Last night in Vancouver after the Canucks v. Bruins Game, a riot quickly broke out, initially thought as a reaction to the hometown team's loss.
Several cars were destroyed and/or set on fire, many fights broke out, and people were injured. One man is left in critical condition after falling. Conflicting reports say either the man was a Bruins fan who was pushed, or he was trying to jump like others but failed to reach the desired target.
The VPD is saying anarchists were the ones to start the criminal mischiefs, and that the Canucks fans were just there watching and encouraging their behaviour.
The police managed to disperse the riot after 3 hours, much more quickly then the 1994 post-Canucks game riot.
Many in the media are asking questions that I think are a bit irrelevant and/or pointless. E.g.: "Why didn't the fire inspectors stop the people from outside the live zones to get in?" Erm... Have you ever tried standing in front of a crowd of people running towards you? Generally, unless you're very menacing, they'll just roll right over you.
Hindsight is 20/20, and I don't think we should critique police officers for dispersing a crowd like this as quickly and relatively violence-free on their behalf.
Also, I love the question: "Was the VPD aware of the anarchists? Why didn't you arrest them before this happened?" What, you don't believe in freedom of speech? Just because someone believes in something controversial doesn't give you the right to arrest them until they have done something illegal, like flipping cars over and jumping on them before setting them on fire. You know, that kind of stuff.
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Photo credit: Ottawa Metro June 17-19 2011
