It’s a war,” cried one appalled white resident as Brixton exploded. “Police and black people are fighting in the street and we are in hiding.” The ruined buildings and burnt-out cars next morning certainly looked worse than anything London had seen since the Blitz.
About eight hundred young blacks were involved—some no more than 12 years old—plus a few whites urging them on. They threw bricks and bottles and petrol-bombs at the unarmed police. No one was killed, but before the night was over, two hundred casualties were being treated, the great majority policemen. Over the next week there were further eruptions in Brixton, like a volcano rumbling on, and several smaller, but still ugly, clashes between black youths and the police in other parts of London.
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