Letters from the Front Lines: Vancouver Riot

I tried to help that night

Here is my story from the Vancouver riots. I did what I could to try to stop/slow down people from looting or vandalizing.  I met many other people who were also actively opposing the rioters. I am most definitely impressed by the bravery of these individuals.

I was downtown to enjoy the pregame atmosphere and to watch the game with friends at a local bar. The city was abuzz pregame, it was exciting! I was glad to see the public viewing areas, I thought this was a great idea.

After the game, as disappointed as we were, we went to get a Shawarma at a place right beside the Chapters. There wasn’t really a sense then that things would go as they did. After walking back to my friends work and saying good bye to them, I started off towards the SkyTrain station. That is when I came across the start of the riot, including the fire in front of the post office. I watched as the Budget Rental Car building, then the Blenz coffee shop, followed by Black & Lee were smashed.

I regret not stepping in at this point. After the first stampede induced by police movement, where I picked up someone who fell, I decided that I should listen to the announcements and leave. So I headed down West Georgia.

I’m not exactly sure why I didn’t leave immediately, I think I was in shock to see the city I love and have lived in my whole life being destroyed in front of me. This was when the fights and fires were starting to rage around the city. My walking took me past the Hudons’s Bay Company as I was heading to Granville Station…

Still a bit in shock, I had my first encounter with a true hero (in my opinion), a gentleman in a kilt and green tights.

It was when he started to upright mailboxes and paper boxes that I decided that I
should help, he inspired me and showed me that it could be done. So I ran over and started to help him pick up the mail boxes.

He was a remarkable guy.

As I watched him try to stand between the windows and people trying to smash them I followed him, ready to jump in if anyone tried to hurt him. I’m not the most vocal person, I was glad to provide a little support to such an upstanding citizen.

At one point one of the so-called ‘anarchists’ was waving a stick right in front of his face. This was when someone else asked if I was with him, to which I told him I was watching to make sure he didn’t get hurt. To which this questioner turned and nodded at another guy, I’m not so sure these anarchists weren’t somewhat organized (which really contradicts the term anarchist).

Windows and storefront smashed and vandalized at a part of the Bay that was just renovated and reopend.  Photo by Charles de Jesus

While the smashing of the windows at the Bay was going on, I decided that one way I could help was to take away the things people were smashing windows with. In front of the Bay, I had taken a fire extinguisher and a barricade holder (large triangular metal piece) away from rioters and quickly took them to the police line hoping to remove them from the scene.

I was nervous to approach the police line, but I believe they could figure out what I was doing and let me toss the items behind them.

One even said “thanks dude.”

As I was in front of the Bay, I met many other courageous people. One such person was a woman who was staring down three men as they tried to get the hockey stick that she had taken from someone and was standing on.

This was at the first Bay window on Howe. I went over and stood beside her on the stick which caused the three men to go away. I was glad to help someone so brave. I then suggested she toss it into the store so that no one else would bug her to get it from her, which is what she did. It was just then that two guys who were fighting walked by, pushing and punching each other.

This brave (and small!!) woman jumped in to stop the fight, it happened so quickly. I picked up someone who was knocked down and then tried to stand in between as two guys held back one guy and the woman on the hockey stick and the woman I lifted from the ground held back the other guy.

Later I came across another woman in a tugging and argument match with a rioter over
a pole which he had tried to take from a stash of confiscated weapons that some anti-rioters had made. I went over and stood beside her and asked the man to give it to her, which he then did. I then suggested that we should put these things inside the window at the Bay as they were in an alcove, visible to passers by. I was definitely impressed by this woman as well, standing up to someone who was much bigger than
her. Very brave.

Later on I came across another woman who had taken a clothes rack away from a looter. She was ‘gently’ reprimanding anyone trying to take things from the store by giving them a whack on the bum or arm.

I tried to stand beside her after she hit a teenage boy and the few boys that were with him looked as if they were going to fight back. There was also another man with her, I think he knew her.

During this time I came across the kilted guy a couple more times, following
him when he got into more heated arguments.

Photo by Andres Goni

At some point during these events, I heard the smashing at the London Drugs. I ran over to see if I could help.

When I arrived, I realized that I was the only one there in their right mind and decided
that I didn’t want to get hurt trying to defend it myself. So I took away another barricade holder that they were using to break the doors and took it again to the police line. I really regret not trying to stop them from entering the London Drugs, especially after finding out there were people inside.

Also during this time I saw a line of guys protecting a couple of the windows on Georgia near Seymour. These guys definitely showed that if we had just a few more people we could have prevented more people from entering and looting. As valiant as this group was, no one was guarding some of the windows in either direction where looters were
entering. This happened roughly when I helped the woman standing on the hockey stick.

At the corner of Georgia and Granville, after the London Drugs incident above, I came across a couple people trying to put out a fire in a garbage can, in front of the London Drugs entrance. I assisted them and we were able to put it out.

People had taken a couple stools from the makeup counter at this corner (in the Bay). I picked up one and put it back in the store where it belonged. Further down Granville I saw someone smashing a window with one. I saw them put it down and went down there to get it.

I put it in through a broken door at one of the entrances, I thought this would be a good place to put it because it would be hard to get it back out.

Photo by clarkbw

As I walked down Granville, there was smashing around me. There were not as many people trying to block it here. I wish I had seen the woman who tried to save Louis Vuitton, I would’ve liked to help her. I did help the owner (I think) of Cafe Artigiano put out a fire in front of his cafe. I saw people looting various stores, including the woman
who looted H&M and posed with her takings.

I later came across the overturned glass repair truck. There were several people standing near it as some idiot was trying to hit the gas tank. I told everyone to leave as it may explode and yelled some choice words at the guy hitting the gas tank. I don’t think many people moved.

Further down Granville I saw a couple guys throwing paper boxes at Tip Top. Just as I arrived a police car rounded the corner and the guys ran off. I stood at the window for awhile and up-righted and put aside the paper bins hoping that they wouldn’t be used if they weren’t directly in front of the windows.

It was hard to feel too optimistic, there were simply not enough of us anti-rioters and too many rioters/looters. If we were in front of one window another would smash. If we moved to the next one, the one we were at would smash.

I did meet the kilted guy one last time after putting the cosmetics stools back into the Bay. It was a brief moment of calm where we exchanged a few kind words, I told I was very impressed by how brave he was, he shrugged it off. It was really hard to feel like a success or a ‘hero’ when the city that you love is lying in tatters around you.

This was when we shook hands and introduced ourselves, and before I went down Granville, from Georgia.

After the incident at Tip Top I left and went home.

I have seen myself and the others I mention above in many videos and pictures.

I do think that there was a semi-organized group of anarchists that were lead the looting down the street. However, a large proportion of the crowd cheered them on and many non-anarchists joined in the looting and vandalizing.

Thanks for this forum to express our stories.

— a proud Vancouverite, who defended his city on that night.