Rioting in Vancouver Tonight

[Sharpshooter]

I do but then it has limited utility - it only encompasses the concept of legal guilt and only then once you have been charged and are before the courts.

The police certainly do not hew to this nor does the general public.

It derives from the Latin maxim - Ei incumbit probatio, qui dicit, non qui negat; cum per rerum naturam factum negantis probatio nulla sit. – The proof lies upon him who affirms, not upon him who denies; since, by the nature of things, he who denies a fact cannot produce any proof.

It is set out in the Charter in s. 11 in the following terms:

11. Any person charged with an offence has the right

...

(d) to be presumed innocent until proven guilty according to law in a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal;

BTW the Constitution of the United States does not cite the presumption of innocence explicitly. Coffin v. United States, 156 U.S. 432 (1895), was a United States Supreme Court in 1895 which established the presumption of innocence of persons accused of crimes.

[NightHawkSniper]

Did they really decide to ignore all the cameras and the phones waving around in the crowd?

[Common sense]

Did they really decide to ignore all the cameras and the phones waving around in the crowd?

[Wetcoaster]

The province and the City of Vancouver have announced a review of the riot will be carried out. Hopefully the report will be read and implemented as it appears the comprehensive 1994 report with over 100 recommendations was ignored.

A provincially-funded, independent review of events leading up to last week’s Stanley Cup riots has been given until the end of August to complete a report, in time to assess its findings ahead of November’s Grey Cup festivities in Vancouver.

Details of the comprehensive review were announced simultaneously Monday by the province and the City of Vancouver.

Lessons from the 1994 Stanley Cup riot and whether they were sufficiently followed ahead of the fateful Game Seven mass gathering last Wednesday will be a major focus of the review. One of the investigators into the 1994 riots has accused police of ignoring their findings of 17 years ago.

The review will also look at how much the availability of liquor contributed to the riotous rampage and whether police and the City had adequately planned for what took place ahead of and during the riots.

Vancouver police chief Jim Chu welcomed the review. “We look forward to hearing its analysis and recommendations. Having an independent review of the events of June 15 is in the best interests of our city.”

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson said the review is critical to the city’s ability in the future to allow “full use of it’s vibrant public spaces to celebrate safely and responsibly.”

Solicitor General Shirley Bond said the “shameful acts” of June 15 were seen around the world. “They demand a tough, independent and critical eye, and that’s exactly what we expect this review to deliver. It must look back, given the events 17 years before, and the many reviews that followed.

“And it must look forward, to ensure Vancouver reclaims its place on the world’s stage as a vibrant, safe city in which to celebrate, no matter the nature of the event or the size of the crowd.”

An individual to head the review will be announced “in the coming days”, the provincial government said, in a statement. His or her report will be made public.

Earlier Monday, NPA Mayoral candidate Suzanne Anton said that Mayor Gregor Robertson should take responsibility for the decisions that lead to the Stanley Cup riot last week.

Ms. Anton said in a press release that the recommendations from a report that was written following the 1994 Stanley Cup riot were not followed last Wednesday. Mr. Robertson and his staff should answer to why it took so long to call in police from other cities, why the police were lulled into a “false sense of security,” and whether the police were given adequate resources and manpower to deal with the crowds, she said.

Ms. Anton will be filing a motion requesting all the documentation and correspondence related to the celebrations for Game 7 be made public.

“All of us are sickened by what happened,” she said in the release. “Watching these people trash and violate our city made me sad and angry at the same time. But it’s time to figure out what went wrong and how we prevent this happening in the future. We have to ask the tough questions because we need accountability here.”

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/bc-politics/vancouver-mayor-should-take-responsibility-over-riot-planning-says-candidate/article2067790/

The report on the 1994 Stanley Cup Riot with it many recommendations prepared by Bob Whitelaw for the BC Police Commission seems to have been ignored and there were four other reports on the 1994 riot as well.

Vancouver Riot: Police made mistakes, says author report on 1994 mayhem

For five months after the 1994 riots in Vancouver following the Canucks’ Stanley Cup loss to the New York Rangers, civil servant Bob Whitelaw was the British Columbia police commission’s full-time “riot investigator,” probing exactly what stirred the melee and how such conflict could be avoided next time. His report, which made more than 100 recommendations, was accepted along with five others conducted by the various agencies involved. On Wednesday night, Mr. Whitelaw watched in horror from his home in Ottawa as yet another riot broke out in Vancouver 17 years later. Mr. Whitelaw, who has helped shepherd Calgary, Montreal and Ottawa through their Stanley Cup finals, spoke with the Post’s Sarah Boesveld.

Q How would you compare what you saw in 1994 to what you saw Wednesday night?

A Around 11 p.m. when things were going wrong, I got out my report and started to check off recommendations and said, ‘Oops, they missed that, they missed that, that’s wrong.’ Generally, this riot — despite what they say about settling it in three or four hours — was worse, far worse than the 1994 riot.

Q In what ways?

A It was worse because of the fires and the lack of police containment once these laws were broken. We didn’t have any cars burned in 1994 and [this time], there were two police cars burned and others, too. The only incident we had in 1994 was at the stadium, an old beater they sort of rolled down the parking lot. It was mainly a crowd management issue — some tear gas, some looting — but it was not as orchestrated on the seventh game when it comes to hooliganism. In 1994, the story of the riot just went across the country. But this time it’s gone global.

Q What did you recommend in that report that you noticed was not followed through on Wednesday night?

A Number one, we recommended strongly that the streets three or four blocks away from any crowd have no parking on them, no cars at all. Secondly, if a crowd is agitated, as it was in ’94 and this time, agitated by alcohol and also with tear gas, which is a lethal combination that breaks down people’s behaviour, cars will be damaged. The other thing I noticed and said to myself ‘they missed an opportunity and they didn’t read the recommendations’ and that is for a seventh game, which is different from six games. In the six games, there’s no problem — everyone’s friendly and happy. In the seventh game then and now I saw that they did not remove the newspaper boxes, the advertising signs, barriers — anything that could be used as a projectile was left on the streets down there. They should have been cleared right out.

Q Why do you think the crowd reacted more violently than they did in 1994?

A I think evidence will show, when charges are laid and people are identified, that they were not part of the Stanley Cup celebrations or the loss, but they were there equipped to begin instigation and hooliganism. In 1994, we had in the police department what we called the wall of shame, with photographs of individuals captured that night. And over a period of months, many were identified and charges laid. But this time, the wall of shame has become the Facebook wall of shame.

Q What factors played into the lack of sound crowd control, in your mind?

A There was complacency on the police in the crowd, a kind of “they’re just having a good time,” that was set up during the first six games. And then there is apathy among the safety and security people. ‘Well, those were six good nights, let’s just get through the seventh night and everything will be resolved and nothing will happen based upon the first six nights.’ Denial is that strong word that I’ve used about crowd management: ‘We’ve got everything in place, we’ve got our plans, we’ve talked it through, we can communicate, nothing’s going to happen so just ease off a bit.’ But things change.

Q Is it disappointing to you that they didn’t appear to take much from your reports?

A I’m professionally disappointed because of the work and effort that went into reports — not just the police commission report, but others. I’m pleased to see the reaction of the ownership of downtown Vancouver who are not responsible but are trying to reclaim the image. This riot was worse in terms of destruction and injury and mayhem than the 1994. It was wide ranging and it repeated the broken windows, the looting and using debris from the streets to break windows and poke back at the police. That clearing of debris was a consistent of our report. There are five great reports, including mine, that need to be pulled off the shelf and revisited.

[Wetcoaster]

Ignore? Some rioters were actually feeding off of the attention they got from cameras and phones.

[Bertuzzi Babe]

Camille Cacnio has now edited her apology blog:

Smart move - her rant about everything else was winning no one over.

[Common sense]

Isn't it a shame that it's still quoted in it's entirety here in this thread, eh?

Post your idiocy online and no matter how quickly you edit out your stupidity, it will still lurk somewhere!

[Wetcoaster]

Ethan Baron of the Vancouver Province with an article on some people who stood up to the rioting morons.

For anyone feeling post-riot despair over what British Columbians are capable of, I have an antidote. His name is Bert Easterbrook. He was beaten bloody for his bravery.

The 32-year-old photographer and care worker for severely disabled people had been watching Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final at the Cannabis Culture Vapour Lounge near Gastown. When he went outside for fresh air, he saw smoke rising from the city core.

“I sent my girl to go hide out in the truck and keep her safe and ran out to get some pictures,” Easterbrook says. “That’s when I saw a bunch of people being stupid.”

The grandson of a Vancouver policeman, Easterbrook waded into the crowd on Georgia Street near the main post office to help police hold their line. A nearby car was being doused with accelerant, and rioters were rocking a green pickup truck to roll it over.

“Me and a couple other guys said, ‘This is not cool,’ and decided to step in,” he says.

Video taken at the scene shows Easterbrook and at least three other men holding at bay the hooligans - one of whom was bashing the truck’s hood with a hammer — as smoke begins to cloud the vehicle interior from a wad of burning newspaper thrown inside.

“I just grabbed [the paper] and threw it out,” says Easterbrook, a six-foot-two, 255-pound karate expert who also works as a security guard for pro-marijuana rallies in Vancouver.

All around, people began chanting, “Burn the truck! Burn the truck!”

When a rioter shoved him and tossed the flaming paper back into the vehicle, Easterbrook smashed him with a forearm. “It’s too bad I ended up having to level somebody,” he says. “I don’t like to have to do that. I had to put him down fast.”

The blow focused the mob’s fury on Easterbrook. “They’re all screaming, ‘He’s an effin’ cop, get him!’ I just protected the camera and grabbed the closest body and went down with him.”

Other video footage shows a sea of rioters converging over Easterbrook, battering him with kicks and punches. “I went down face-first. They were all dog-piled on my back,” he says. Hundreds of onlookers cheered on the attackers, while police pushed into the mob.

Officers began pulling Easterbrook’s assailants away, and he was able to stand, blood running down his bald head.

Easterbrook, of New Westminster, saw the 1994 Stanley Cup riot, and came away from this one impressed with the police. “In ’94, the cops started it. This year it was the fans. The cops did an amazing job. I kept thanking officers on the way to go find my girlfriend.”

A burned hand kept him off his care-worker job for two days, and he has cuts, bruises and contusions all over.

Easterbrook’s long-time friend, pot activist Jodie Emery, says the hulking photographer displayed the qualities that make him ideal as a security guard during marijuana rallies. “He’s really tough, but he’s really, really gentle,” Emery says. “He’s a super soft-spoken sweetheart. He can’t stand disrespect, and violence is not his thing.”

Acts of heroism occurred throughout the mayhem. One of the men with Easterbrook at the truck later confronted rioters smashing two police cars a couple blocks eastward, until he was forced to run headlong from a bloodthirsty pack of pursuing goons: man in the green shirt and surf trunks, your courage was truly amazing. High praise, too, to John Marchenko, who stood off crazed idiots bashing an overturned car with everything from skateboards to a crowbar; to the men in front of The Bay, including Robert MacKay, who were attacked while trying to prevent looting; to the dozen men and women who linked arms into a protective chain around a man beaten to the ground on Georgia Street, and to all those whose bravery went unnoticed and unrecorded. You are the other side of the riot coin, the side that shines, and reminds us that in our anger and our disappointment, we need not despair. Inside the riot, the morons were many and the heroes were comparatively few. But those who support what the idiots did are but a thin rotten slice of our society. We who applaud the heroes are legion.

http://www.theprovince.com/news/hero+among+rotten+rioting+pack/4967422/story.html#ixzz1PrAcNFyw

[BuckyHermit]

JUST announced: the wall at The Bay will be preserved at the Museum of Vancouver. Still no final decision about where to display them but they'll be stored there for the time being.

[Justin.]

I can't decide what sickens me more, people who sympathize with these losers or their fake/whiny/selfish apologies.

[Jaimito]

In the case of Camille Cacnio...tech-savvy kids these days need to know the definition of "archive"

Edited "apology"

Original apology:

Amazing how you just can't delete stuff off the internet eh?

[Jaimito]

JUST announced: the wall at The Bay will be preserved at the Museum of Vancouver. Still no final decision about where to display them but they'll be stored there for the time being.

[BigUncle16]

Most of BC supports the Canucks but they're not all Vancouver. According to my definition, if it's called Burnaby, or Maple Ridge, etc, then it's not Vancouver. Otherwise it would be called Vancouver. GVRD is only an administrative thing. If you're from Langley, I bet you won't say you're from Vancouver or from GVRD.

[Alexidney Crosvechkinby]

I can't decide what sickens me more, people who sympathize with these losers or their fake/whiny/selfish apologies.

[Carpe Diem]

while Camille's apology could have been more contrite, she could be crying like the water polo dude and it wouldn't have mattered anyway. People will not forgive her, at least not yet.

[Justin.]

and in the case of the nathan guy's family, they try to make it seem like they are now the victims by saying they had to leave their houses from death threats and stuff. well, they wouldn't have to if their son was well behaved

[Wetcoaster]

while Camille's apology could have been more contrite, she could be crying like the water polo dude and it wouldn't have mattered anyway. People will not forgive her, at least not yet.

[Buggernut]

while Camille's apology could have been more contrite, she could be crying like the water polo dude and it wouldn't have mattered anyway. People will not forgive her, at least not yet.

[Champ Kind]

With all these apologies, reminds me of when Jimmey Kimmel was saying "My apologies to Matt Damon, we ran out of time."

[Wetcoaster]

And yet another site preserves his original "apology".

It is at a time like this I recall the maxim:

"It is better to be thought a fool than to open your mouth (or post a self-serving blog entry) and remove all doubt."