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We couldn't stop attacks on Starbucks, police admit
Mark Blunden19 Jan 2009
POLICE today admitted they were powerless to stop protesters attacking businesses after anti-Israel demonstrators smashed up two more Starbucks in central London.
Businesses fearing more protests have demanded greater protection but Scotland Yard said it could not stop thugs "hell-bent" on causing damage.
The cafés, in Piccadilly and Shaftesbury Avenue, were looted and their windows smashed on Saturday.
It followed a Stop the War Coalition protest in Trafalgar Square attended by 3,500 people. Two people were arrested for alleged offences at previous demonstrations.
At 5pm, up to 200 people were contained by police in Piccadilly and a further 40 an hour later in Hyde Park. Many wore scarves over their faces.
John Ruston, 24, manager of a shop next to Piccadilly Starbucks, said: "They came running in small break-away groups and threw a bin and a Starbucks sign at the windows."
Rioters then ran up Shaftesbury Avenue smashing in another branch.
The American coffee chain praised the police response. It is being targeted over accusations it donates money to Israel, which it strongly denies.
Last weekend rioters wrecked a Starbucks in Kensington and Whitechapel.
Reader views (13)
'Stop the war coalition' organized the event for good cause. They had a great team of organizers to guide participants within the area. However, they have no control on individual actions. Let's blame the wrongdoers rather the good ones.
- Khaled, London, 22/01/2009 03:33
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What on earth are people on a "Stop the War" march doing smashing anything up? Isn't that contrary to the cause?
- Marie, London, 20/01/2009 09:47
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The police have the power to deny the organisers the right to protests on grounds of safety. Considering all the pro-HAMAS rallies have ended in riots they should have invoked this right.
- Adam, Harrow, UK, 20/01/2009 08:17
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How about knocking heads and arresting the yobs!
- Mike, Denver, USA, 20/01/2009 05:43
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These are riots, not demonstrations, and the police must be allowed to tackle this problem head on.
- Paddy Mcmurphy, Kilburn, UK, 19/01/2009 23:28
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Astounding. Remember the bashing that the police handed down to the Countryside Alliance marchers in 2002? Where are those uniformed thugs now, or do they only come out for right-wing demos? Then again, middle-aged/middle class women with their heads split open by steel batons don't really have much fightback, do they? When the police are up against some real left-wing muscle they're suddenly nowhere to be seen. Politicised to a man. Rotten to the core - as led from the top.
- Observer, Broken Britain, 19/01/2009 20:12
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I was actually there at the rally at Trafalgar Square and saw what occurred afterwards. The Rally finished and an ad hoc demonstration tried to make it's way to the Israeli Embassy, however the police had blocked off all the streets around Trafalgar Square, surprisingly all except Charing Cross Road. Some 400 people marched down Charing Cross Road and then Shaftsbury Avenue, crossed Picadilly Circus and passed the Green Park Tube Station, where the police caught up with around 200 of them. The rest dissappered gradually or were too slow to be rounded up. Those that were penned in, were photographed but not charged and released in drabs. The windows of two Starbucks and one Subway were smashed, contrary to reports, they were not looted.
- Farhad Navkhoda, Preston, Lancashire, 19/01/2009 18:07
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I'm a big supporter of the police in London, but I find it difficult to understand why they were powerless to stop the damage being caused to Starbucks. As this report indicates '...last weekend rioters wrecked a Starbucks in Kensington and Whitechapel..'. Surely this single piece of intelligence alone should have set the alarm bells ringing. In the light of the previous weekends damage to other Starbucks what action, if any, was taken to protect their premisis, staff and customers at coffee shops in and around the locality of the protestors meeting point?. After all Starbucks in Shaftsbury Avenue and Piccadilly are fairly close to Trafalgar Square and would seem to me to have been an obvious target for the thugs.
- Pat, Banstead, Surrey, 19/01/2009 18:02
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We came out of a theatre at 5pm on Saturday. No reason to stick up for the police - but can report there were a lot of them walking quickly towards these incidents and about 8 police vans turned up within minutes. One person smashing shop windows in High Wycombe would be a very different matter to managing the disparate groups attending Saturday's rally. They make it very easy to criticise the motorist/ticket mentality but this did not look like an easy shift.
- Jay, London, 19/01/2009 15:24
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With Gary from Amersham on this one.
- Selwyn Channon, epsom, 19/01/2009 14:52
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POLICE today admitted they were powerless to stop protesters attacking businesses after anti-Israel demonstrators smashed up two more Starbucks in central London.
SCANDALOUS!!!
Just what are the police for now apart from giving out tickets to motorists. Are the police so scared of arresting people these days the are toothless ???????
- Duncan Walker, Lucky to live in Thailand, 19/01/2009 11:46
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good old 'peace' rallies.....nothing like smashing up a coffee shop, mugging people or damaging vehicles in the name of 'peace'. What a bunch of hypocrites. And as for the Police - i bet if i went to High Wycombe and started smashing shop windows i would be in the back of a police van in 5 minutes! ???
- Gary, amersham, 19/01/2009 10:39
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Are you sure they weren't complaining about the coffee?
- Patrick Griffin, Dalston, London, 19/01/2009 10:38
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