Riot
Riot
I was in the main crowd on Georgia Street at Hamilton Street with a friend of mine. Because we knew there was a possibility of riot, we made an escape plan early on. The crowd was happy for the first 2 periods. During the third period, everyone just seemed deflated. After the 4th goal, they started to get restless. We discussed whether we should leave then or wait it out. We decided to stay.
Then, with 3 minutes left in the game, a few obnoxious individuals started screaming and throwing things at the big projector screens that were showing the game. Then, about 10 feet from us some morons started shaking a car (why someone left their car there, I will never understand), and then within a few seconds a group flipped over the car. At that point, we decided it was unwise to hang about.
So we started to execute the escape plan. We only had to go around the corner to be okay. We watched the last 2 minutes of the game from there. Then a group of about 4 teenage boys started to approach the main area chanting "Let's go riot, let's go!", which we took to be a very bad sign. We waited about 30 seconds and saw that things were worsening instead of improving. We then continued to leave.
Fortunately, we didn't have to go far. Only a block north of Georgia everyone was calm but sad. Thousands of people walked the streets heading west. Some hugging and consoling each other, some angry, some saying "next year". The occasional post box was punched. The police were watching. Everything was fine.
We got to Granville Street and it was the same situation, everyone dispersing, some people milling about. We headed back south toward Georgia. At Granville and Georgia it was the same. People were going down to the sky train station, people were hanging around. But then a few more people started to push over newspaper boxes, start yelling, etc. Then there was a terrible noise from behind us down Georgia St. We turned and looked and could see a giant plume of smoke going up in front of where we had been only minutes before, watching the game. Suddenly, the police radios started going off and they went running east toward the smoke through all of the people heading the other way, trying to get away from it. Then we saw the flames.
We waited for a minute or two and then continued West, away from the epicenter of things going bad. There were hundreds and thousands of people walking the streets, some heading toward the madness, some heading away from it.
We ended up at a restaurant on Robson street, above the street. About an hour after we got there, police cars started whizzing past going somewhere. Then the helicopters started circling and we started to get calls and messages asking if we were okay. Later that night, we walked back to my place and there were still many people in the streets, but there was this horrible sense of doom in the air, like "what have we done?!"
Tania decided to walk back across Granville bridge, as it had been closed. I heard sirens out my window for several hours.
It is deeply disheartening that this had to happen. Vancouver was just starting to get out from under it's reputation as a "no fun city" through outdoor concerts, movies, events, etc. And the public screenings of the games were a wonderful example of that. There has been a beautiful sense of community and camaraderie in the city these past weeks, with strangers high-fiving each other and hugs and dancing. But now that is all ruined. It will be a long long time before there is any trust again. The broader implications of these events on this city and this community are horrible and will be far reaching. It makes me so sad.
From what I saw, and having been in the centre of when it started, I do not think I am wrong, it was a few groups of irate teenage boys who simply wanted an excuse to act out that caused this to happen. And of course, the crowd mentality swept it up. It's so pathetic. A better outlet is clearly needed.
It's a sad day.
One of the things that surprised me most was who checked in to see if I was okay, and who didn't. Who worries when the shit hits the fan is often not who you think it will be.
I was in the main crowd on Georgia Street at Hamilton Street with a friend of mine. Because we knew there was a possibility of riot, we made an escape plan early on. The crowd was happy for the first 2 periods. During the third period, everyone just seemed deflated. After the 4th goal, they started to get restless. We discussed whether we should leave then or wait it out. We decided to stay.
Then, with 3 minutes left in the game, a few obnoxious individuals started screaming and throwing things at the big projector screens that were showing the game. Then, about 10 feet from us some morons started shaking a car (why someone left their car there, I will never understand), and then within a few seconds a group flipped over the car. At that point, we decided it was unwise to hang about.
So we started to execute the escape plan. We only had to go around the corner to be okay. We watched the last 2 minutes of the game from there. Then a group of about 4 teenage boys started to approach the main area chanting "Let's go riot, let's go!", which we took to be a very bad sign. We waited about 30 seconds and saw that things were worsening instead of improving. We then continued to leave.
Fortunately, we didn't have to go far. Only a block north of Georgia everyone was calm but sad. Thousands of people walked the streets heading west. Some hugging and consoling each other, some angry, some saying "next year". The occasional post box was punched. The police were watching. Everything was fine.
We got to Granville Street and it was the same situation, everyone dispersing, some people milling about. We headed back south toward Georgia. At Granville and Georgia it was the same. People were going down to the sky train station, people were hanging around. But then a few more people started to push over newspaper boxes, start yelling, etc. Then there was a terrible noise from behind us down Georgia St. We turned and looked and could see a giant plume of smoke going up in front of where we had been only minutes before, watching the game. Suddenly, the police radios started going off and they went running east toward the smoke through all of the people heading the other way, trying to get away from it. Then we saw the flames.
We waited for a minute or two and then continued West, away from the epicenter of things going bad. There were hundreds and thousands of people walking the streets, some heading toward the madness, some heading away from it.
We ended up at a restaurant on Robson street, above the street. About an hour after we got there, police cars started whizzing past going somewhere. Then the helicopters started circling and we started to get calls and messages asking if we were okay. Later that night, we walked back to my place and there were still many people in the streets, but there was this horrible sense of doom in the air, like "what have we done?!"
Tania decided to walk back across Granville bridge, as it had been closed. I heard sirens out my window for several hours.
It is deeply disheartening that this had to happen. Vancouver was just starting to get out from under it's reputation as a "no fun city" through outdoor concerts, movies, events, etc. And the public screenings of the games were a wonderful example of that. There has been a beautiful sense of community and camaraderie in the city these past weeks, with strangers high-fiving each other and hugs and dancing. But now that is all ruined. It will be a long long time before there is any trust again. The broader implications of these events on this city and this community are horrible and will be far reaching. It makes me so sad.
From what I saw, and having been in the centre of when it started, I do not think I am wrong, it was a few groups of irate teenage boys who simply wanted an excuse to act out that caused this to happen. And of course, the crowd mentality swept it up. It's so pathetic. A better outlet is clearly needed.
It's a sad day.
One of the things that surprised me most was who checked in to see if I was okay, and who didn't. Who worries when the shit hits the fan is often not who you think it will be.
posted by venbot | 1:21 a.m.
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