Guys, you are from England, right? Your riots may seem pointless, and they usually are. But I am from Northern Ireland. When we riot, it is NEVER for a justifiable cause!
Last November, we decided to stop flying the Union Jack (British flag) from the top of our main city hall, choosing to fly it with all the other flags 15 ft away. It was costing the tax payer a fortune because the flag had to be replaced once every fortnight as it got ripped to shreds by the weather. And besides, hardly anyone knew it was there until they made the decision to take it down. The city hall is one of the shortest buildings in it's area, and almost every building around it is considerably taller. There is literally only one street in which you can actually see this flag pole.
So every night for the next 6 weeks, protesters responded by destroying buildings, especially shops, and attacking the police. Catholic families were being threatened to leave their homes, including those who wanted the flag back. The cost of repairs is costing the ENTIRE UK around £30 million in taxes. Every major event (sports, concerts, etc.) considered cancellation because it was too dangerous to expect people to travel to them. And this was before they tried letters, petitions, or even simply asking. And this shit kept happening until March.
And remember, this was all because we were no longer using ONE SPECIFIC FLAG POLE, that many people never see. The flag was not banned or anything like that. There was no other consequence of the flag being taken down. It was not replaced by anything. It is not symbolic of any other change or ruling.
And I have not reached the punchline yet. The ruling said that the flag will be back up on 19 specific days of the year, according to important days in the British Calendar. There have been 6 of these days so far, and no-one noticed that the flag was back on 5 of those occasions.
This is why people still make 'Stupid Irishman' jokes.