riot

1 a public act of violence by an unruly mob [syn: public violence]

2 a state of disorder involving group violence [syn: rioting]

3 a joke that seems extremely funny [syn: belly laugh, sidesplitter, howler, thigh-slapper, scream, wow]

4 a wild gathering involving excessive drinking and promiscuity [syn: orgy, debauch, debauchery, saturnalia, bacchanal, bacchanalia, drunken revelry]

1 take part in a riot; disturb the public peace by engaging in a riot; "Students were rioting everywhere in 1968"

2 engage in boisterous, drunken merry-making; "They were out carousing last night" [syn: carouse, roister]

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -aɪət

Noun

1. Wanton or unrestrained behavior; uproar; tumult.
2. Excessive and expensive feasting; wild and loose festivity; revelry.
3. The tumultuous disturbance of the public peace by an unlawful assembly of three or more persons in the execution of some private object.

Derived terms

• rioter
• run riot

Translations

• Dutch: rel
• Finnish: mellakka (1,3)
• French: émeute
• German: Aufruhr , Tumult , Krawall , Randale
• Portuguese Tumulto

Verb

1. To create or take part in a riot.

Riots are a form of civil disorders characterized by disorganized groups lashing out in a sudden and intense rash of violence, vandalism or other crime. While individuals may attempt to lead or control a riot, riots are typically chaotic and exhibit herd behavior.

Riots often occur in reaction to a perceived grievance or out of dissent. Historically, riots have occurred due to poor working or living conditions, government oppression, taxation or conscription, conflicts between races or religions (see race riot and pogrom), or even the outcome of a sporting event. Some claim that rioters are motivated by a rejection of or frustration with legal channels through which to air their grievances.

Riots typically involve vandalism and the destruction of private and public property. The specific property to be targeted varies depending on the cause of the riot and the inclinations of those involved. Targets can include shops, cars, restaurants, state-owned institutions, and religious buildings.

In some places, rioters have become semi-professionals, travelling to the sites of likely riots. These rioters are known as firms. This is particularly noted in sports-related riots in Europe. For example, France, Poland and England commonly have riots related to football (soccer) matches. Rioters have become quite sophisticated at understanding and withstanding the tactics used by police in such situations. Manuals for successful rioting are available on the Internet. These manuals also encourage rioters to get the press involved, as there is more safety with the cameras rolling. There is also more attention. Citizens with video cameras may also have an effect on both rioters and police.

Police response

In English Law Riot forms part of the Public Order Act 1986 under section 1.

The Public Order Act 1986 s.1 states:

1) Where twelve or more persons who are present together use or threaten unlawful violence for a common purpose and the conduct of them (taken together) is such as would cause a person of reasonable firmness present at the scene to fear for his personal safety, each of the persons using unlawful violence for the common purpose is guilty of riot.

2) It is immaterial whether or not the twelve or more use or threaten unlawful violence simultaneously.

3) The common purpose may be inferred from conduct.

4) No person of reasonable firmness need actually be, or be likely to be, present at the scene.

5) Riot may be committed in private as well as in public places.

Ramifications

• Arrestable Offence, changed to an indictable offence by the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005)
• Triable on indictment (Must be tried before a Crown court)
• Ten years imprisonment and/or a fine

United States

Under United States federal law, a riot is defined as ''A public disturbance involving (1) an act or acts of violence by one or more persons part of an assemblage of three or more persons, which act or acts shall constitute a clear and present danger of, or shall result in, damage or injury to the property of any other person or to the person of any other individual or (2) a threat or threats of the commission of an act or acts of violence by one or more persons part of an assemblage of three or more persons having, individually or collectively, the ability of immediate execution of such threat or threats, where the performance of the threatened act or acts of violence would constitute a clear and present danger of, or would result in, damage or injury to the property of any other person or to the person of any other individual.'' 18 U.S.C. §2102.

As every state in the United States has its own laws (subject to the Supremacy Clause), each has its own definition of 'riot.' In New York State, for example, the term 'riot' is not defined explicitly, but under § 240.08 of the N.Y. Penal Law, A person is guilty of inciting to riot when he urges ten or more persons to engage in tumultuous and violent conduct of a kind likely to create public alarm.

Notable riots

see List of riots

United States

The worst riots in United States history with respect to lives lost took place during the Civil War when immigrant factory workers forcibly resisted the federal government's military draft, the New York Draft Riots. These riots were graphically and inaccurately depicted in the movie Gangs of New York. In the 20th century, the 1992 Los Angeles riots triggered by the Rodney King Trial were regarded as the worst in recent U.S. history with deaths estimated at 54 people and nearly a billion dollars in damage caused. The 1968 Democratic National Convention, however, saw the most well-remembered riots in recent US history and were a strong influence towards the eventual American withdrawal from Vietnam at the end of the Vietnam War. The 2000 Democratic National Convention protest activity made headlines, including the Lakers riot. Also notable were riots in response to the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. across numerous American cities, as well as the recent anarchist and anti-globalization riots of the last decade such as the Seattle protests of the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999 and the 2005 Toledo Riot in Toledo, Ohio.

Australia

The Sydney Riot of 1879, is one of the earliest riots at an international cricket match. Riots have become major news generators, including Aboriginal riots in response to the death of an Aboriginal boy, and most recently the 2005 summer race riots. These riots took place on the beaches of the eastern Sydney suburbs, most prominently Cronulla.

Europe

The Nørrebro riots followed the selling of Ungdomshuset in Copenhagen in Denmark. People from Sweden, Germany and the United Kingdom participated in the riots. In total 750 people were arrested during the fighting; 140 of these foreigners.

Riots also broke out in the city of Gothenburg, Sweden from the 14th to the 16th of June 2001. A total of 53 police officers and 90 vandals and demonstrators were hurt during the many riots that were going on between these days. The reasons for the riot were the EU summit that took place in Gothenburg and the visit of USA's President George W Bush.

In October 2005 and again in November 2007, immigrant youth rioted in the poor Paris suburbs of Clichy-sous-Bois http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_civil_unrest_in_France and Villiers-le-Bel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_civil_unrest_in_Villiers-le-Bel, respectively, each time in reaction to the deaths of North African youth at the hands of police.

Asia

The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 were a series of demonstrations led by students, intellectuals and labour activists in the People's Republic of China between April 15, 1989 and June 4, 1989. The demonstrations centred on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Government retaliation was often violent and riots broke out in affected regions.

In 2005, the Chinese government admitted to 87,000 demonstrations and riots across China. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/27/AR2006012701588.html

The Jakarta riots of May 1998 were a series of riots against ethnic Chinese Indonesians in Jakarta and Surakarta, Indonesia.There were also hundreds of documented accounts of ethnic Chinese women being raped, tortured and killed. http://www.fas.org/irp/world/indonesia/indonesia-1998.htm Human Rights groups have determined that the Indonesian military was involved in the riots, which degenerated into a pogrom. http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2003statement/87/

The Partition of India was a traumatic event in South Asian history that followed the independence of the region from British colonial rule. The ensuing riots resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Hindus and Muslims, with Hindus and Sikhs being massacred in the newly formed Pakistan.

In 2006, there were nationwide riots in Pakistan and numerous other areas over the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy. http://www.guardian.co.uk/pakistan/Story/0,,1710740,00.html

Reading List

• Riot Control: Materiel and Techniques
• Riot Prevention and Control: A Police Officer's Guide to Managing Violent and Nonviolent Crowds
• Patterns of Provocation: Police and Public Disorder
• Riot!: Civil Insurrection from Peterloo to the Present Day
• The Strong Arm of the Law: Armed and Public Order Policing

See also

• Types of Riot: Race riot, police riot, prison riot, student riot, hooliganism, street fighting
• Riot control: police, Riot control agent, paramilitary, military,
• Riot laws: Riot Act, Black Act
• Weapons found in Riots: CS gas, Plastic bullet, Rubber bullet, Molotov cocktail
• Violence in sports
• Demonstration
• 1968 Democratic National Convention
• 2005 civil unrest in France
• Pogrom
• Collective Effervescence
• Civil disorder
• List of riots
• List of riots related to urban decay
• Internal security

References

• Blackstones Police Manual Volume 4 General police duties, Fraser Simpson (2006). pp. 245. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-928522-5

External links

• Revolution '67 - Documentary about the Newark, New Jersey race riots of 1967

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