With more than 1,200 people under arrest following the riots that burned London for four days and nights, it's obvious that there are plenty of villains in the stories of looting and violence. But thus far few heroes have been named. Today, the Guardian fills the void with an article about Leon Piers, a 21-year-old house DJ and blogger whose nimble use of social media has been heralded by police and public alike.
On Monday, after the riots had spread from London to his hometown of Bristol, Piers started the Twitter feed @BristolRiots and took to the streets on his bicycle (a fixed-gear, naturally). His mission was simple: He and his friends would ride around town and tweet quick bursts of accurate information about the riots. Within 24 hours of his first tweet, he'd accumulated more than 3,000 followers and was helping police, firefighters, and other Bristol residents restore calm to the community.