WAS THE BASICK RECORDS WAREHOUSE LOOTING A PLANNED HOAX?
The London riots last month were no joke to begin with but really hit home for us when the Sony PIAS warehouse, a storage facility for Basick Records and a number of other independent record labels, was burned to the ground and looted. According to The Telegraph [via Metal Insider], new evidence is showing that the operation was actually carefully planned by professionals, using the riots as a cover. From The Telegraph:
… evidence has now emerged suggesting that the well-guarded Sony DADC distribution centre was deliberately targeted by a professional gang, in a carefully planned raid, using the riots as a distraction.
Sources in the security industry disclosed that intruders first arrived wielding specialist cutting equipment and spent up to two hours dismantling a high security fence before breaking in.
It is claimed that they then summoned a fleet of vans and drove inside the premises, which are set back from the main focus of rioting in the area, before beginning to load up stock.
Because organized stealing is a real effective way to tell the government its citizens should be treated with respect. Great job, London.
Fortunately for our friends at Basick — who handle Aliases, 7 Horns 7 Eyes, Chimp Spanner, Monuments and a number of others — most of their stock had already shipped before the building burned down. But we certainly feel for the nearly 150 other independent labels whose livelihoods are now threatened. This sucks for everyone involved except the selfish looters who thought they were sending a message to the government and instead ended up hurting their fellow citizens.
-VN
