Machete mob attack at Birmingham UK cinema

William Parcher

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William Parcher
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Birmingham Star City: Arrests over cinema 'machete' brawl

BBC News said:
A fight involving people armed with machetes broke out at a cinema in what one witness described as "one of the scariest moments of her life". A number of police officers were assaulted as they attempted to clear about 100 people from the Star City complex in Birmingham.

They were responding to reports a group with machetes had arrived at the multiplex.

Several arrests for assaulting officers and failing to disperse were made. The injured officers sustained only minor injuries, West Midlands Police said.

One witness described it as "one of the scariest moments of [her] life", as she queued to watch the new Frozen film with her daughter. Choleigh McGuire said: "Armed police come, Tasers come, all of the people that were fighting ran off into the cinema, hiding. I am shaking."
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What is this - is it football hooliganism?

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-birmingham-50533609
 
I saw a recent report about someone with a large knife attacking someone else - I think it was actually a murder - and an off-duty policeman who tried to intervene was hospitalised with serious injuries. Admittedly police on duty will have some body armour but I tend to agree with you, a mob with actual machetes is likely to do a lot more damage than is reported here.

At least they didn't have guns.
 
Film about warring gangs is pulled after machete brawl at Birmingham cinema

The Guardian said:
A film about warring gangs has been pulled from nearly 100 cinemas across the UK after a mass brawl involving teenagers armed with machetes in Birmingham on Saturday night.

Blue Story, which depicts violent street rivalries in south London, was removed from all 91 Vue Cinemas on Sunday following the riot.

Five teenagers, including a 13-year-old girl, were arrested and seven police officers suffered facial injuries following what the West Midlands force described as a “major outbreak of trouble” involving up to 100 youngsters...

...Police later recovered two machetes and a knife from the Star City leisure complex, in the Nechells area of Birmingham. One witness described the brawl as “one of the scariest moments of her life”...
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https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news...ked-during-machete-brawl-at-birmingham-cinema
 
Darat said:
Pulled by that one chain and not at the request of anyone external to the company.
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Bell Vue is quite a substantial chain across the country, mostly found in shopping centres.

The film, about South London rival gangs, seems to have attracted the 'gangs' of Birmingham, who thought it'd be fun to turn up to the showing with machetes.

Surely no different to the city yuppies turning up en masse to celebrate Wolf of Wall Street and cheering throughout or East End villains and ex-villains, many in sunglasses and with real facial scars who turned up to see a rerun of 'Get Carter' at Swiss Cottage, which I witnessed in person. All jolly good fun.
 
William Parcher said:
I'm American so go easy on me. I think you are talking about football fans.
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Yes, Birmingham City is a UK football (soccer) club based in the Small Heath area of Birmingham. The Baggies is the nickname of West Bromwich Albion, another UK football team based in the Midlands.
 
Belz... said:
Rwanda, right?







One of the? What kind of life has she led?
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The description and the implied seriousness of the reports do not tally with the photos, videos, number of injured, type of injury and so on.

It was a ruckus, nothing serious.
 
Darat said:
Sounds like a group of youngsters going off on one another. Given the lack of serious injuries to the police I am slightly dubious of the machete claims.
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I have to agree with this. How can there be a mob of machete wielding attacking folks with only minor injuries?
 
ahhell said:
I have to agree with this. How can there be a mob of machete wielding attacking folks with only minor injuries?
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The machetes are really dull, and they don't know how to sharpen them?

I don't know, it seems that even a dull machete would be heavy enough to cause some significant blunt trauma.
 
We know there were injuries but we don't know their causes. Maybe none of the injuries were caused by machetes or knives even though both were present.
 
CORed said:
The machetes are really dull, and they don't know how to sharpen them?

I don't know, it seems that even a dull machete would be heavy enough to cause some significant blunt trauma.
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Traditionally, machetes aren't all that sharp, they are heavy enough to easily break bones. Perhaps heavy enough that they wielders had difficulty lifting them?
 
Tch. Kids these days.

No better than the teenagers who tore up cinemas and slashed the seats with flick knives when "Rock Around the Clock" came out.
 
William Parcher said:
We know there were injuries but we don't know their causes. Maybe none of the injuries were caused by machetes or knives even though both were present.
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The only injuries reported were to the police and these were minor injuries, so probably something like a scratch or a pulled muscle.
 
CORed said:
The machetes are really dull, and they don't know how to sharpen them?

I don't know, it seems that even a dull machete would be heavy enough to cause some significant blunt trauma.
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I know someone who was struck with a machete during a robbery, his forearm was shattered causing permanent disability.

Someone called into LBC claiming that the fight started outside the cinema and had nothing to do with the film.

Someone else called in to say how traumatic the event was, apparently they were in a screening of Frozen 2, the staff told the audience they would have to leave, everyone was directed back to their cars, they saw nothing except that some police were there, found out afterwards what had happened, him and his oldest daughter (7) are still shook up.....
 
Darat said:
The only injuries reported were to the police and these were minor injuries, so probably something like a scratch or a pulled muscle.
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This is upthread...

The Guardian said:
seven police officers suffered facial injuries
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Probably punches and/or scratches to the face. You may be right about pulled muscles. Muscles used for scowls and grimaces. What muscles are used when a bobby makes a face?
 
William Parcher said:
This is upthread...



Probably punches and/or scratches to the face. You may be right about pulled muscles. Muscles used for scowls and grimaces. What muscles are used when a bobby makes a face?
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The caller to LBC claimed it started as a 'girl fight', if so you could be right about the scratches.
 
Birmingham Star City: Girl, 13, among 'machete' brawl arrests

BBC News said:
Five teenagers, including a 13-year-old girl, have been arrested after a mass brawl involving machetes broke out at a cinema.

Seven West Midlands Police officers were hurt while attempting to disperse the fighting at the Star City complex in Birmingham on Saturday evening. The force said for those responding to the disorder "it may be the worst thing they have ever seen".

Police drew Tasers and used a dispersal order to clear about 100 youths. Footage from inside the venue appears to show disorder breaking out and people on the floor screaming.

A girl aged 13, a girl and boy both aged 14, and a 19-year-old man were all held on suspicion of assaulting police. In addition, a boy aged 14 was held on suspicion of obstructing police.

All five were later arrested on suspicion of violent disorder but have now been released on bail with conditions which ban them leaving home at night and ban them from Star City and any cinema in the UK, police said.

A 14-year-old boy had also been arrested on suspicion of violent disorder after an image circulated on social media showing a number of youths, with one carrying a machete.

Asked if he was concerned about the ages of those involved, Ch Supt Steve Graham said: "It is concerning, there's no point pretending otherwise. "That's why we've got plans in place, starting from first thing on Monday morning, where we'll be sending neighbourhood policing officers into schools around Birmingham to try and find out why."...
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https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-birmingham-50536472
 
As a skeptic I think it's fair to say that we should all thank Jesus Christ the Son of Our Father the Lord in Heaven Above that these cyber hooligans were not Americans in Birmingham. For if that were the case then surely flesh would have been met with bullets.

As it seems this was nothing more than a tiny tiff between the Pink Ladies and the Sassy Thunderbirds. These are local girl groups which are not violent enemies and instead simply have slightly different views. Mostly it is differing opinions on black pudding. Looking on were some boys which the girls fondly call "boyfriends".



'He will be dealt with' - Police respond to picture of brazen youth with 12inch machete from Star City riot

BirminghamLive said:
A young boy brazenly wields a huge machete inside a city venue packed full with families and children in a horrifying new image which has gone viral.

The harrowing photo was widely shared across social media as news broke of a machete lockdown at Star City on Saturday evening (November 23).

Trouble sparked as machete-wielding thugs stormed Vue Cinema, with pockets of violence then flaring across the entertainment complex from 5.35pm. West Midlands Police are aware of the image and believe it is from the incident on Saturday night.

In an interview with BirminghamLive they pledged to find who it is - and help him onto :shocked: 'another path'. :shocked:

Dozens of police swarmed the scene and were tasked with dispersing 100 youths - some of whom were armed - who were brawling with one another...
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https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/he-dealt-with-police-respond-17308479
 
William Parcher said:
As a skeptic I think it's fair to say that we should all thank Jesus Christ the Son of Our Father the Lord in Heaven Above that these cyber hooligans were not Americans in Birmingham. For if that were the case then surely flesh would have been met with bullets.

As it seems this was nothing more than a tiny tiff between the Pink Ladies and the Sassy Thunderbirds. These are local girl groups which are not violent enemies and instead simply have slightly different views. Mostly it is differing opinions on black pudding. Looking on were some boys which the girls fondly call "boyfriends".



'He will be dealt with' - Police respond to picture of brazen youth with 12inch machete from Star City riot


https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/he-dealt-with-police-respond-17308479
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12 inch? Mine is 24 overall- 6" handle, 18"blade. I think his is too. I keep mine next to my bed in case I ever get a brazen youth unwanted visitor.
 
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The BBC article quoted in the OP manages to somehow give the impression that it was a mob of 100 people with machetes without actually saying so. The guardian article linked in post 7 says "Police later recovered two machetes and a knife from the Star City leisure complex, in the Nechells area of Birmingham."

So maybe while the brawl involved 100 people there weren't many machetes.
 
Machete attack in America now. Aye, don't do it...

Daily Mail said:
A bystander captured the shocking moment a machete-wielding man was shot by Los Angeles police after he attacked and injured another officer.

At the beginning of the video, the unidentified man with the machete is seen running across the street and down the sidewalk with the weapon in his right hand. An officer is then seen running behind him, yelling: 'Stop!' As the police officer approaches the man, he turns around and starts running toward him.

'Aye, don't do it!' another cop is heard yelling before about eight shots were fired at the attacker.

The officer is seen running away from the man before he falls into the middle of the street as cars pass by. Police said the attacker was gravely injured and taken to a local hospital.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the incident occurred Monday morning when officers received a call about an assault around 11.30am. First responders arrived to the scene at the 1400 block of North McCadden Place near Sunset Boulevard and Highland Avenue where they found two people with injuries, including an officer.

While police are still gathering information about the incident, the man allegedly carjacked a car at a nearby Chick-fil-A and crashed it into a police cruiser before the shooting. Footage from ABC 7, shows the man entering the Chick-fil-A customer's black Lexus while they were in the drive-thru. Several officers are seen walking up to the vehicle as the man gets inside and drives off...
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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...n-shot-cops-attacked-injured-one-officer.html
 
Meridian said:
The BBC article quoted in the OP manages to somehow give the impression that it was a mob of 100 people with machetes without actually saying so. The guardian article linked in post 7 says "Police later recovered two machetes and a knife from the Star City leisure complex, in the Nechells area of Birmingham."

So maybe while the brawl involved 100 people there weren't many machetes.
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The 100 people claim has also changed implication, originally it was there was a 100 people in the cinema as the fight started, now it is being implied there was 100 actually fighting. From the arrests reported and photos and videos it appears that there was a 100 people in the cinema foyer when the fight broke out.

Reporting seems to have been especially consistently bad in this instance, I think that is because it just wasn't that big of a story.
 
William Parcher said:
Birmingham Star City: Girl, 13, among 'machete' brawl arrests



https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-birmingham-50536472
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It's hard to tell from the photographs that have been published but since there aren't any clear photographs of anybody who appears to be indigenous British (except for police officers) and the news reports don't specifically say that the "youths" involved were indigenous British, it's safe to assume they were not. Not that it really matters. But that would explain the use of machetes.
 
CaptainHowdy said:
It's hard to tell from the photographs that have been published but since there aren't any clear photographs of anybody who appears to be indigenous British (except for police officers) and the news reports don't specifically say that the "youths" involved were indigenous British, it's safe to assume they were not. Not that it really matters. But that would explain the use of machetes.
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Police reports don’t claim that some ISF posters are racists, but that would explain the use of tired racism tropes in the quoted post
 
I have several machetes. I have used them for years in the woods and elsewhere. As for the "indigenous" angle, I note that the best of these are ex British army machetes (one of which was jungle-proofed and came also with an elegant leather holster) bearing the traditional British army mark. Long ago at a surplus store various members of my family bought these for very small money, so my initial purchase has grown to three. They are thicker and heavier than others. The best machetes are indigenous British ones. Just saying. The second best are, of course, American made, by the great popularizer of the cheap ubiquitous machete, Collins of Collinsville, Connecticut, and by the knife maker Camillus.

I suppose if you subscribe to some modern variant of the "one drop" principle you can always tell from a news photo who is indigenous and who is not, but I suspect that some might find fault with the finer points of the technique.

While it's true that the machete has become a sort of universal tool for various third world populations, they were an American product, adopted by the descendants of those to whom they were first issued as the tools of enslaved agriculture. It is also true that any fool anywhere can get one, no matter where he or she was born. The Chinese make the ones you can now buy at the local hardware store, but they're not nearly as good as the genuine British ones, or the elegant folding Camillus that was issued to U.S. Pilots in the past.

The only thing proven by a picture of a person with a machete is that that person had a machete to hand.
 
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