Not that any actual proof is needed to figure out that those involved in last Wednesday’s Vancouver riots are brainless twits, but I present to you a gentleman named Brock.
So proud was this man of apparently committing assault and arson in the wake of the Vancouver Canucks’ Game 7 Stanley Cup final loss to the Boston Bruins, he naturally posted his prowess on Facebook.
“Maced in the face, hit with a Batton (sic), teargassed twice, six broken fingers, blood everywhere, punched a f----n’ cop in head with riot gear on knocked him to the ground, through the jersey on a burning cop car flipped some cars burnt some smart cars, burnt some cop cars, I’m on the news....One word....History :-) :-) :-),” wrote the genius, pictured on his Facebook profile with a friend, both wearing Canucks jerseys.
Bad spelling and poor punctuation aside, he was so smitten with what he wrote he actually “liked” his own comment.
His friend, Ashley – also clad in a Canucks shirt – commented on said post: “brockkkkk...take this down. it’s evidence!!!”
Too late. Facebook has a page called “Vancouver Riot Pictures: Post Your Photos,” designed to help police and investigators identify those involved with setting cars on fire, smashing windows and looting downtown businesses. And this post is now part of that page.
Of course, this isn’t a single case of stupidity. How about all those brave guys challenging the riot police? Didn’t you wish that one of the cops would actually club them into submission?
Newspapers and TV stations, Internet sites, they’re all running photos and videos of Wednesday’s perpetrators.
Honestly, there isn’t much more I can add that hasn’t already been said. What happened Wednesday sickens me, and, as a native British Columbian, it shames me, it embarrasses me.
Really, world, we’re not all like that. Remember our hospitality and spirit at the Vancouver Olympics?
It’s my hope that those with cell phone cameras and video players snapping and filming away during the riots will do the right thing, turn their shots over to investigators or name people they know who are involved.
It’s my hope that those who are identified are punished to the full extent of the law; that provincial court judges do not give those who are caught and found guilty a slap on the wrist; that defence lawyers get shut out at trial like the Canucks in Game 7.
It’s my hope that some of those found guilty are put in front of media scrums, the way the Canucks and Bruins’ coaches and players were after each game, and have to answer questions about why they did what they did. I’d like to know.
It’s also my hope that the police do not take the blame for what happened Wednesday. No way was it their fault.
Mind you, one of the best lines I saw on Facebook in the riots’ aftermath was this: “VPD (Vancouver Police Department) should have called in (Bruins goalie) Tim Thomas: He stopped everything all night.”
Unfortunately, the riots took away the spotlight from where it should have been, on Game 7. Thomas, of course, did stop everything as the Bruins won 4-0.
Boston fans didn’t riot Wednesday. I shudder to think what might have happened in Vancouver had the Canucks actually won.
*Roger Knox is a reporter for Vernon The Morning Star.