Letters from the Front Lines: Vancouver Riot

I’m embarrassed to be a Canuck fan and a Canadian

Photo by: kardboard604

I am a fan of the Vancouver Canucks and I consider myself to be an extremely proud Canadian, but right now I’m embarrassed to say I’m any of these.

I watched the game that night at Venue Bar in downtown Vancouver with about 10 friends. It was an intense series, it was an intense game 7, and the team who wanted it the most took home the Cup.  I am still proud of our boys and how hard they played all season, they did their very best.

However, the events that I saw after that game is what eats me alive…  

That night, after watching the game, we left Venue Bar for the streets: it was packed shoulder to shoulder, with a sea of blue and green jerseys. It was nice to see so many other fans out to support out boys….or so I thought. 

They predicted that there would be 100,000 fans in the streets. From what I saw that night, there were 50,000 true fans: 40,000 people wearing Canucks jerseys hoping we would win, so that we could enjoy the same ambiance we did during the Olympics; 9,500 people wanting to just see what was going to happen if and when we lost and film it; and 500 people who dont even watch hockey at all, who were just waiting for an opportunity to cause complete and utter anarchy.

I watched a sea of people flow through the streets. I was on a balcony 24 floors up in a condo suite as the first bang from a tear gas gun went off. People started running frantically from where the bang went off. Then shortly after that, about 8 blocks away to the north, the first plume of black smoke began to rise.

We heard screams and cheering as the black smoke billowed into the sky, covering up the beautiful Vancouver sunset. 

I knew at that point we were going to be in for a historic event, for all the wrong reasons. 

Earlier that day, when I was walking around Stanley Park, I greeted people with “Happy Canucks Day!”.

In my own mind, I was going to make June 15th a National Canuck Day when we won the Cup. I thought to myself, “it’s going to be a historical day.” Not once did I think that the brutal nature of some people would ruin everything that was beautiful.

In every direction looking off the deck, I saw smoke plumes rising and heard continuous tear gas flash bangs.  We watched helplessly off the deck as we saw all these savages run around as if we were in a war zone, lighting everything they could get their hands on on fire. They pushed over anything not bolted to the cement and used them as weapons to smash cars or each other. 

Since when is rioting over a lost hockey game acceptable?

Since when do we watch innocent people get jumped on and severly beaten just because he was doing the right thing of trying to stop people from looting his store and business? 

Where have we gone wrong?  Many onlookers might argue that they were there just filming and taking pictures, that they aren’t responsible for what happened. That those that were injured and those businesses having lost money were not their fault?

If you’re not part of the solution, you are a part of the problem. 

This goes way deeper than just a few drunk people kicking over street signs. People brought gas cans, propane torches, knives, and guns to a public hockey game celebration.  Whether they were swinging sticks to break a window, or flipping cars, or stabbing others and then blending back into the crowd….you standing there with your cameras filming the violence was just as worst as those who lit the matches.

Photo by: emarone

There may have only been 500 people who actually committed a crime. But there were at least 1,000 more cheering on when the cars lit up, and when they taunted the police who no doubt feared for their lives.

Here’s a news flash you wont get on CBC: the money spent on clearing all the garbage, the money spent on replacing the broken windows, the money spent on re-planting all the trees torn down, the money spent on doing any sort of cleaning and damage repair comes out of OUR POCKETS!!!! 

Yes, there is insurance for theft. Yes, there is insurance for vandalism. But there is no insurance for the lost revenue of that business in the weeks it takes to renovate and fix the damage done.

That effects our local economy, which affects our taxes…which affects us!  I paid over $15,000 just in taxes in 2010 — that means something to me.

It’s the un-educated people flipping those cop cars, thinking they’re so bad ass by making a statement. The statement you made is that you’re too dumb to know that we paid for those cops cars, and they’re paying for the police officers when they knock on their house with an arrest warrant.

Bold arrogance and ignorance does not go unoticed in a fairly civilized society like ours. 

After seeing all the pictures of people committing all sorts of crimes without masks, then bragging about it on Facebook, I am pleased to see that Facebook pages like Vancouver Riot: Post Your Photos were set-up so that the public could help catch these dickheads who ruined our good image to the rest of the world of being civilized, well behaved, good natured people.  I was even more pleased to see almost every single picture that was posted had a name, email address, and phone number attached to it.

Riots happen everywhere for many different reasons. There are simply no justified reasons to riot when it comes to sports. 

Supressed people of developing countries riot, but they have reason: they have no other choice but to fight for their rights. For the most part, they don’t have the right to vote — they don’t have the right to freedom of speech and they are fighting for change.

They are fighting for their families to have a chance at a good life, for food, for an uncorrupt government.

Not over a hockey game.    

A few weeks ago, I watched a mini-series on HBO called “The Pacific.” It made me truly appreciate our rights we have today. Our ancestors went to war and sacrificed everything they had: many sacraficed their lives for the rights we have today. Many of them lived and wished they didn’t after the war: all for the right to vote, our freedom of speech, and many more freedoms and rights than we take for granted.   

Some people might just shrug their shoulders and walk away washing their hands from the mess created, but I won’t.

I was embarrassed to watch the savage acts of the rioter be cheered on by the crowds of followers.

I was embarrassed to see the Canadian flag being held by someone who was burning a car, as if to say us Canadians are proud to ruin what we work damn hard for.  Hang your heads low if you knew anyone that contributed to that Riot.

It wasnt just a few cars torched and a few windows broken, hundreds were injured and there was a snowball effect.  Take for instance that letter written by a E.R. nurse that was posted on this blog.  Her neighbour had a minor heart attack from the smoke that came into her window, and she didn’t go to the hospital because she thought she would be “a burden.”

I will use my right to freedom of speech to write this and tell all who were involved that you were responsible for the people who were injured, and possibly killed directly or indirectly (we still don’t know), and you should be prosecuted for it.

You should turn yourselves in and take responsibility for your actions.

Whether or not the cops find you, by now millions have seen your faces on pictures.

Karma has a funny way of coming back to haunt you if your conscience isn’t already.

I am a Proud Canadian, I am Proud Canucks fan, and I will continue to cheer on my team and enjoy this beautiful city and province I call home.

I personally went out onto the streets right after the riot and shook the hands of a few fire fighters for their hard work on my way to the store. I would like to thank every single fire fighter and police officer who put their lives on the line and endured countless days of mental and physical endurance and anguish to save us when we are in need. They risk their lives to save us.

It does not go un-noticed. 

Sincerely,

- B.U., a proud Vancouverite and Canuck fan.