As I sat glued to the television Wednesday evening I couldn't comprehend what I was seeing. We had watched our beloved Canucks lose their dream that night but the sadness I felt inside had nothing to do with hockey - nor did the chaos that I was seeing.
I've read stories on websites, facebook, many newspaper articles and watched the news repeatedly since Wednesday night. I keep seeing people comment that "riots should be for meaningful things in life like freedom and democracy, not for hockey games". Every time I see this I am further agitated. These riots had nothing to do with hockey. I firmly believe that the low-life involved in these criminal activities would have done damage, win or lose. These riots had to do with a core of people who had a plan and set out early in the day to take advantage of an unusual situation in our great city of Vancouver. They came prepared with facemasks and weapons. Many of them posted on their Facebooks prior to heading into the city and the really stupid ones posted after bragging about their "loot" and "destruction", in many cases posting photos. Go figure! The generation of technology should know better. Thank goodness for their stupidity!
The police are being scrutinized and questioned and asked over and over, "How could this have happened?" It was particulary unnerving as we had been through a similar (although significantly smaller) event in 1994. For heaven's sake, we even have a handbook! Why wasn't it followed? Well, I have one theory and it it IS tied to our hockey team and the slogan I saw all over B.C. for the last couple of months, WE BELIEVE!
We had been through the Olympics and saw crowds of people celebrating our great city, our great athletes and the Olympics in general. We had watched over several games as people filled the streets of Vancouver to watch playoff game after playoff game with nary a problem. While it is not my job to predict crowd response I didn't see this coming. Why not? Because I BELIEVED. I believed the Olympics had set a tone in our city. I believed that win or lose we would celebrate the exciting season of hockey we had just been a part of. I believed we WERE all Canucks! I believed that the people in the streets were there to celebrate.
When I saw a Facebook posting shortly after the game had ended, I STILL BELIEVED! I believed there were a few drunken idiots out there that the police would take care of. Even as I heard the chaos was escalating I still BELIEVED. When I moved from the computer to turn on the news I COULDN'T believe what I was witnessing. The level of violence shocked me. The level of destrucion shocked me. The sheer number of people destroying everything around them shocked me. The number of people cheering them on shocked me. The number of people smiling and taking pictures shocked me. The response of the police did not shock me. It was clear they too had not anticipated the degree to which this madness would go. I believe their response was appropriate and that further aggression on their part would have taken this to a level we couldn't possibly imagine.
As a "cup half full" kind of person I would have been saddened had our police done anything different prior to the madness. They were out in full force. They were in the crowds. They were visible. I would not have expected anything else because I would not have believed anything else would have been necessary. I will be very sad if the kinds of celebrations we have enjoyed in Vancouver are curtailed. I would be equally sad if I went to one of these great events and felt overwhelmed by an overpowering police presence. That in itself would change the whole experience. While we had a riot handbook from 1994 at no time, for me, did it feel like that would be the kind of response we would need in these playoffs.
What I am hearing from people downtown on Wednesday repeatedly is that this whole day had a different feel to it. Thugs were moving into town with a plan to destroy and wreak havoc. It's so sad that they were so successful. I BELIEVE that the thousands of Facebook images and cell phone pics and videos will result in many of these thugs being caught.
Watching the news on Wednesday night left me feeling jarred and edgy. Watching the thousands of Vancouverites downtown cleaning up yesterday and viewing the thousands of posts identifying the criminals is bringing a bit of peace to my soul. The posts on the plywood cover the windows of the Bay resonate with sorrow and peace. I can't imagine very many cities where the response to such overwhelming idiocy would have been so positive.
Special thanks to the police, the firefighters, the emergency response teams and the cleanup crew! Thanks for making it possible for me to still BELIEVE!
