Criminals, anarchists responsible for riot: VPD

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Criminals, anarchists responsible for riot: VPD
Nine officers were hurt; 15 cars were burned
News1130 Staff Jun 16, 2011 11:16:36 AM
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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - Vancouver Police say criminals and anarchists disguised as Canucks fans were responsible for last night's riot in Downtown Vancouver.

Chief Jim Chu says nine officers were injured and 15 cars were burned, including two police cruisers. But he adds the riot was quelled in three hours.

"The plans in place were to suppress the riot by dispersing the crowds," he says. "That's when those officers deployed with protective gear... in many different intersections in order to suppress and disperse the crowd."

A man who fell three or four stories off of the Georgia Viaduct during last night's riot is in critical condition. Chu says they've talked to several people who saw it happen.

"He was trying to jump from one portion of the viaduct to the other portion of the viaduct," he explains. "He was not pushed."

Chu adds a few others jumped from one part of the viaduct to the other and made it across.

Arrest Statistics

Vancouver Police say over 100 people were arrested.

The VPD says 85 arrested for breach of the peace and eight arrested for public intoxication have been released. Eight others were arrested for criminal code offences, including theft, mischief, assault with a weapon, and break and enter.

Two people were arrested in relation to a stabbing. Four others have been released with a future court date, two others were released because of a lack of evidence.

Vancouver Fire

Vancouver firefighters say they were heckled and hit with debris as they tried to work during the riot.

Assistant Operations Chief Wade Pierlot tells us it was a situation his team isn't used to. Several firefighters were hurt; some were accosted and at one point even had to run to safety.

"The angry crowd is something we're not exposed to very often," says Pierlot. "(It is) certainly not a firefighter's way of being treated. It was new to many of us, a new experience for us. We also had rocks and bottles thrown at our trucks."

Pierlot adds getting to problem areas was hard because of crowds, but he thanks the many people who pushed garbage bin or dumpster fires away from buildings to prevent things from getting worse.

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On Thursday morning, the Canucks Organization issued the following release:

"On behalf of the players and the entire organization, Canucks Sports & Entertainment would like to thank our fans for the pride and passion you demonstrated throughout our 40th Anniversary season and the Stanley Cup playoffs. It's what makes playing and living in Vancouver special and is something we are all grateful for.

Canucks Sports & Entertainment encouraged our fans all season long to Celebrate Responsibly. The pride our fans showed in our team throughout the regular season and playoffs was incredible and we are very grateful for that support. The destructive actions and needless violence demonstrated by a minority of people last night in Vancouver is highly disappointing to us all.  

As an organization we would like to thank the law enforcement agencies, fire and rescue workers who displayed courage and expertise during a very difficult situation. We are proud of the city we live and play in and know that the actions of these misguided individuals are not reflective of the citizens of Vancouver or of any true fans of the Canucks or the game of hockey.

The organization will refrain from any further comment on this matter at this time."
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Response from mayor and premier

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson and Premier Christy Clark are downtown today, assessing the damage from last night's riot. They want those responsible to be held to account.

They both say this is not going to mark our city -- that we are not defined by the images on TV last night -- and that the city will pick up and move on.

"This city belongs to us," says Clark. "It doesn't belong to them. We aren't going to stop celebrating. We're going to be outdoors, and every citizen needs to remember that we have a role to play in making sure that this doesn't happen again."

Clark is encouraging people with videos and pictures from cameras or phones to submit them to the police. She says anyone who was out committing a crime last night will be caught because someone caught them on video, and police will go through those images piece by piece.

Robertson insists the riots that laid waste to downtown streets were sparked by a small group of people bent on causing chaos. Speaking live on News1130 this morning, he says it will be a big job to figure out how to prevent such mayhem in the future.

"These events have been few and far between," he argues. "The Olympics were the last attempt by a lot of these same players."
   
Robertson says police go after the looters and rioters will the full brunt of the law.

The Mob Mentality

UBC psychology professor Dr. Peter Suedfeld says the people involved can be divided into several different categories. "One is the instigators, the ones who go down there and all along intend to start trouble no matter how the game comes out. And then there's a much larger group who are down there because of the game, who kind of catch the fever."

He says the reasons can be simple. "The only payoff is the gratification and engaging in it is exciting. If you're bored and if you're fairly irresponsible and don't much care about other people's property, then here's an opportunity for you to exercise your will to action."

He adds many rioters like trouble and violence and will seize every opportunity to engage in it.

The Canucks Respond

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http://www.news1130.com/news/loc ... er-canucks-lose-cup
http://vancouver.ca/fire/