Anarchy erupts in Vancouver
Posted Jun 16, 2011 08:48:18 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
As the sun set on Vancouver and its Canucks, flames from burning cars and storefronts lit up the city during a post game frenzy of destruction.
Groups of people, many fuelled by liquor, used the loss to Boston in the Stanley Cup final as an excuse to run amok in an orgy of vandalism, violence and looting.
Seen through choking smoke and the glow of fires, it appeared almost primeval as grinning vandals jumped about smashing, burning, stealing and cheering each other on — while challenging police to stop them.
Some among the huge crowds that stood watching made feeble attempts to intervene.
Riot police finally moved in with batons, shields, tear gas and flash bombs to try to regain control, but initially seemed overwhelmed.
Here is some of the devastating footage from the violence.
And while many in the crowds that stood and watched seemed transfixed by violence, many parents with terrified children fled for their lives.
It may take some time to tally up the casualty toll and the property damage from the Vancouver riot. There were many fights, with at least one unconfirmed report of a stabbing and T-V images of one woman mopping blood from her forehead.
Several cars were over overturned, smashed and burned, while newspaper boxes were wrenched off the sidewalk and hurled through store windows.
There was large fire inside a parking garage, and an unknown number of stores, including some big ones like the Bay, were looted.
Some troublemakers hurled garbage and bottles at police, but those who rushed the police line were quickly subdued with blows from a truncheon.
Many arrests were made, but police have yet to say how many.
Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson calls the rioting and looting in his city despicable and embarrassing.
He says a small group of troublemakers went downtown intent on smearing the name of the city with their shameful, disgraceful acts of wanton destruction.
And Robertson vows the vandals and looters will be held accountable for trashing Vancouver’s playoff party.
He says a lot of pictures have been taken of the rioting, and they’ll be used to prosecute the lawbreakers.
Robertson says city police managed as well as they could, but were facing a very large crowd.
Rioters who posed for cellphone cameras while trashing downtown Vancouver after the Canuck’s loss in the Stanley Cup final may find themselves featured in a new age mugshot lineup.
Angry Vancouver residents have already spotted many of the pictures on social networking sites, prompting several blogs and Facebook groups to urge anyone with photos to submit them directly to police.
A new site dubbed the Vancouver 2011 Riot Criminal List has been created on the microblogging service Tumblr, calling for pictures to help identify rioters.
Constable Jana McGuinness agrees Vancouver Police are very interested in any photos and will release details later today on how the public can submit them.
As the cyber hunt for rioters and looters begins, at least 10-thousand people have signed up on Facebook, pledging to join an hastily arranged early-morning clean-up of Vancouver’s downtown core.
About 100-thousand people crammed into downtown Vancouver for Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final last night and began throwing bottles, setting fires, smashing windows and looting within minutes of the Canucks’ 4 -0 loss to the Boston Bruins.
The grim spectacle of Vancouver coming under siege from rioters is on display around the world as the aftermath of the city’s Stanley Cup loss makes major news around the world.
Media outlets like the New York Times and CNN played reports about the chaos prominently on their websites, alongside reports of the Game 7 victory by the Boston Bruins.
“Trouble in Vancouver’s Streets After Defeat” topped the lead story in the online sports section of the Times, while the CNN site gave prominent play to fiery video images from downtown.
The Washington Post headline, “Riots erupt in Vancouver after Canucks lose to Bruins,” was accompanied by a photo of a fan waving a Canadian flag with a burning pickup truck in the background.
The riot was also noticed in Australia, where the front page of the sports section of the Brisbane Times website displayed photos of the riot under the headline: “Hockey fans hopping mad.”
The Sydney Morning Herald also displayed riot photos and the headline: “Violence in Vancouver after Canucks lose Stanley Cup final.”
