riot

1. A wild or turbulent disturbance created by a large number of people.
2. Law. A violent disturbance of the public peace by three or more persons assembled for a common purpose.
3. An unrestrained outbreak, as of laughter or passions.
4. A profusion: The garden was a riot of colors in August.
5. 1. Unrestrained merrymaking; revelry.
   2. Debauchery.
6. Slang. An irresistibly funny person or thing: Isn't she a riot?

1. To take part in a riot.
2. To live wildly or engage in uncontrolled revelry.

To waste (money or time) in wild or wanton living: “rioted his life out, and made an end” (Tennyson).

[Middle English, from Old French, dispute, from rioter, to quarrel, perhaps from ruire, to roar, from Latin rūgīre.]

noun

1. A quarrel, fight, or disturbance marked by very noisy, disorderly, and often violent behavior: affray, brawl, broil², donnybrook, fray, free-for-all, melee, row², ruction, tumult. Informal fracas. Slang rumble. See attack/defend.
2. Something or someone uproariously funny or absurd: absurdity. Informal hoot, joke, laugh, scream. Slang gas, howl, panic. Idioms: a laugh a minute. See laughter.

verb

To behave riotously: carouse, frolic, revel, roister. Informal hell (around). Idioms: blow off steam, cut loose, kick over the traces, kick up one's heels, let go, let loose, make merry, make whoopee, paint the town red, raiseCainthe devilhell, whoop it up. See restraint/unrestraint.

phrasal verb - riot away

To spend (money) excessively and usually foolishly: consume, dissipate, fool away, fritter away, squander, throw away, trifle away, waste. Slang blow¹. See save/waste.

Definition: uprising, disorder
Antonyms: calm, peace

n

Definition: very funny happening
Antonyms: seriousness, solemnity

v

Definition: protest; cause an uproar
Antonyms: comply, cooperate, make peace

Though they usually involve spontaneous, wanton violence or disorder by an anonymous crowd, riots have also served as a noteworthy form of social protest in American history. While the American Revolution made popular revolt a "quasi-legitimate" aspect of American culture, the ideals of democracy privilege debate and representation over mob rule. Nevertheless, Americans have frequently brought disorder to the nation's streets to express opinions and demands. Crowds have sought to limit the rights of others as often as they have demanded equal rights. Riots are not by definition part of organized rebellions, but they sometimes occur when public demonstrations turn to physical violence.

In the eighteenth century the American British colonies were frequently places of riot and protest against the British government. The Boston Massacre in 1770 is perhaps the most famous of the prerevolutionary civil disturbances. A riot erupted when a sailor named Crispus Attucks and a group of Boston artisans and sailors provoked British soldiers who they felt were taking the jobs of local workers. The uprising ended with British soldiers firing into a crowd of colonials, an incident that galvanized many against Britain's forceful rule over the colonies.

Once the United States became a sovereign country, it was forced to contend with riots directed against its own state and its citizens. The 1820s and 1830s were perhaps the most riot-filled decades of American history. Ethnic groups, mostly African and Irish Americans, became targets for others who sought to protect their jobs and social lives from incursions of immigrant and "non-white" Americans, as in the 1838 antiabolitionist riots in Philadelphia.

In July 1863 white and mostly poor workers throughout the country led demonstrations against the mandatory drafting of soldiers for the Civil War. Though the ability of the rich to buy soldier replacements was a major impetus for revolt, many demonstrators were protesting being forced to fight for the freedom of black slaves. Most dramatically, the demonstrations led to assaults on Republican Party representatives and African Americans in New York City. Five days of violence destroyed hundreds of homes and churches and led to the deaths of 105 people. The civil disturbance ended only when soldiers just returning from the battlefields of Gettysburg could muster the power to retake the city from the mob.

Intra-ethnic group conflict sometimes led to rioting as well, and in 1871, Irish Catholics and Protestants clashed over a religious conflict in New York City. That riot resulted in more than sixty deaths and over a hundred injuries when national guardsmen opened fire on the crowd. The battle among Irish Americans helped to stoke nativism in the city and throughout the nation.

Riots can also occur without a specific reason or disagreement. In 1919 Boston became enflamed when people used a policemen's strike as an opportunity for extensive criminal activity, such as robbery, stoning striking policemen, and other kinds of assaults. Highlighting the city's deep divisions, middle-and upper-class Bostonians formed vigilante posses to battle the rioters. The three-day period of chaos ended with eight deaths and dozens of injuries, many of which resulted from state guardsmen shooting into crowds of civilians. General public opinion was against the riots, and the court dealt harshly with the few rioters who were caught.

Though the end of World War I and the summer immediately following it saw racially motivated riots in East St. Louis and Chicago, Illinois, and Washington, D.C., and 1943 saw terrible bloodshed in Harlem and Detroit, the 1960s was the decade with the most widespread and pervasive race riots. Cities all over the country exploded with conflict between white and black citizens, from Harlem (1964) to Watts (1965), to Chicago and Cleveland (1966), to Newark and Detroit (1967), and finally to Washington, D.C. (1968). Unlike the earlier period of race riots, those in the 1960s involved mostly African Americans as white people fled the inner cities. Responding to the rhetoric of the Black Power Movement, desperation from the waning Civil Rights Movement, economic deprivation, and, most importantly, the racism of whites in their cities, African Americans rose up to assert their rights as citizens and humans. The American Indian Movement had similar motivation in 1969 for its protests, most notably at Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota. In late June and early July of the same year, gay and lesbian protesters in New York City responded to homophobic raids by police with a riot at the Stonewall, a bar in Greenwich Village. Though many disowned the violence and chaos of the Stonewall Riots, the incident helped to insert gay rights into the national political agenda.

Major politically motivated riots also occurred, most notably those that protested the war in Vietnam. In the summer of 1968 civil rights and antiwar protesters joined in a march outside the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. One reason the civil rights and antiwar movements in the 1960s emphasized nonviolence was to make it more difficult for officials to declare a march or a demonstration a riot. In Chicago, however, city and party officials viewed the march as a potential riot, and Mayor Richard J. Daleysent busloads of police. Protesters and sympathizers described what happened as a police riot, claiming the protest was peaceful and nonviolent until police attacked demonstrators without provocation.

The most deadly prison riot in United States history occurred in 1971 at the state prison at Attica, New York. Like many prisons in the early 1970s, Attica became a riot scene as prisoners protested their treatment at the facility. The state militia used force to retake the prison, leaving in the end thirty-two inmates and eleven guards dead. All but four of the dead were killed by the militia.

Riots in the late twentieth century seemed especially senseless, partially because television coverage allowed many to view the chaos as it was happening. When Los Angeles went up in flames in April 1992, the riot was ostensibly caused by the acquittal of the white police officers accused of beating an African American, Rodney King, a year earlier. After five days of violence following the verdict, 54 people were dead, more than 2,000 others were injured, and property losses had reached approximately$900 million. Black-white racism seemed to lie at the heart of the controversy. However, Hispanic Americans were the largest group of rioters, and Korean-owned businesses were the most common target of vandals and looters. Many have asserted that these rioters were responding to economic, political, and social deprivation similar to that which led to the rioting in the 1960s. In the years following the riots, the Los Angeles Police Department underwent a massive review and changed many of its procedures regarding both arrests and riot control.

Looting became a common part of modern riots, as evidenced in Los Angeles and by the outbreak of mob violence at the World Trade Organization (WTO) protests in Seattle, Washington, in November and December 1999. Though peaceful demonstrators were on hand for the annual WTO meeting to protest numerous issues—from environmentalism to animal rights—a fringe group of youth activists espousing anarchism smashed storefront windows and spray-painted graffiti in the downtown area. A new element of protest was introduced in the Seattle riots when the Internet was used to call thousands to the city and spread the anarchistic gospel of the rioters. And as in the case of Los Angeles, millions throughout the world were able to watch the riots as they were happening, amplifying their affect on policy as well as the number of people offended by the violence. Random civil disorder has had a long but uneasy relationship with political, economic, and social protest in the nation's history, but it is certainly a relationship that continues to be a part of the functioning American republic.

Bibliography

Gale, Dennis E. Understanding Urban Unrest: From Reverend King to Rodney King. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage, 1996.

Gilje, Paul A. Rioting in America. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1996.

Smith, Kimberly K. The Dominion of Voice: Riots, Reason, and Romance in Antebellum Politics. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1999.

Tager, Jack. Boston Riots: Three Centuries of Social Violence. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 2001.

A disturbance of the peace by several persons, assembled and acting with a common intent in executing a lawful or unlawful enterprise in a violent and turbulent manner.

Riot, rout, and unlawful assembly are related offenses, yet they are separate and distinct. A rout differs from a riot in that the persons involved do not actually execute their purpose but merely move toward it. The degree of execution that converts a rout into a riot is often difficult to determine.

An unlawful assembly transpires when persons convene for a purpose that, if executed, would make them rioters, but who separate without performing any act in furtherance of their purpose. For example, when a restaurant owner refused to serve a certain four customers and barred them from entering the establishment, the four men remained in front of the doors of the restaurant and blocked the entrance to all other customers. Although a riot did not result from their actions, the men were arrested and convicted of unlawful assembly.

Inciting to riot is another distinct crime, the gist of which is that it instigates a breach of the peace, even though the parties might have initially assembled for an innocent purpose. It means using language, signs, or conduct to lead or cause others to engage in conduct that, if completed, becomes a riot.

Conspiracy to riot is also a separate offense. In one case, the leader of a small Marxist group took to the streets preaching revolution and organized resistance to lawful authority. Cursing the police, he spoke about how to fight and kill them and generally advocated violent means to gain political ends. The court ruled that a person who agrees with others to organize a future riot and who commits an overt act in conformity with the agreement is guilty, not of riot, but of conspiracy to riot.

In legal usage, the term mob is practically synonymous with riot or with riotous assembly. A federal court held that night riders were a mob and that their act of burning a building constituted the crime of riot.

Nature and Elements

Riot is an offense against the public peace and good order, rather than a violation of the rights of any particular person. It is not commonly applied to brief disturbances, even if malicious mischief and violence are involved in the commotion. For example, a lock company was picketed in a labor dispute. When the police attempted to escort some people through the picket line, a brief general commotion, some scuffling, and an exchange of blows took place. The police testified that the entire fracas lasted about "two or three minutes." The court held that the crime of riot does not apply to brief disturbances, even those involving violence, nor to disturbances that occur during the picketing accompanying a labor dispute.

The elements that comprise the offense are determined either by the common law or by the statute defining it. In some jurisdictions, the necessary elements are an unlawful assembly, the intent to provide mutual assistance against lawful authority, and acts of violence. Under some statutes, the elements are the use of force or violence, or threats to use force and violence, along with the immediate power of execution.

Other statutes provide that the essential elements are an assembly of persons for any unlawful purpose; the use of force or violence against persons or property; an attempt or threat to use force or violence or to do any unlawful act, coupled with the power of immediate execution; and a resulting disturbance of the peace.

Force or Violence

The element of force or violence required under the common law means a defiance of lawful authority and the rights of other persons. Similarly the force or violence contemplated by the statutes is the united force of the participants acting in concert with the increased capacity to overcome resistance. The statutes further specify that the type of force and violence, not mere physical exertion, must threaten law-abiding nonparticipants.

Order to Disperse

Under some statutes, the crime of riot is committed, even though no order to disperse has been given. The statutory offense of remaining at a place of riot cannot occur, however, until a command to disperse has been given.

Unlawful Conduct

Riots can arise from any violent and turbulent activity of a group, such as bands of people creating an uproar and displaying weapons; wildly marching on a public street; violently disrupting a public meeting; threatening bystanders with displays of force; or forcibly destroying property along the way. In one case, striking orange pickers armed with clubs, metal cables, sticks, and other weapons rushed into an orange grove and assaulted nonstriking pickers. After the nonstrikers were driven out of the grove, the strikers overturned the boxes full of picked oranges and threw oranges and boxes at the nonstrikers. The court held this to be riotous conduct. When one city was wracked by racial disturbances, the court ruled that racial disorders constituted a general "riot," or a series of "riots," and that whether there was a single, identifiable group or a number of riotous groups was not significant when their one common purpose was to injure and destroy.

Number of Persons Necessary

The common law rule, and most of the statutes that define riot, require three or more persons to be involved. Some statutes fix the minimum number at two.

Purpose of Original Assembly

The jurisdictions differ on whether the original assembly must be an unlawful one. Some require premeditation by the rioters, but others prescribe that riots can arise from assemblies that were originally lawful or as a result of groups of persons who had inadvertently assembled.

Common Intent

A previous agreement or conspiracy to riot is not usually an element of a riot. A common intent, however, to engage in an act of violence, combined with a concert of action, is sometimes necessary. In one case, following a high school football game, a group of boys staged a "violent, brutal and indecent" assault on the color guard and band members of the visiting team. When the visitors attempted to leave, the attacks continued. On trial, the attackers claimed that the charge of riot did not apply to them because they had had no "common intent." The court held that "an intent is a mental state which can be inferred from conduct." They were found guilty of riot and the decision was affirmed on appeal.

Terror

When a riot arises from an unlawful act, such as an assault, terror need not be shown because in every riotous situation there are elements of force and violence that are by their very nature terrifying. When a riot arises from lawful conduct, terror must be shown. For example, if a group of neighbors decides to remove a nuisance, such as a pile of malodorous garbage, which would be a lawful activity, but does so in a violent and tumultuous manner, terror would have to be shown before the conduct would constitute a riot. Only one person need be alarmed to fulfill the terror requirement.

Persons Liable

Principal rioters are those who are present and actively participate in the riot. All persons present who are not actually assisting in the suppression of the riot can be regarded as participants when their presence is intentional and tends to encourage the rioters.

Municipal Liability

In the absence of a statute, a municipal corporation, such as a city, town, or village, is not liable for injuries caused by mobs or riotous assemblages. Where statutes do impose liability, the particular statute determines the type of action one can institute against a city, town, or village.

Defenses

There is never any justification for a riot. The only defense that can be claimed is that an element of the offense is absent. Participation is an essential element. Establishing that an accused's presence at the scene of a riot was accidental can remove any presumption of guilt arising from his or her presence at a riotous assemblage.

Suppression of Riot

Private persons can, on their own authority, lawfully try to suppress a riot, and courts have ruled that they can arm themselves for such a purpose if they comply with appropriate statutory provisions concerning the possession of firearms or other weapons. Execution of this objective will be supported and justified by law. Generally every citizen capable of bearing arms must help to suppress a riot if called upon to do so by an authorized peace officer.

The state is primarily responsible for protecting lives and property from the unlawful violence of mobs. If the militia reports to civil authorities to help quash a riot, it has the same powers as civil officers and must render only such assistance as is required by civil authorities.

In an emergency, and in the absence of constitutional restrictions, a governor can order the intervention of the militia to suppress a riot without complying with statutory formalities. When troops are ordered to quell a riot, they are not subject to local authorities but are in the service of the state.

n.

A popular entertainment given to the military by innocent bystanders.

Quotes:

"With society and its public, there is no longer any other language than that of bombs, barricades, and all that follows." - Antonin Artaud

"No nation, no matter how enlightened, can endure criminal violence. If we cannot control it, we are admitting to the world and to ourselves that our laws are no more than a facade that crumbles when the winds of crisis rise." - Alan Biole

"Some punishment seems preparing for a people who are ungratefully abusing the best constitution and the best King any nation was ever blessed with, intent on nothing but luxury, licentiousness, power, places, pensions, and plunder; while the ministry, divided in their counsels, with little regard for each other, worried by perpetual oppositions, in continual apprehension of changes, intent on securing popularity in case they should lose favor, have for some years past had little time or inclination to attend to our small affairs, whose remoteness makes them appear even smaller." - Benjamin Franklin

"The poor suffer twice at the rioter's hands. First, his destructive fury scars their neighborhood; second, the atmosphere of accommodation and consent is changed to one of hostility and resentment." - Lyndon B. Johnson

"A rioter with a Molotov cocktail in his hands is not fighting for civil rights any more than a Klansman with a sheet on his back and a mask on his face." - Lyndon B. Johnson

"The Los Angeles riots were not caused by the Rodney King verdict. The Los Angeles riots were caused by rioters." - Rush Limbaugh

See more famous quotes about Riots

This article is about a type of event. For other meanings of riot, see Riot (disambiguation).

Please help improve this article by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page. (March 2009)

Teamsters, armed with pipes, riot in a clash with riot police in the Minneapolis Teamsters Strike of 1934.

Rioters typically wear face masks, scarves, and other headgear, in order not to be recognizable and in order to filter tear gas; they may use cobblestones as projectiles

A riot is a form of civil disorder 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), the outcome of a sporting event or frustration with legal channels through which to air 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.

Some 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.

Dealing with riots are a tough job for police departments, and police officers sent to deal with riots are usually armed with ballistic shields and riot shotguns, mainly because of the larger spread of the shorter barrels. Police may also use tear gas and CS gas to stop rioters. Most riot police have moved to using less-than-lethal methods to control riots, such as shotguns that fire rubber slugs and flexible baton rounds to injure or otherwise incapacitate rioters for easy arrest.

Main article: Street fighting

Contents 1 Types of riots 1.1 Hooliganism 1.2 Police Riot 1.3 Prison Riot 1.4 Race Riot 1.5 Student Riot 1.6 Urban Riots 2 Riot History 2.1 Asia 2.2 Australia 2.3 Europe 2.4 United States 3 Police response 4 National laws against riots 4.1 England and Wales 4.1.1 Current English law 4.1.2 Ramifications 4.2 United States 5 See also 6 References 7 Reading List 8 External links

Types of riots

Hooliganism

Main article: Hooliganism

Hooliganism refers to unruly and destructive behaviour associated with sports fans, particularly supporters of professional football and university sports. Some sports rioters have become semi-professionals, travelling to the sites of likely riots. These rioters are known as firms and are particularly noted in sports-related riots in Europe.

Police Riot

Main article: police riot

A "police riot" is a term for the alleged wrongful, disproportionate, unlawful and illegitimate use of force by a group of police against a group of civilians. A police riot commonly describes a situation where police attack a group of peaceful civilians and/or provoke previously peaceful civilians into violence.

Prison Riot

Main article: prison riot

A prison riot is a type of large scale, temporary act of concerted defiance or disorder by a group of prisoners against the prison administrators, prison officers, or other groups of prisoners in attempt to force change or express a grievance.

Race Riot

Main article: Race riot

"Race riot" is a term describing a riot in which race or ethnicity is a key factor. The term had entered the English language in the United States by the 1890s. Early use of the term in the United States referred to race riots which were often a mob action by members of the majority racial group against people of other perceived races.

Student Riot

Main article: Student riot

Student riots are riots precipitated by students, often in higher education, such as a college/university. Student riots in the US and Western Europe in the 1960s and the 1970s were often political in nature, although student riots can occur as a result of peaceful demonstration oppressed by the authorities and after sporting events (see hooliganism). Students may constitute an active political force in a given country, and student riots may occur in the context of wider political or social grievances.

Urban Riots

Main article: Urban riots

Urban riots are those riots identified as taking place in the context of urban conditions associated with urban decay, such as discrimination, poverty, high unemployment, poor schools, poor healthcare, housing inadequacy and police brutality and bias. Urban riots are closely associated with race riots and police riots. In India, for instance, caste riots have tended to be limited to rural theatres while religious riots centred around urban agglomerations.

Riot History

Further information: List of riots

This section requires expansion.

This section may stray from the topic of the article into the topic of another article, List of notable riots. Please help improve this section or discuss this issue on the talk page.

An armed mob on the prowl during the Direct Action Day riots in Calcutta.

Asia

The 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots was a 3-4 day period of communal violence against Sikhs. These riots were started in retaliation of the assassination of Prime minister Indira Gandhi by her two Sikh bodyguards (in revenge for Operation Bluestar). It is estimated that about 2,000 Sikhs were killed in the riots across India.

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. ^[1]

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. ^[2] Human Rights groups have determined that the Indonesian military was involved in the riots, which degenerated into a pogrom. ^[3]

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.

In 2006, there were nationwide riots in Pakistan and numerous other areas over the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy. ^[4]

In 2008, several citizens, mainly native Tibetans, in Tibet have rioted against the Chinese government months before the 2008 Beijing Olympics, in response to the detainment of 300 lamaist monks. In addition to the riots, other Tibetan citizens and other anti-Chinese organizations outside of China, attempted to disrupt the Olympic torch relay prior to the riots as well as several other issues by harassing the torch bearers by attempting to remove to torch. In response, the torch bearers had to be escorted by security to prevent further conflicts with protesters.

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 and directly downtown, most prominently Cronulla.

Europe

Europe has historically seen a diverse range of riots, ranging from hooliganism to May Day riots. Recent riots have taken place in a political context (escalation of political demonstrations), rioting to prevent the eviction of social centres and/or squats, and racial tensions in the broader context of urban decay.

Riots 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.

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.

Main article: Nørrebro

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

Main article: 2005 civil unrest in France

Main article: 2007 civil unrest in Villiers-le-Bel

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 depicted in the movie Gangs of New York with a disputable level of accuracy.

Since the 1950s the US has seen a series of race riots in the context of the civil rights movement and urban decay. Over the first nine months of 1967, 128 American cities suffered 164 riots.^[5] The 1967 Newark riots became, per capita, one of deadliest civil disturbances of the 1960s. The long and short term causes of the riots are explored in depth in the documentary film Revolution '67. The assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. triggered riots across numerous American cities. 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. There was also a riot in Cincinnati in 2001. In the last decade the US has also seen a number of anti-globalization protests, most notable the Seattle protests of the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, also known as the "Battle of Seattle", and the 2005 Toledo Riot.

Police response

Law enforcement teams wear body armor and shields, and may use tear gas

Main article: Riot control agent

Riots are typically dealt with by the police (riot control), although methods differ from country to country. Tactics and weapons used can include attack dogs, water cannons, plastic bullets, rubber bullets, pepper spray, flexible baton rounds, and snatch squads . Many police forces, such as the London Metropolitan Police Service, have dedicated divisions to deal with public order situations (see Territorial Support Group, Special Patrol Group, Compagnies Républicaines de Sécurité, Mobiele Eenheid).

The policing of riots has been marred by incidents in which police have been accused of instigating or provoking rioting or crowd violence (see Police riot); also, while the weapons described above are officially designated as non-lethal, a number of people have allegedly died or been injured as a result of their use.

National laws against riots

Riot laws: Riot Act, Black Act

England and Wales

Under English law, a riot is defined by the Public Order Act 1986 as twelve or more persons who "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". A single person can be liable for an offense of riot when they use violence provided that it can be shown there were at least twelve present using or threatening violence. The violence can be against the person or against property. This carries the possibility of a fine and a sentence of up to ten years' imprisonment.

If there are fewer than twelve people present, the lesser offense of "Violent Disorder" is charged, for which there is a requirement for at least three persons to use or threaten unlawful violence together. This is defined similarly to riot, but no common purpose is required.

In the past, The Riot Act had to be read by an official - with the wording exactly correct - before any policing action could take place. If the group did not disperse after the act was read, lethal force could legally be used against the crowd.

In recent times nobody has been charged with a Section 1 offense (Riot) in England and Wales. This is because if a Section 1 offense takes place the local police service are regarded as having failed and are liable to pay compensation. The best known example of this is the Poll tax demonstrations of 1990 where nobody was charged with Section 1. All were charged as though a collection of Section 2 (violent disorder involving 3 people) acts had just happened to take place in one location.

Current English law

Cars are sometimes set on fire during riots

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)
• Up to ten years imprisonment and/or a fine ^[6]

• In the case of riot connected to football hooliganism, the offender may be banned from football grounds for a set or indeterminate period of time and may have to surrender their passport to the police for a period of time in the event of a club or international match, or international tournament, connected with the offence. This prevents travelling to the match or tournament in question. The measures were brought in as the Football (Disorder) Act 2000 after rioting of England fans at Euro 2000.^[7]

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.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Riots

• Civil disorder
• Collective Effervescence
• Demonstration
• Internal security
• List of riots
• Protest
• Pogrom
• Police
• Rebellion
• Revolution

References

1. ^ In Face of Rural Unrest, China Rolls Out Reforms - washingtonpost.com
2. ^ 1998 Human Rights Report - Indonesia
3. ^ INDONESIA: Five years after May 1998 rights, those responsible for the atrocities remain at large
4. ^ Western businesses burn in Pakistan riots | World news | The Guardian
5. ^ Why Did America Explode in Riots in 1967?, by Joshua Zeitz, AmericanHeritage.com, July 23, 2007
6. ^ http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1986/pdf/ukpga_19860064_en.pdf
7. ^ http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/en/ukpgaen_20000025_en_1

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

Reading List

• Applegate, Col. Rex (1992). Riot Control: Materiel and Techniques. Paladin Press. ISBN 9780873642088. 
• Beene, Capt. Charles (2006). Riot Prevention and Control: A Police Officer's Guide to Managing Violent and Nonviolent Crowds. Paladin Press. ISBN 1581605188. 
• Bessel, Richard Emsley, Clive (2000). Patterns of Provocation: Police and Public Disorder. Berghahn Books. ISBN 1571812288. 
• Hernon, Ian (2006). Riot!: Civil Insurrection from Peterloo to the Present Day. Pluto Press. ISBN 0745325386. 
• Waddington, P.A.J. (1991). The Strong Arm of the Law: Armed and Public Order Policing. Clarendon Press. ISBN 0198273592. 

External links

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

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - optøjer, uroligheder, ståhej, vrimmel
v. intr. - lave optøjer, larme, feste
v. tr. - smide penge væk pga. ekstravagant livsstil

idioms:

• a riot of    en vrimmel af, en overflod af
• read the riot act    opfordre til at spredes
• riot police    uropatrulje
• riot shield    (politi)skjold
• run riot    gå grassat, løbe løbsk

Nederlands (Dutch)
rel, onlusten

Français (French)
n. - (gén) émeute, (Jur) émeute, révolte, profusion de, affrontement, personne tordante (fam)
v. intr. - (gén) se soulever, se mutiner
v. tr. - se soulever, se mutiner

idioms:

• a riot of    une profusion de
• read the riot act    passer un savon à, (Jur) faire les trois sommations
• riot police    unités anti-émeutes
• riot shield    bouclier anti-émeutes
• run riot    (lit) se déchaîner, (fig) se débrider, galoper, proliférer

Deutsch (German)
n. - Aufstand, Aufruhr, Krawall
v. - einen Aufstand machen

idioms:

• a riot of    ein (buntes) Durcheinander
• read the riot act    jmdm. die Leviten lesen
• riot police    Bereitschaftspolizei
• riot shield    Schutzschild
• run riot    randalieren

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - ταραχή, ξεσηκωμός, υπεραφθονία, όργιο, (καθομ.) διασκεδαστικότατο πρόσωπο ή πράγμα
v. - παίρνω μέρος σε ταραχές, θορυβώ, χαλώ τον κόσμο, πανηγυρίζω

idioms:

• a riot of    (μτφ.) όργιο
• read the riot act    καλώ ταραξίες να διαλυθούν, απευθύνω αυστηρή προειδοποίηση
• riot police    μονάδες αποκατάστασης τάξης
• riot shield    ασπίδα αστυνομικών στη διάρκεια ταραχών
• run riot    οργιάζω, αποχαλινώνομαι, φουντώνω, θρασεύω

Italiano (Italian)
rivolta, sommossa

idioms:

• a riot of    una profusione di
• read the riot act    ammonire severamente
• riot police    squadra volante
• riot shield    scudo di poliziotto
• run riot    abbandonarsi ad eccessi

Português (Portuguese)
n. - tumulto (m), orgia (f)
v. - tumultuar

idioms:

• a riot of    tumulto, motim
• read the riot act    declarar com autoridade que algo deve parar
• riot police    polícia treinada para controlar distúrbios
• riot shield    escudo para proteção (polícia)
• run riot    esbanjar

Русский (Russian)
бунт, беспорядки

idioms:

• a riot of    буйство
• read the riot act    отчитать, прочесть Закон Против Бунта
• riot police    войска специального назначения
• riot shield    пластиковый щит
• run riot    буйствовать, расти в роскоши

Español (Spanish)
n. - disturbio, motín, exuberancia, derroche
v. intr. - armar alborotos o motines, o participar en ellos, entregarse al desenfreno, ser exuberante, moverse tumultuosamente, atacar en tumulto
v. tr. - dilapidar, derrochar

idioms:

• a riot of    derroche o profusión de
• read the riot act    echar un rapapolvo a alguien
• riot police    brigada antidisturbios
• riot shield    escudo antidisturbios
• run riot    desmandarse, descontrolarse

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - upplopp, våldsamt utbrott, knallsuccé, (sl) våldsamt rolig sak
v. - delta i upplopp, fira orgier

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
暴动, 奔放, 喧闹, 参加暴乱, 放纵, 沉湎, 聚众闹事, 浪费, 挥霍

idioms:

• a riot of    色彩缤纷
• read the riot act    宣读骚动取缔法令
• riot police    防暴警察
• riot shield    防暴护罩
• run riot    跟错踪迹, 胡闹, 肆无忌惮, 茂盛

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 暴動, 奔放, 喧鬧
v. intr. - 參加暴亂, 放縱, 沈湎, 聚眾鬧事
v. tr. - 浪費, 揮霍

idioms:

• a riot of    色彩繽紛
• read the riot act    宣讀騷動取締法令
• riot police    防暴警察
• riot shield    防暴護罩
• run riot    跟錯蹤跡, 胡鬧, 肆無忌憚, 茂盛

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 소동, 범람, 방탕
v. intr. - 소동을 일으키다, 방탕하다, 꽃이 만연하다
v. tr. - 방탕 생활로 소비하다, 낭비하다

idioms:

• a riot of    가지각색, 분방
• run riot    방탕한 짓을 하다, 함부로 날뛰다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 暴動, 騒動, 多彩さ, ほとばしり, 奔放, 混乱
v. - 暴動に加わる, 大騒ぎをする, ふける, はびこる

idioms:

• a riot of    ほとばしり激発
• riot police    機動隊
• riot shield    暴動鎮圧用楯
• run riot    暴れ回る, はびこる

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) شغب, إخلال بالأمن (فعل) يشاغب, يخل بالأمن, يقصف‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮מהומה, התפרעות, רעש, הילולה, גילוי, התפרצות (רגשות), הצלחה, דבר משעשע, הנאה בזבזנית, הוללות‬
v. intr. - ‮הקים מהומות, השתולל, התהולל‬
v. tr. - ‮בזבז (כסף, זמן וכו') על חיי הוללות‬

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