VANCOUVER—Rioting has become so inevitable at mass gatherings of people that it may be time to reconsider even staging events that bring more than 100,000 people onto downtown streets, says Vancouver Police Chief Jim Chu.“That is something that we’ll look at,” Chu said, after Wednesday’s Stanley Cup mayhem saw nearly 100 arrests and nine police officers injured as stores were looted and 15 vehicles set ablaze.
He said that, despite the “best efforts” of police forces elsewhere in the world, including those with vastly more manpower, “riots still occur.”
Chu laid much of the blame on “anarchists and thugs who were bent on destruction,” and had come with “masks, goggles, gasoline and even fire extinguishers to use as weapons.
“When there’s a large number of criminals and anarchists with an intent to break the law, it’s very difficult to stop that.”
And while Chu noted that many bystanders had aided police and stopped would-be looters from entering stores, he also chastised all those stood idly by, often cheering and snapping photos.
It all bore an eerie similarity to the G20 riots in Toronto last summer, when far a more pro-active and aggressive police presence had also failed to prevent a destructive rampage.
As in Toronto, the Vancouver mayhem seemed to take on a life of its own as the contagion spread in unpredictable directions.
The initial spark seems to have come before the Canucks hockey game was even over, when young men at the fan zone on Georgia St. surged forward, hurling bottles at the giant screen.
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Source: Toronto Star
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