennial witness 1116 00:58:34,843 --> 00:58:37,683 to spring's eternal son of hope. 1117 00:58:39,083 --> 00:58:41,483 [instrumental music]