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Violent scenes beg many questions

How did a peaceful protest in North London on Saturday evening turn into scenes reminiscent of the Blitz?

The sight of black youths in a pitched battle with police against a backdrop of burning buildings and vehicles, inevitably will evoke grim memories of the Tottenham riots of 1985. These began when a black woman, Cynthia Jarrett, suffered a fatal heart attack while police searched her home, and culminated in the hacking to death of PC Keith Blakelock on the notorious Broadwater Farm housing estate nearby.