I can assure you that there were anarchists in the mob that night. They were obviously a very small part of the crowd but there were certainly present. Try to get yourself a copy of the video footage of the rioters initially breaking into Sears at the Robson and Howe corner. You will see a Black Bloc member getting a go ahead nod from a very infamous blonde haired local anarchist before attacking the doors with an A-frame. The blonde haired male is obvious smart enough not to do anything himself, just command others, interesting structure system for an anarchist.

Tell you what Joe just Joe, tell me where I can get a copy of ‘this’ video and I’ll watch it.
I gotta see this.
We’ve gone from the Anarchists(tm) doing damage to people employing Black Bloc tactics doing the damage.
You did realize that Black Bloc tactics are just that.
It’s a tactic, it’s not an organization.
And, here’s a little dose of reality. If the anarchists were involved in this, they would have owned it from start to finish. And there would have been very public cries of police brutality.
Either I’ve been asleep for the last week or so, or there haven’t been any complaints about police brutality.
Hrrrmmmmmm, what’s wrong with this picture?

Thank you JJJ 301.

Bee Hives, it’s an election year. If you “weren’t shocked” at me being shocked “it would amaze me” too.

My information with respect to the “provocateurs”, as I have referred to the instigators as, is from a reliable source with 1st hand knowledge. JJJ is right, there weren’t many, and they came with hammers and flammables.

Again Bee Hives, it’s a bit of a horse race between you and I with respect to who’s better at the “cheap politics” isn’t it? In a valiant attempt to defend myself, I at least use my own name. Readers here can only speculate who you are my friend.

By “… I might listen” you could start by going back and rereading my previous comments over the past 11 days. I have not only critiqued Mayor Greg & co. but also suggested what they should have done, like starting by not assuming a happy ending, and by asking “tough questions” of staff to name two.

Being a good leader is in no small part about determining priorities. And speaking of cheerleading, As I’ve also said, Mayor Greg is supposed to be the “Chief Constable”, but preferred the role leading up to the riot of “Chief Cheerleader”.

I don`t have a link to the video, hence why I said try to find it. I was there in person and tried my best to stop the carnage and took some beats in the process. Was it stupid of me to try and fight a mob, you bet it was, but not as stupid as watching my city get destroyed while I did nothing.

More bafflegab from the Mayor on the riot. If he’s going to default riot planning solely to the Police Chief then at least hire a competent Chief.
I have no Police experience but dispersing small units of plain clothes officers throughout the crowd to contain the hooligans seems to be an obvious tactic . It seems the Chief and Mayor are bankrupt for ideas and the Mayor continues to prove he can’t do the job.

Yeah, just got home from a board meeting.
Anyways, just to clarify things a little.
I live downtown and I work downtown.
It was mentioned to me before I left work, that because I lived downtown, I’d stand a good chance of earning a little overtime if I was called in on a code orange, so I should keep my phone handy.
Myself, I want nothing to do with any style of pro-sports, which is why I find the city blowing $600,000.00 per night to be my issue.

So anyways after work I head over to a nice little mens club at Pender and Abbott.
Searching out a little rest and relaxation.
Around 8:00 word starts to spread around the club that everyone should leave as it’s not safe outside.
So I gotta head home.
I live in the west end.
Only problem is Burrard and Granville Streets for their full lengths are both shut down, along with all of the bridges.
As no-one in the club had been watching the game or any of the news, we had no idea that it had devolved into a circus reminiscent of Lord of the Flies.
No bus service and constant interruptions on the Skytrain. So nowhere for the drunk yobs to go. They can’t go back home. So the little pukes decided to stay downtown.
Understandably, the police aren’t in a very talkative mood.
not too many places were offering safe refuge.
And if I’m not mistaken, the general goal was to keep the mob or mobs from reaching the West End.
Can you imagine if the mob had reached either Davie Street or Robson Street. Actually, Robson Street would have been a nightmare.
Plus, the cops had to be careful around the hospital.

Now, I forget who said it, oh yes, Max said it at #304.
But in a riot. And it was a full blown riot. The riot act had been read which meant that I had a legal requirement to get home. But anyways, in a riot, there are no innocents. The police are not going to hesitate. They will not hesitate to fire just because an ‘innocent’ may be present. They will act and they will move in. If you are an innocent you will find your own way out. That’s one of the reasons why they didn’t employ kettling. They were trying to break up the mobs and tire them out and disperse them. Boxing them in would have only made the situation much worse as the majority of these people were intoxicated.
Sober people they could have kettled as sober people would have realized that fighting was a bad idea. But you can’t kettle a drunk mob. They’ll fight and they’ll get extremely violent very quickly.
Actually I was doing a good job of staying one step ahead of the crowd. Which was very easy to do. These people were pissed drunk. These weren’t Anarchists(tm). These were drunk yobs. Period. Full Stop.
And maybe this is what’s making you guys in here so very uncomfortable. This is why you keep grasping at straws and trying to blame boogeymen for starting the riot.
It wasn’t anarchists, it wasn’t boogey men. Just wrapping a canucks jersey around your face doesn’t make one into a member of the infamous Black Bloc.
These were stupid drunk morons.
These were the same yahoos that had been sitting in all of the Granville Entertainment District bars since noon of that day.
The little loser from PoCo I think it was, you know the one with the Water Polo scholarship.
Comes from a very well off family.
You’re going to try telling me he’s Black Block.
How about the kid standing in front of the BMO along with video of him smashing windows. He’s from Richmond and is also an Air Cadet (or was).
And the rest of the videos that I’ve seen all show the same thing. Punks, thugs and shitheads all out having a night of fun.
Anarchists looting the Bay or H&M? Really? Are you that desperate to keep people like me from demanding that pro-sports be told to piss right off that you’d flog the spirits of Anarchists(tm) to try and deflect blame from where it belongs.
The one guy I saw get pepper sprayed was dressed to the nines. Very fancy square toed shoes.
The guy was really pissed drunk. Grabbing the shield of the riot cop was a bad thing.
Yelling at the cop, while intoxicated, that he needs to get his car so he can drive home was an even worse faux-pas.
It was sad watching him get pepper sprayed, but the cop had no other choice.

The one real bad thing about the whole night, was that even after I was finally able to make it across Granville St. My apartment, which is about two blocks west of Burrard stunk like pepper spray and tear gas. It’s an older building. Built in the ’60s. Not pressurized, so you leave your windows open and what’s outside will come in.

The fun and festivities went on until about 3:00 in the morning as the crowds, or what was left of them, decided to head down to the beach around English Bay which prompted the police helicopter and various police cars to follow.

@ThinkOutsideABox #306. Umm, that’s a pretty old statement, but an interesting one none the less. First, you guys are in here looking to lynch the mayor and the police chief for their bumbling ineptitude. But now you’re willing to stand by what they have to say and take it at face value. Amazing.

Anyways. I am still going to stand by what I’ve said based on what I saw with my own two eyes. Far too many people. Far too much alcohol. Too much machoism. And the infamous mob mentality. And throw in a heaping dose of pro-sports. Simmer for a couple of weeks and you get what we had.
But we’re also not the first city this has happened in either. So why are we having such a hard time understanding this little formula:
“Pro-sports+Testosterone+Alcohol= Disaster”

@Bill McCreery @305. Bobbie Garnet Bees is my full legal name. One should think very long and hard before making unfounded allegations. Especially in a public forum. I have never used a nom du plume. I stand behind everything I say and I have absolutely no problem with using my real name. I would have absolutely no issues with allowing you to view my birth certificate.

But on to the other things you’ve said in your post, just simply stating that “I have not only critiqued Mayor Greg & co. but also suggested what they should have done, like starting by not assuming a happy ending, and by asking “tough questions” of staff to name two. ”
Do you have any specifics to go along with these rather vague items?
The city was already having a problem meeting the police budget. Where would you have gotten the money from? Would you have done the most logical thing and cancelled the events outright. Of course not, that would have been political suicide. Put more riot cops on the street? Where are you getting the money from again?

Next time the city wants to do something like this they need to shut down all of the bars. In the entire city. Close the liquor stores too. Any signs of public intoxication means a trip to the slammer right away.
But of course the bar industry will protest this as it would be bad for business.

Umm, that’s a pretty old statement, but an interesting one none the less. First, you guys are in here looking to lynch the mayor and the police chief for their bumbling ineptitude. But now you’re willing to stand by what they have to say and take it at face value. Amazing.

Bobbie Bees,

That was the first official statement, the only one that matters in the eyes of the international media as such what CNN, BBC, NY Times etc. had reported. They’re not going to revisit the feel good clean up story, or the nuanced ‘anarchists-not-so-much’ story.

You are quite the patron saint of misrepresentation in order to make a point. If you had read my post #50 you would have seen I don’t believe it was anarchists. My thoughts are my own, regardless of whomever you think (and I use that word liberally) “you guys” happen to represent, and no where could you construe anything further out of my posts without reading comprehension difficulties.

On another note, regardless of what anyone says, you’re a perfect spokesperson for Critical Mass – don’t stop.

My appologies ThinkOutsideABox, very quick and easy to lose track of who said what in here. I have now officially removed you from the ‘other guys’

Bobbie,

My apology, you are who you say you are.

Off topic, but I would appreciate an opportunity to talk with you about Critical Mass, the on-going frustrations of those involved, your objectives, etc. I would like to have a better understanding of what’s happening and the why behind it.

@ Joe Just Joe, 301.

“I can assure you that there were anarchists in the mob that night. They were obviously a very small part of the crowd but there were certainly present.”

and my 305:

“My information with respect to the “provocateurs”, as I have referred to the instigators as, is from a reliable source with 1st hand knowledge. JJJ is right, there weren’t many, and they came with hammers and flammables.”

when read together might imply that I accepted JJJ’s assertion the “provocateurs” were “anarchists”.

I was not suggesting that these people were “anarchists”. My use of the word “provocateurs” was deliberate because I do not know who they were, either as individuals or as groups. What does appear to be clear is that these individuals came armed with masks, weapons and incendiaries, and that there was more than one of them, all doing similar illegal acts, which indicates not just preconceived intent but a degree of organization as well.