VANCOUVER — Angry Canucks fans are on a rampage, smashing windows, looting and torching cars and dumpsters on the streets of downtown Vancouver. More than three hours after the Stanley Cup final loss, police are moving up Howe St. toward the crowd massed at the Chapters book store on Howe and Robson. They are very gradually pushing the crowd North up Howe. Police spokeswoman Jana McGuiness warned earlier that police are about to escalate their response.
She said they will be igniting flash-bangs, which make loud noises and spray. “What we’re doing right now is bringing in hundreds of police officers.” The message is, you need to leave.” Officers armed with canisters massed on the corner of Granville and Robson. It is not clear whether it is tear gas or pepper spray. They are protected by shields, batons and masks.
McGuiness said the epicentre of the trouble is Granville and Georgia, she said. And even if transit isn’t operating, people need to walk away from the area, she said. When asked if police had lost control of the crowd, McGuiness would only say police have a plan to deal with the unruly crowds. Vancouver police are closing lanes on Granville and Burrard and Cambie Street bridges to prevent more people from coming Downtown. Bus service has been halted in the downtown core.
I can think of several good reasons for doing this…… sports isn’t one of them.
in # 11 Vaspers the Grate aka Steven E Streight said: the slightest most stupid things, like sports, can trigger massive aggression.
The average IQ is one hundred.
That means that half of the population are the intelligentia attending Harvard, Yale, Oxford, Cambridge, Cal Tech, MIT and other institute of higher learning with execrable sports teams because they don’t give a shit about sports.
The other half, the ones with no degrees except the weather, no papers except the butt wad stuck to their shoes, who live in suburbs because they can’t afford to live in town, who hate [your favorite racial epithet,] for NOT being [your favorite color], are the ones who cause all the riots.
What I find funny is that everyone and their dog was taking photos or video, and so I doubt there were any rioters/looters who didn’t get photographed multiple times from multiple angles. Dummies. That can only bite them in the ass in the long run.
Some folks riot when their teams win, others riot when they lose… Me? I get a weekly cathartic release just smashing my glass bottles into the dumpster at the recycling center — it what makes life worth living. I guess others have a higher threshold of self-actualization(?)
Just my theory based on absolutely no evidence: a bunch of West Coast anarchists traveled to Vancouver to do this, regardless of who won or lost. And once it starts, the hooligans join in for the fun since they see a very tepid police response.
Alice was a riot.
J. Gleason
What riot? They are just replaying the game highlights.
#31: Actually, Americans are too porked out on beer, pizza, McD’s and, well, everything else that’s fattening to get off the couch to riot. Now where’d that onion ring go…
#33. Yeah, that is all too clear. Their face is in the database…..forever. And your giving that up for what…….a stupid hockey game. Really?
Then there’s the retards who put up big screens outside so large crowds have a better reason to gather down town with no where to go when the game is over. You got what you deserve morans! For the record I am a BC resident.
Despite what Canadians think, their culture isn’t better than the U.S. eh…
ray, it’s OK to be American. Really.
Those wacky, Canuckastrians!
#9 Re-electing the Sock Monkey.
That pic with couple making out on the street is pretty hot. Thanks !
That’s pretty much all I saw of interest here.
We prefer the term Canuckistanians.
Can you imagine if Boston would have lost? It would have been 10 times worse!
Just read story on yahoo about the kissing couple. Turns out they were caught between rioters and charging police and the woman was injured. Her boyfriend was comforting her and gave her a quick kiss to say everything would be alright and the photographer choose that second to take the picture.
#48 Thanks, that was interesting.
Here’s the back story on the kissing couple.
Looks like Greece lost the Stanley Cup too…
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Christopher Stevens, the American ambassador. “I did not know him,” he said.