1980 St. Pauls riot the "Western Daily Press". 16 of those arrested were prosecuted for riot, but all were either acquitted, had the charges dropped or were discharged after the jury failed to reach a verdict. Copycat riots in Southmead, a predominately white working-class council estate, occurred soon after the St Pauls disturbance. Later commentators suggested that poverty and the sus laws were more important causes of the riots than race. The House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee held a session in Bristol and Home Secretary William Whitelaw came to the city to hold meetings with the local authorities and representatives of the
Tompkins Square Park riot (1988) broke out in a mosh pit when Leftöver Crack again played the riot anniversary concert. Tompkins Square Park riot (1988) The Tompkins Square Park Riot occurred on August 6–7, 1988 in New York City's Tompkins Square Park. Groups of "drug pushers, homeless people and young people known as squatters and punks," had largely taken over the park. The Alphabet City/East Village neighborhood, in which the park was located, was divided about what, if anything, should be done about it. The local governing body, Manhattan Community Board 3, recommended, and the New York City Parks Department adopted, a 1 a.m. curfew