Street fighting
The neutrality of this article is disputed.
Street Fighting.
Basically it's when people get on the streets, and use violent force. There are many situations that is considered "Street Fighting."
Protesting Riots are one form of Steet Fighting.
In a riot never expect any rights, law or mercy from the government during a riot. By merely being in the same area as a riot, a citizen can expect to be attacked by their own government regardless of whatever the reason the citizen may have to be in the area.
While in the United States, there are restrictions on how much force the government can use on civilians during a riot. With Posse Comitatus technically meaning the Federal government cannot use military forces against civilians. That however does not apply to national guard forces. National Guard forces tend to be just as heavily armed with the same weapons as regular military forces.
For reference See List of riots
Even today, typically police will always favor use of heavy force to resolve a riot. The most extreme example of this use of force is the New York Draft Riots. There are many drawings depicting the police using firearms into the crowd to control the rioters It was widely believed the Chief of police at the time advocated for the use of force to stop the riot. Full machine guns were rumored by urban legend were supposingly placed in building to protect them rioters. This riot was seen mainly as being racially motivated against blacks, by whites. Due to the sensitive nature of the riot, no offical record was kept on the number of casulites, but historians estimate the number between 2 to 100.
People can be, and will be shot at with firearms during a riot, especially if the rioters are carrying firearms.
It is possible that US. Army forces can cause riots, and generally get away with it. While this riot was seen as mostly racist against latinos. The interesting view is that government will always back up it's own forces, even if the military forces in question are see as being severily wrong. Generally it's not a good idea to try meet force with force at precieved inequality. In effect there were many stabbings, and other violent effects such as broken bones that are wer not recorded in the official record, but some scholars were many severe injuires to both military forces, and rioters alike from the use of sharp instruments. No one in the military has faced court martial over the riots.
The cause of the riot means nothing to the goverment, while the riot is in progress. The government's only concern is to restore order.
stonewall riots of New York City.
Suppingly in the course of doing their duties, the police had to deal with a gay bar. What makes the stonewall riots famous is a gay person is supposingly while resistaning the police touched off the riot. During the course of this riot, the use of riot control squads were used. The recourse was the crowd escalated the conflict with flying projectiles. There are no records as the injuries sustained by the police or the crowd by the use of these projectiles.
Alcohol, and high emotional anxiety are believed to be key factors that build up toward a riot. Government typically does little to correct either problem, until the problem explodes into a riot.
1970 Kent State riots. 4 protestors killed. People killed during a riot by the government officials will never be prosecuted. No government official has ever been prosecuted for the deaths of the protestors in Kent State University.
Rioting is done at the rioters own risk, if the rioters are precieved to be attacking government officials during such an event, the government has the unlimited right to self defense in killing such rioters.
Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 In other countries such as Communist China, killing people is the norm in resolving crisises. In comparison to the United States own riot control methods, again there were no official death counts, but underground group contend there were at least a thousand casulties in, and around Beijing during the course of the infamous Tiananmen Square Massacure. According to some groups in China, there was blood spilled in Tiananamen Square. This street fight resulted the PLA loosing several dozen tanks, and taking hundreds of wounded.
L.A. Riots 1991 Rodney King Racism is still alive in America today. Proving once again Police can cause riots. The L.A. Riots were cumulative response several years of severe neglect by the people of California. Wasting capital spending money on the Olympics instead of the impoverished, everything in Los Angelous broke down. Schools and programs were had their funding cut. Outreach programs were not funded. Alcohol consumption increased, and economic conditions failed to improve. As crime rates increased in Los Angelous from the bad economic conditions.
Rodney King was the fuse the ignited everything in Los Angelous. Houses were burned out, people were car jacked, and some people were killed all over Los Angelous. There was widescale looting and property damage. National Guard Troops with fully automatic M-16 went in after 3 days. This bloody destructive riot, took 58 lives and 16 billion dollars.
Seattle, Washington. WTO Fighting of 1999 The first riot where the casulties were not that high. Mainly nobody carried any sharp instruments, alcohol was limited, and guns were left at home. However there many media reports of concusions, and cuts from broken glass, and police battons being used against the protestors. In short, rioters were beat up, and mass arrested.
Urban Warfare is another form of street fighting.
Gang warfare.
Virtually every city in the United States has a gang in one form or another. The infamous "drive by shooting." Is still with American pop culture, with today's gangsters supposingly striving to be mini mafias. Generally speaking when people think of gangs, shows like the Sapranos come to mind. The more common gang street fighting, actually can be more like black panthers, the KKK, the crips or the bloods. Every ethnic group has their own form of gangs. Even Ultraorthodox Jews in New York City have been known to mix it up in a street street against other groups on rumors.
In effect unlike a riot, there are two groups of people that take each other on in a dispute on the streets. Depending on the amount of money and level of hostility each side shows, the weapons or methods vary. From the Crips and Bloods with their tec-9's, to black panthers pump action shotguns, toward the image of the mafia like "Scarface" of the tommy gun spraying bullets at everyone.
As such these gang fights become a kind of a dual to beat the other side up to support their ideology. These gangs have usually some kind of identifier either a color, dress code, or action that allows the gang members to identify each other. Gangs are often defined as any group of 3 or more people with the same identifier.
In effect just walking on the street in the wrong location, wearing something that is considered a gang identifier could get a person killed. This form of street fight is considered highly territorial, and depends largely on who you know. Urban Legend holds that people have been shot for a colored t-shirt, which caused most of Los Angelous to enforce dress codes to prevent it's students from wearing gang identifiers.
Since many gangs are funded by criminal activies such as drugs, prostitution or illegal gambling, these gangs tend to have many weapons. Weapons that often more powerful then what most swat teams in American can afford. Thus these heavily armed gangs are quite lethal, and are able to resist the government.
Criminals and Self Defense.
The most widely known version of street fighting is basic self defense against the criminals that want to rape, murder or steal from people. The idea is that everyone has a right to self defense to protect themselves and their property from crime. How much force the person has to the right to use to protect themselves, or their property varies state to state.
An extreme form of this could be considered viglantism. A lesser form is to assist others while they are being attacked by the criminal element. New York's Guardian Angels are an example of a miltia that tries to assist people with their combat skills.
Basically take whatever you have, and defend yourself against the criminals. In some states there is no right to self defense, and police can arrest people that excessively hurt the criminal, such as killing them during the course of defending oneself from the crime.
This form of self defense is usually formulated around simple striking manuevers, and use of weapons whenver possible.
Some methods in dealing with riots by protestors Anarchist Simple Street Fighting