Photo Essay: Vancouver Protests

[AcadieLibre]

I came across this and I recalled Kurts post, wonder if he took any of these or is in any of them.

Olympic Protest Vancouver (http://www.shotinvancouver.com/vancouver/olympics/vancouver-olympics-protests-turn-violent-and-destructive-multiple-arrests-made/)

[JAS_Photo]

A bunch of outside agitators trying to steal the limelight from the athletes is what it mainly is. Any valid points that the community of Vancouver may have had in regards to the homeless and drug addicts in the "Needle Park" area are pretty much lost now. If you want public sympathy and support, you don't cover your face and dress like a ninja. That just brings home people's already festering fear of terrorists.

[AcadieLibre]

If I was doing it I would be covering my face also, I do not agree with the destruction but wearing black, covering your face is not a bad idea and is actually a necessity. And people only have a festering fear about terrorism because they watch far to much MSM and should think about their news sources. Terrorism wins when people allow themselves to live in terror of a terrorist attack. Out of all the worries in life terrorism is not even on my radar. Like people have any sympathy for any of those who are downtrodden and then they are ignored by most anyway, they say the expected oh the lazy homeless, disgusting druggies and all the other stereotypes that people have. Having been a political agitator when I was younger (Still very political, just too old to protest anymore) and then finding out the RCMP at the time had files and photos of anyone who protested I would be covering my face without a doubt these days.

Also since I am only getting this story so far from MSM you never know if the police use plants to get the riots going to justify the crackdown on freedom of speech and the right to assemble (thank Trudeau for that, we had no rights previous to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/charter/)) almost enough to forgive him for declaring the war measures act but not fully ). It usually takes days if not weeks for what really happened to come out and there is all sorts of precedents of the police planting agitators to get the protesters going or even starting it.

This is a photography forum, I posted it for the photo essay for the photography aspect of it. I will be leaving any other political talk alone, it never goes well so I will just leave this as my only comments on the political aspect of iT. And as far as the Olympics go, well I better stop there ...........

[russ]

If I was doing it I would be covering my face also, I do not agree with the destruction but wearing black, covering your face is not a bad idea

If you haven't got the guts to face your peers for your actions it's pretty clear that you know what you're doing is wrong.

[AcadieLibre]

If you haven't got the guts to face your peers for your actions it's pretty clear that you know what you're doing is wrong.

Huh? How so? I see the riot cops cover their faces, cover their badge numbers over but oh no the protesters do it and it suddenly makes it bad, those with the guns, clubs, tasers, all the power feel they need to protect their identities but the kid protesting has to play by another set of rules and leave themselves open to abuse and harassment, dumb kids covering their faces, the nerve of them protecting themselves.

[Bambi]

Huh? How so? I see the riot cops cover their faces, cover their badge numbers over but oh no the protesters do it and it suddenly makes it bad, those with the guns, clubs, tasers, all the power feel they need to protect their identities but the kid protesting has to play by another set of rules and leave themselves open to abuse and harassment, dumb kids covering their faces, the nerve of them protecting themselves.

the shots were quite interesting. Definitely caught the action and you can feel the anger and violence.

I have no problem with the face covering. I don't like the breaking of windows. I guess I'm too Canadian- don't mind protesting but hate mob mentality.

[russ]

Huh? How so? I see the riot cops cover their faces, cover their badge numbers over but oh no the protesters do it and it suddenly makes it bad, those with the guns, clubs, tasers, all the power feel they need to protect their identities but the kid protesting has to play by another set of rules and leave themselves open to abuse and harassment, dumb kids covering their faces, the nerve of them protecting themselves.

I have absolutely no problem with protests & freedom of speech. Violence against innocent bystanders & their property however should be met with ZERO tolerance.

[AcadieLibre]

g. I don't like the breaking of windows. I guess I'm too Canadian- don't mind protesting but hate mob mentality.

I agree but which mob is the problem, the police mob or the citizen mob? All depends on perspective. And sometimes both sides are just as guilty as the other and mostly they both provoke each other until one side gives the other a reason to go on the offensive. People seem to forget history and how we got to be where we are as Canadians and we have had to fight to get justice. If you protest and your employer does not like your politics and your face ends up on the front page you could lose your job. It is a problem that just to be heard you need to hide your face sometimes. And photo of a masked person does that make it one of the protesters, could just be some random idiot just trying to cause trouble or maybe has a job with the first of the two mobs mentioned. It is just a series of photos with no timeline or perspective. You cannot draw any conclusions of what really happened based on a few photos.

[Bambi]

either mob really. Once that mentality takes over there's no more differentiation between 'cop' and 'protester' there's just an angry human being acting violently. Both sides provoke and both claim innocence and the truth is somewhere but who really know where and does it matter? If the result is damage -to property and person then I don't think that the protest achieved it's intention. I also believe that the window breakers may not have been protesters but individuals looking to cause mayhem.

In the end we are responsible for our own actions regardless of the provocation. Am I capable of violence if really pushed? I bet I am. However, I am then responsible for what I do. I made a choice and I need to own up to it.