(Vancouver Courier, June 20, 2011)
It was the anarchists. That’s the story and they’re sticking to it. The spin started early.
While cars burned on Georgia Street, Mayor Gregor Robertson strode into a cluster of cameras and microphones two blocks from the riot epicentre, his face twisted in shock and confusion. “We had a small number of hooligans, basically, on the streets of Vancouver causing problems.”
Faced with millions in damages and mounting criticism, Robertson sharpened his message at a press conference the following day, blaming “anarchists and thugs.”
The anarchists. The indefatigable, ever-elusive skinny white punks in black hoodies who always seem to slip the noose and fade away. Against them, there’s no defense. Peace in Vancouver relies on their forbearance.
It was them, last Wednesday night. Not Robertson’s bulging bloated belching fan zones, which corralled 100,000 people into urban beer tents with asphalt floors. According to Robertson, “there had been absolutely no signs of this coming.”
Really? Where was he after Game 1, Game 2 and especially Game 5? When thousands of young drunk men roared through Granville Street while police watched from the sidewalk, high-fiving with the crowd.
No, forget about that. It was the anarchists. Because every government needs an enemy, every scandal a scapegoat. Anarchists. The word rolls off the tongue, on emails and around water coolers. It’s a viral term, aimed at worried soccer moms and the pitchfork crowd. The day after, VPD Chief Jim Chu blamed “criminals and anarchists.” He stared straight into the camera. He didn’t bat an eye.
No doubt there were ringleaders who helped incite the crowds. But I watched the whole thing unfold at Hamilton and Georgia last Wednesday. And I was there in February 2010 when gangs of black-clad anti-Olympians launched coordinated attacks on police barricades. Two completely different situations with two completely different crowds.
Chu summoned the Olympics last Thursday morning during a tense press conference. “We had intelligence prior to that [the Olympics] to know what they were up to. Last night came as a surprise.”
If that’s true, if Wednesday’s riot “came as a surprise,” Chu is unworthy of his current rank. Anyone remotely familiar with Vancouver history (1994 Stanley Cup, 2010 Olympics) would never make that claim. In reality, Chu assigned a few hundred cops for a job that required at least several hundred more. For much of the evening, police employed a hands-off approach. And it went sideways, big time.
In recent days, Chu has admitted the obvious, that he should have put more boots on the ground. But he refuses to admit much else or reveal the number of police officers deployed downtown last Wednesday. Despite the pending inquiry, that number will probably never be known, cast into the shredder of infinite silence.
However, there may be more to the cover-up than self-preservation. Perhaps Robertson and Chu aren’t willing to acknowledge what Twitter and Facebook already know. Ordinary people propelled this riot. The boy next door. Our sons and brothers. The babysitter in her Kesler T-shirt. And Nathan Kotylak, a 17-year-old star water polo player from an affluent Maple Ridge family who was caught on tape torching a police cruiser. What anarchist troop does Kotylak belong?
Chu and Robertson present a more palatable narrative. But their tune will soon change. Their strategy, blaming faceless bogeymen, is unsustainable. If a small band of anarchists caused the most expensive riot in Vancouver history, Chu and Robertson must admit defeat. Then they must prove it. They must identify the cunning architects of local anarchy, who bamboozled city hall and the VPD’s entire intelligence apparatus, and pursue them with unrivalled vigour. Don’t hold your breath.
In the riot’s wake, there’s been a lot of talk about “personal responsibility.” The rioters must repent and reform. And they should—from their prison cells. But to prevent future disasters, any post-mortem of the 2011 Stanley Cup riot must also include a complete mea culpa from Mayor Gregor Robertson and VPD Chief Jim Chu. Because despite any subversive elements, this riot was not possible without their participation.
Great history. It was interesting to read.
Posted by: loans | November 01, 2011 at 05:12 AM