An open letter to the rioters of England

Dear English rioters;
This certainly has been a crazy week. A lot of people have done a lot of talking, but I really wonder who's listening. Obviously there are two sides to every story and while you're trying to have your side heard please remember that there is another side to the story surrounding Mark Duggan's death and perhaps we would all be better served to withhold judgment until we have more substantiated facts than the rumors that he was killed "execution style".
I am not from Tottenham and know little about Tottenham other than that your soccer team sucks. But it seems to be widely accepted that there have been tensions brewing between the Police and the youth of the area for some time now. I do not know the facts and wouldn't pretend to be able to intelligently argue the realities of police abuse. I do question if your outrage, even over the death of Mr. Duggan is worth the lives of Haroon Jahan, Shahzad Ali, and Abdul Musavir. And if your message is that you are tired of harassment by the police when you have done nothing wrong; is the best way to send that message by destroying your own neighborhood?
And more to that point; the moment you smash a store window and take a TV you are no longer protestors, you are vandals and thieves. Youth of England you are not alone in this; during the Los Angeles riots of 1992 people supposedly "protesting" the Rodney King verdict looted and ransacked local shops. And perhaps most tragically in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina cameras caught people wheeling entire racks of CD's out of a store.
While I feel for those of you who are trying to peacefully give a voice to those who feel oppressed, the rest of you are not protestors or activists fighting for your freedom, you are hooligans and thugs pillaging from your own people.
But it's been a week now and things seem to be quieting down. And that's a good thing because the EPL season starts this weekend. So we call all go back to the peace and harmony that comes with English soccer.


* After posting this I discovered this video which perhaps says it all better than I did. Good on ya lady.