The residents heard the sound of emergency vehicles arriving, and women and children sent out the alarm in the traditional manner of banging trashcan lids and cooking pots in doorways and windows. It was the signal for all able-bodied men to rise in defense of the community. Some men brought out pistols and hunting rifles, while others brought flammable liquids and gathered bottles and rags for Molotov cocktails. Children also collected sticks and stones for the battle ahead, while women produced first-aid kits and medical supplies.
As police cars began driving down the streets of Newtownhamilton, they kept running up against hastily-contrived roadblocks made of garbage cans, used tires and bundles of trash. The officers got out of the vehicles to move the barriers and were pelted by rock
