16
London-News
January 2014
Mark Duggan death: Vigil
in Tottenham passes
peacefully as family renew
vow to 'fight for justice'
Images by Erem Kansoy
The steps of Tottenham police station became
a platform for the family and supporters of
Mark Duggan to pledge to continue their
“fight for justice” today, after the 29-yearold’s killing was ruled lawful by an inquest
jury on Wednesday.
The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) had
warned of the potential for protesters to
“provoke disorder” at the family-organised
vigil, which was attended by 200 to 300
people. However it passed off peacefully with
the only tension being some jostling between
photographers and event stewards struggling
to keep media back from the Duggan family.
Mark Duggan’s aunt Carole was joined by
Stafford Scott, co-ordinator of Tottenham
RIGHTS, at the north London police station
where they labelled the verdict “perverse” and
said they’d continue to “fight for justice for
Mark, who was slain just around the corner”.
Carole Duggan said the ceremony, which
commenced with a one minute silence, was to
remember Mark “peacefully” and “with
dignity” but also to “show those who smeared
Mark’s name that we will keep fighting for
justice.”
She said: “There is no justice in this country
and we need to come together for a better
future for our children and for Mark’s
children. We need so show the country that we
are not a gangster family like the media has
portrayed us, we are just an ordinary family.”
The Duggans, including his mother Pam, were
joined by the families of Sean Rigg and Roger
Sylvester, who told their stories of losing
children after contact with the police.
Marcia Rigg, sister of Sean Rigg, who died in
police custody in London in 2008, told the
vigil that after years of campaigning they had
persuaded the Independent Police Complaints
Commission to open a “criminal
investigation” into his death.
“We only got that because we fought, so,
Mark Duggan family, don't give up. Keep
fighting,” she told the crowd.
The vigil also heard from Becky Shah, 41, of
Walthamstow, who lost her mother in the
Hillsborough disaster. She told the crowd she
was “proud to stand here in solidarity” with
the Duggan campaign.
“I was absolutely devastated when I heard the
news of the verdict,” she said. “But I cannot
say I was shocked because the history of the
injustice that has been heaped upon the black
community is just like nothing else.”
To cries of “shame” Mr Scott, who cofounded the Broadwater Farm Defence
Campaign in 1985, said local MP David
Lammy had been invited to the vigil by the
family, but had not attended. “I’ll say no
more”, he said of the local Labour politician,
though Dianne Abbott MP from neighbouring
Hackney did attend.
Just after the vigil Carole Duggan went on to
call on the IPCC to “do what they should have
done in the beginning and carry out a "full