Brixton riots (1981)

1981 Brixton riot
Police with riot shields form a cordon across Atlantic Road at its junction with Coldharbour Lane, 11 April 1981
Date	10–12 April 1981
Location	Brixton, South London
Methods	Rioting, looting, arson,
Reported fatalities and injuries
0 deaths 279 police officers injured 45 members of the public injured

The 1981 Brixton riot, or Brixton uprising, was a confrontation between the Metropolitan Police and protesters in Lambeth, South London, England, between 10 and 12 April 1981. The main riot on 11 April, dubbed "Bloody Saturday" by Time magazine, resulted in almost 280 injuries to police and 45 injuries to members of the public; over a hundred vehicles were burned, including 56 police vehicles; and almost 150 buildings were damaged, with thirty burned. There were 82 arrests. Reports suggested that up to 5,000 people were involved.

Brixton in South London was an area with serious social and economic problems. The whole United Kingdom was affected by a recession by 1981, but the local African-Caribbean community was suffering particularly high unemployment, poor housing, and a higher than average crime rate.

In the preceding months there had been growing unease between the police and the inhabitants of Lambeth. In January 1981 a number of black youths died in a fire during a house party in New Cross. Although authorities have claimed it may have been accidental and that the fire started from inside the house, it was widely suspected to have been a racially motivated arson attack by someone outside the property, and the police investigation was criticised as inadequate for not exploring that possibility. Black activists, including Darcus Howe, organised a march for the "Black People's Day of Action" on 2 March. Accounts of turnout vary from 5,000 to 20,000 to 25,000. The marchers walked 17 miles from Deptford to Hyde Park, passing the Houses of Parliament and Fleet Street. While the majority of the march finished in Hyde Park without incident, there was some confrontation with police at Blackfriars. Les Back wrote that "While the local press reported the march respectfully, the national papers unloaded the full weight of racial stereotyping."The Evening Standard's front page headline was a photo of a policeman with a bloody face next to a quote from Darcus Howe referring to the march as "A good day". A few weeks later, some of the organizers of the march were arrested, charged with the offence of Riot. They were later acquitted.