Canuckleheads

[Melbosa]

I didn't get to see the blowout (if that is what it was).  Was the game at least interesting/exciting?

[Mr. Analog]

And now the angry mob wrecks downtown. Way to go fans, way to go.

That many people there @%&# was gonna get wrecked anyway... pretty sad though...

[Thorin]

And now the angry mob wrecks downtown. Way to go fans, way to go.

That many people there @%&# was gonna get wrecked anyway... pretty sad though...

If you watch the videos, most people in the "mob" aren't doing anything but photographing / videotaping what the stupid few are doing.

This "riot" made me go look up what our rights vis-a-vis assembly are, as the news people were reporting that the police were announcing that these were now "unlawful assemblies".

We have the right to peaceful assembly.

We may become part of an unlawful assembly if we, as a group of twelve or more, are preparing to disturb the peace.

We may become part of a riot if we, as a group of twelve or more, start disturbing the peace in a tumultuous manner.

If we are part of a riot, an officer of the peace may read an official proclamation and give us thirty minutes to disperse, after which we can be arrested and jailed for up to two years.

If we are part of a riot, officers of the peace are compelled by law to stop the riot with force equal to that required to stop the riot - for instance, if the officers are being yelled at they may push back with riot shields, if the officers are being pelted with rocks they may shoot back with less-lethal rubber bullets, if the officers are being assaulted with weapons, they may shoot back with deadly force.

Most of the people standing around videoing were in no way part of an unlawful assembly or riot, as they were clearly not preparing to or actively disturbing the peace.  They were merely spectating.  Also, since no official proclamation was read, people could not be arrested and jailed for two years (the official proclamation has very specific wording).

I was very surprised that the Vancouver Police Department didn't come down like a giant hammer on these "riots", and I applaud them for their measured response.  Yes, lots of things got broken (cars, store windows, etc).  But with all those cameras around, most of the people who broke those things will be found and charged with property damage.  Meanwhile, the police made sure people had ways to leave the riot zone, and made sure not to escalate the situation into one where people would be seriously injured or die from clashing with police.

I would not be surprised to find out that the actual property damage ended up being done by people whose sole purpose it was to stir up trouble, regardless of the outcome of the game, and that these people had planned it out as a group beforehand.  Hockey fans don't normally carry liters upon liters of gasoline with them when going downtown to watch game 7 on a big outdoor screen, yet that's what was used to set at least a couple of the cars on fire.

Yes, I keep putting "riots" in quotation marks, because there was only one person listed as injured, and that person doesn't appear to be injured due to riotous behaviour, but rather due to drink-induced lack of balance.

[Mr. Analog]

Peaceful assembly?
http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/06/16/photos-riots-fire-destruction-after-vancouvers-loss/

WTF!!

[Mr. Analog]

Check out the aerial video here:
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Canada/20110616/vancouver-riots-110616/

Unbelievable.

[Melbosa]

WTF!  Looks more like a food RIOT or political uprising than a post hockey game scenario.

I am so ashamed of my countrymen today... so ashamed.

[Mr. Analog]

WTF!  Looks more like a food RIOT or political uprising than a post hockey game scenario.

I am so ashamed of my countrymen today... so ashamed.

That's for sure, we all look pretty bad today internationally thanks to a few jerks and a large, dumb crowd.

That helicopter footage really put it in perspective for me, the on the ground photos don't really give the sense of scale...

[Lazybones]

WTF!  Looks more like a food RIOT or political uprising than a post hockey game scenario.

I am so ashamed of my countrymen today... so ashamed.

That's for sure, we all look pretty bad today internationally thanks to a few jerks and a large, dumb crowd.

That helicopter footage really put it in perspective for me, the on the ground photos don't really give the sense of scale...

What I am hearing this morning is they also looted future shop the bay and several other stores... Apparently it was groups of 20 somethings, that came prepared.. Alchohol was not a factor, some had gas with them to light the car fires.

[Mr. Analog]

WTF!  Looks more like a food RIOT or political uprising than a post hockey game scenario.

I am so ashamed of my countrymen today... so ashamed.

That's for sure, we all look pretty bad today internationally thanks to a few jerks and a large, dumb crowd.

That helicopter footage really put it in perspective for me, the on the ground photos don't really give the sense of scale...

What I am hearing this morning is they also looted future shop the bay and several other stores... Apparently it was groups of 20 somethings, that came prepared.. Alchohol was not a factor, some had gas with them to light the car fires.

Yep, there was certainly a plan in action for some, the sad part is how crowds react to stuff like this, it was a powder keg looking for a match...

[Darren Dirt]

Peaceful assembly?
http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/06/16/photos-riots-fire-destruction-after-vancouvers-loss/

WTF!!

A few dozen morons who were planning on stealing/destroying no matter what happened in the game. Maybe they recently watched "Fight Club".

PS: [sarcasm]nice creative, unique wording to describe nearly every single photo. Sounds like for the most part, people were "run[ning] amok". Man, it's been a really long time since I've run amok. Kinda miss those days of my youth... [/sarcasm] :rolleyes:

[Mr. Analog]

I dunno, like I said before, the helicopter videos show the real scale...

I see a lot of Canadians brushing this off but really? Honestly? How many cars need to be on fire and businesses trashed before it's a "real" riot? I don't get how anyone looking at this mess could just shrug it off as "just a few troublemakers".

This was real all right, real embarrassing.

[Thorin]

I dunno, all of that helicopter footage appears to be of the same single block.  The news report someone linked to earlier states the first car to be burned was specifically brought down to the "riots" to be burned.  Many of the pictures in that other link are of the same three or four locations - a bank, a Sears store, a couple of police cruisers, a car on fire.

I wonder if anyone'll make a map showing where the various problems occurred - I imagine it'll cover a lot less ground than it is being made out as.  Compare that to the clashes between protesters and police in Greece that have happened in the last couple of days, where protesters started peacefully assembling a couple of weeks ago but are now bringing Molotov cocktails to throw at police.

I still say there were a few people in that crowd of Canucks fans who were intent on damaging as much property as possible, who managed to incite a few actual Canucks fans to do the same, while a large contingent of Canucks fans stood back and watched and took pictures.

So today people are organizing to put photos of rioters online so they can be identified and arrested.  There was also a flash mob organized to help with the cleanup: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/06/16/bc-riot-thursday.html

And I guess it's just the huge number of people standing back and not participating, compared to the small number of people actually burning stuff, breaking stuff, or taunting police, that makes me feel like it's being blown out of proportion.

[Mr. Analog]

Really how much bigger and out of control does it need to be, isn't that enough?

[Darren Dirt]

it's just the huge number of people standing back and not participating, compared to the small number of people actually burning stuff, breaking stuff, or taunting police, that makes me feel like it's being blown out of proportion.

^ this.

and btw

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson blamed the rioting on a small number of troublemakers, and said "they will be held accountable. The rioters came with a plan for destruction in mind. They had a game plan that they carried out and it was very difficult to contain. This group was mobile. They split up. They had tools to start fires," said the mayor.

I wonder if anyone'll make a map showing where the various problems occurred - I imagine it'll cover a lot less ground than it is being made out as.

map found!
http://www.cbc.ca/news/interactives/vancouver-riots/index.html

[Mr. Analog]

it's just the huge number of people standing back and not participating, compared to the small number of people actually burning stuff, breaking stuff, or taunting police, that makes me feel like it's being blown out of proportion.

^ this.

What? If it was only a few people causing an issue and the rest of the crowd was totally passive then how come the police weren't able to pick up the few and leave the rest on their merry way? Even if those few people were spread out it's not like the RCMP can't talk to each other wirelessly to converge on trouble spots.

The worst of it was no doubt the result of a select few asshats, that doesn't trivialize it. Fact of the matter is there was a huge crowd in downtown Vancouver because of the Stanley Cup, it turned ugly. And while yeah, it could have been worse, it's already plenty bad...