Some of the text messages read like real-time rallying calls for rioters."If you're down for making money, we're about to go hard in east London," one looter messaged before the violence spread.
Others direct troublemakers to areas of untapped riches -
stores selling expensive stereo equipment, designer clothes, alcohol and
bicycles.
Most show a portent of even worse things to come.
Encrypted messages sent via BlackBerrys are being used by
mobs to encourage rioting across Britain - mayhem born of an incendiary mixture
of conditions that converged during Europe's sleepy summer vacation season.
Many of the masked or hooded youths have been
photographed typing messages on their cellphones while flames engulf cars and
buildings.
Conditions have been perfect for the unrest. Britain's
economic outlook is bleak, youths are out of school and unemployed, police
ranks have been depleted by summer vacations, and social media sites - coupled
with dramatic video of the rioting - have bolstered a mob mentality and spread
disobedience.
Alcohol has also played a part. Some of Tuesday night's
rioters bragged of booze-fueled rampages. Britain has a culture of binge
drinking with a recent surge in alcohol-related diseases among the young. The
legal age to purchase alcohol in Britain is 18.
BlackBerry's messaging system is popular among youths
because it's free, compatible with multimedia and private, compared with
Facebook and Twitter. Its encrypted messages give troublemakers an added
benefit: Police aren't able to immediately trace message traffic the way they
can with regular cellphones.
Social media have been a potent force in fueling the
riots that began Saturday in London's boroughs and later spread to other cities
such as Birmingham, Liverpool, Leeds and Bristol. Messages have also been sent
via regular texts and on Facebook.
One 18-year-old boy was detained Tuesday for allegedly
encouraging violence on Facebook. Community members alerted police to the
posts, according to police superintendent Athol Aitken. The teenager is
expected in Dundee court on Wednesday.
But the social networks also have provided refuge for
fearful residents and shop owners who say police efforts have been feeble and
slow. Twitter is helping to pinpoint areas of violence, organize community
cleanup groups and alert people of alternative routes they can use.
BlackBerry said it was cooperating with police, but
shutting down the messaging system could penalize more than just the
troublemakers. More than 45 million people use the BlackBerry messaging system
worldwide. President Barack Obama is said to use the same secure system to
communicate.
"We feel for those impacted by recent days' riots in
London," Patrick Spence, a Blackberry managing director of global sales
and regional marketing, said in a statement. "We have engaged with the
authorities to assist in any way we can."
The company declined to answer further questions about
providing data to police or how a message service suspension might work.
David Lammy, a lawmaker from the Tottenham area where the
rioting began, called for BlackBerry to suspend its messaging service. On
Tuesday, hackers compromised BlackBerry's blog site in response to the company
saying it would cooperate with police.
Britain's riots began after last week's police shooting
of Mark Duggan, a 29-year-old father of four. According to British media, one
of the last messages that Duggan sent was via BlackBerry's messaging system,
also known as BBM.
"The Feds are following me," he allegedly wrote
to his girlfriend, according to The Daily Telegraph.
Some of the rioters have laughed off claims that the
unrest was sparked by any one grievance. One man who identified himself only as
"Zed" said the riots were "just an excuse for everyone to smash
up the place" and that stuff "tastes better when it's free."
Britain is full of contrasts between the haves and
have-nots, where areas of soot-stained apartment buildings are a stone's throw
from Buckingham Palace. It is also a place where the class system is imprinted
on the country's social fabric, seen clearly in the political and business
elite.
"You have groups who are highly technically
integrated but socially completely outclassed and alienated," said Rodney
Barker, emeritus professor of government at the London School of Economics.
Prime Minister David Cameron, known for his posh accent
and privileged education, is thought to have lost votes in last year's election
because he was seen as too much of an elitist who couldn't understand the
common man.
The past year has seen mass protests against the tripling
of student tuition fees and cuts to public sector pensions. In November,
December and March, small groups broke away from large marches in London to
loot. In the most notorious episode, rioters attacked a Rolls-Royce carrying
Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, to a charity concert.
"This is an uprising of all people - black, white,
gay, straight," said a man who identified himself as Bryn Phillips, 28,
who picked through the ruins of a convenience store in east London on Monday
night.
According to July figures from Britain's Office of National
Statistics, one in five 16- to 24-year-olds is unemployed - the highest rate of
youth unemployment in some 20 years. Overall unemployment rates, however, have
remained stable.
"These young people, who seem to have no stake in
society, are trashing their own communities," said lawmaker Diane Abbott,
whose Hackney North and Stoke Newington constituency has seen a lot of the
trouble. "We cannot continue to have increasing numbers of looters on the
streets night after night."
Hot-tempered youths are fueled by temperate and
drier-than-normal weather. One middle-aged man carrying a recycling bin full of
beer bottles and soft drinks Monday night blamed the government's planned
spending cuts - some of the harshest cuts since World War II designed to slash
Britain's multibillion-pound (multibillion-dollar) deficit.
"People are traumatized by the cuts," he said,
identifying himself only as Joe.
Cameron condemned the violence and warned that 16,000
police officers would take back the country's streets. More BlackBerry messages
were encouraging weekend protests.
"This is definitely not the 1980s," said London
School of Economics political scientist Tony Travers, referring to past race
riots and other unrest. "And it is not the same as the instance that
occasionally happened in French suburbs. Tottenham and other areas are
relatively poor (but) they are not areas of unremitting poverty."
Britain's police force has been weakened by budget cuts
and summer vacations. It's also no secret that most officers don't carry guns,
and water cannons and tear gas haven't been used in years. Officials said they
may be forced to use plastic bullets to control the crowds if violence
persists.
"Different people have different views about the
causes, but there is no excuses for it," said Labour leader Ed Miliband.