riot

Disturbance caused by a potentially violent mob. In the UK, riots formerly suppressed under the Riot Act are now governed by the Public Order Act 1986. Methods of riot control include plastic bullets, stun bags (soft canvas pouches filled with buckshot which spread out in flight), water cannon, and CS gas (tear gas).

Riots in Britain include the Spitalfields weavers' riot in 1736, the Gordon riots in 1780, the Newport riots in 1839, and riots over the Reform Bill in Hyde Park, London, in 1866; in the 1980s inner-city riots occurred in Toxteth, Liverpool; St Paul's, Bristol; Broadwater Farm, Tottenham, and Brixton, London; and in 1990 rioting took place in London and several other cities after demonstrations against the poll tax. Race-related riots erupted in Brixton again in December 1995, arising from a demonstration after a black man died in police custody.