Tag: Riots Posts

On Democratic Rights During The Olympics

 Journal

This morning I got to walk along Robson Street and watch the protests as they occurred. Given that I saw first-hand how the police officers and the protesters interacted, I thought I would make a few comments. First, it is everyone’s democratic right in Canada to be allowed to protest peacefully — these rights are protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. That said, you are not allowed to protest violently, or to break any of the normal laws of this country while in the process of protesting. Vandalism and destruction of property are not forms of protest, they are forms of violence. For the most part, I didn’t witness any altercations between the police and the protesters. I was actually surprised when a few protesters knocked over some newspaper bins that the police didn’t intervene. I suspected that the police were waiting for more people, or perhaps […]

Riots and Protests In Vancouver

 Journal

This morning John Bollwitt and I were sitting on his couch watching TV and saw that there were a group of protesters heading towards Robson Street. Both him and I immediately grabbed our cameras and headed outside to see if we could see what was going on, and possibly grab a few photos. The group involved was waving a green and black flag with a big “A” in the center, which apparently stands for anarchy. Several of the protesters were wearing masks, and the police were following behind closely, but not engaging any of the protesters. At one point both John and I saw a group of protesters knock a pile of mailboxes and newspaper bins over and keep walking. There was a group of non-protesters following behind trying to fix some of the damage these people were doing along the way. At one point I saw a mother pushing […]