Traffic disrupted, torches lit at anti-Olympic protest
Anti-Olympic protesters march down Hastings Street with torches and fliers.
michael thibault photo/the ubyssey
Saturday, January 23rd, 2010
People from all walks of life met at Victory Square on West Hastings and Cambie to protest the Olympic police crackdown, the displacement of the homeless and the Games themselves, in what is only to be the first of many large anti-Olympic demonstrations in the city.
The demonstration Friday night, called “Solidarity in the face of police repression,” began at 6pm with speeches and songs from anti-Games activists. There were several Vancouver Police Department officers on bikes standing by.
The mass then moved from the park onto East Hastings Street, and towards Main. Protesters formed around a pickup truck, and a few lit torches. When the demonstration reached Main Street just after 7pm, protesters formed up in the intersection and blocked traffic in all four directions, holding up anti-Olympic banners towards motorists.
VPD officers followed the mass, and directed traffic. There were no observed altercations between police and protesters.
Among the demonstrators were a few students, including AMS President Blake Frederick, Student Legal Fund Society President Emily Griffiths, and UBC alumnus and former VP External Stefanie Ratjen.
After blocking the Main and Hastings intersection for several minutes, the demonstration moved down Main Street. The march ended around 7:45pm in front of Pacific Central Station. An organizer announced plans for a similar protest, to begin at the station on the morning of February 13, the day after the Olympic opening ceremonies.
For more on this protest, see the Monday Issue of The Ubyssey.
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Chris Jan 23
I am excited to go downtown on Feb 13th with a carton of eggs to throw at these protesters
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Facepalm Jan 23
Chris Jan 23-you are an idiot.People are entitled to voice their opinion about the situation.
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Goot Jan 24
I am excited to throw a bunch more of my money at these olympics.
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Gerry Jan 24
Goot, actually it is our money, I voted did you?
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Timmy Wong Jan 24
I sincerely hope the VPD and any other security personnel teach these lawless idiots a lesson on not disrupting others’ lives.
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janet Jan 24
Hey Tommy, your comment comes off as a bit ignorant in that one of the grounds for organizing the rally was a call for security personnel and VPD to “not disrupt others’ lives”.
The visits paid by VPD and ISU members to non-activists, or even Olympic resisters, is a case in point:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2009/10/06/bc-olympic-security-protester-surveillance.html
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janet Jan 24
sorry, Timmy. My apologies on the type-o.
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Tom Jan 25
These hippies need to get jobs.
But really, theres far more productive things these people could be doing…fundraising for Haiti relief for a start. Not protesting a two week long party and celebration of sport thats going to happen wether they like it or not.
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Timmy Wong Jan 25
I suppose it’s ironic that the above rally was a “call for security personnel and VPD to not disrupt others’ lives”, despite the fact that we have idiots like Blake, Emily Griffiths, and Ratjen standing in the middle of intersections and blocking traffic.
It’s also funny that Ratjen was there; didn’t she learn her lesson (along with those other 19 airheaded hippies) not to disrupt the peace? This only affirms the fact that these idiots shouldn’t have even been elected in the first place.
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Jason Jan 26
Ya these hippies need to get a job. Olympics are coming guys-whether you like it or not!!!!!
“It’s also funny that Ratjen was there; didn’t she learn her lesson (along with those other 19 airheaded hippies) not to disrupt the peace? This only affirms the fact that these idiots shouldn’t have even been elected in the first place.”
Well played sir, well played.
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Henry Jan 26
The people of Vancouver voted in a plebiscite on February 22, 2003 as to whether or not to host the Olympics. The result – 64% were in favour of hosting the Olympics. So I guess these protestors are saying that Democracy should be ignored?
The 1 billion budget for security is a direct result of these people who are so opposed to the Olympics that they turn to vandalism and violence as they voice their opposition. As examples, look to the protesters that threw paint on the Olympic clock the day it was unveiled, and threw balloons of urine at police and officials when the olympic flag was raised. Is this productive use of olympic spending? The majority of the people in Vancouver voted in a referendum to host the olympics, which could be done at half the cost if the vocal minority did not choose to sabotage the event at every turn.
Grow up and get a job!
http://vancouver.ca/ctyclerk/newsreleases2003/NRolympicvoteresultsofficial.htm
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Beefcake Jan 26 Jan 26
These protestors were hilarious. They were harassing media because they were afraid of being on tape when they were PROTESTING.
And they said “family friendly protest” when they marched down E Hastings with TORCHES shouting FUCK 2010 in the middle of the night to bystanders which included cokeheads, whores, and drug dealers.
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Stefanie Ratjen Jan 27
Ok, sooo, it’s definitely been a while since I’ve posted on here.
@ Timmy Wong- first of all, assuming that you have used your real name, I’ll give you some credit for it. It is easier to dole out unsubstantiated personal attacks and name-calling under online aliases.
A few points-
1) On ‘lawless idiocy’
From the City of Vancouver By-Laws passed on July 23rd and again in October, to the closure of schools and universities, to the prioritization of government funding allocations, to the increase in security levels we are seeing throughout the city area, Vancouver is very much operating in a ‘state of exception’ for the Olympic Games.
On a theoretical level, Giorgio Agamben’s “state of exception” is a situation where states invoke an increase in the authority and powers they operate with, ultimately reducing the allowances for what is acceptable in that time. Often a response to crisis, this state of exception is actually a law-full state, where an increase in the codification of regulations occurs with a limited rationale or logic behind it (~ a “do now, think later” kind of approach). A very abridged version, of course, but it is significant that among the definitions for “idiocy” is a lack of logic and rationale.
The ‘lawlessness’ in the state of exception lies in its practical implementation. With the increase in regulations focusing on achieving specific (‘irrational’) goals (ie: the Olympics), there is limited capacity available to determine what appropriate and regulated responses should be in the given situations. In the 2010 Vancouver, there is a lawlessness within the Vancouver Police Department themselves in being able to purchase Long Range Acoustic Devices (the LRAD) without having to verify the purchase through other bodies (ie: having any Canadian safety testing). The confusion over which Taser policy will be in place during the Games (ie: VPD’s vs RCMP’s), complicated by the ambiguous efficacy of Tasers as a non-lethal weapon, is another area of lawlessness. There is a more concrete lawlessness in that VISU will not guarantee to not use Agents Provocateur during the Games.
One of the foundations in a liberal democracy is the right to freedom of speech. Integral to that is the right to protest, which is backed up in law through the Canadian Constitution, Charter of Rights, and so on.
On Friday, it wasn’t the protesters acting outside the law.
2) On disrupting the ‘peace’ or ‘others lives’:
If you want to use blocking traffic as a qualifier for ‘disrupting peace,’ a few hours of speeches and chants in a very small area of the city for about 2.75 hours pales in comparison to the traffic disruptions that will be in place during the Olympic period. If it’s noise via chants and speeches that are claimed to disrupt ‘peace,’ the Live Sites during the Games (although definitely void of megaphones ☺ ) do not qualify as ‘peace-ful’ spaces either. If it’s that touchy subject of the torches that were lit that are purported to ‘disrupt peace,’ I’m pretty sure that nightly light show in False Creek is going to be a lot more intense.
I know this is a bit lengthy for a comment, so I’ll summarize by responding to rhetoric about ‘lessons’ learned on April 4th, 2008. It’s true, I learned a lot of things that night. To not stand up against the repression of free speech and civil liberties in our own city, and especially in the context of their implications for the future, is not one of them.
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Gerry Feb 6
It is everyone’s right to protest, that’s what a free country is…… sometimes I think we do not look at it from some one else’s point of view. I hate protesters the fact they embarrass me. However this is Canada and it is everyone’s right to voice an opinion, no mater how screwed up we think it is.
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Glen Feb 12
Oh boo hoo Stefanie. Nobody cares. Nobody cares about you, your pathetic loser protester friends, or their “issues”.
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Jonesy Feb 12
The protesters are just drug addicts that are planning on spending their lives on Hastings or welfare. They hate things like the olympics because it puts future leaching off the government at risk! They want to spend the rest of their days doing meth and coke, collecting welfare checks every month, and when the money that they think is for the addictions is spent on things for everyone to enjoy they act out. Just like any chemical drug freak they ate willing to be violent and disrupt things that normal people enjoy! I hope you all die
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Spenny Feb 13
certainly being involved in a protest means you’re a jobless hippy.
vancouver may have voted and won with 64%, but the WHOLE PROVINCE will be paying for these games for decades
ignorant rednecks.
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Brian Feb 14
I voted “no” for the Olympics back in 2003, for my own reasons – mainly cost, and where I felt that money would be better spent – and I’m glad I’m not int the city (moved on, to work in Asia) to be part of the turmoil, to be honest. BUT – I respect the vote results nonetheless – and the majority voted “yes” for it. That’s democracy – as has been mentioned… The vote was taken, the decision made – and the city moves forward with that. The money is spent, the party is on. The world is there, and the world’s eyes are there. I’m no longer living in Canada – but a part of me is very proud of the way things are handled “back home”. It looks good on TV
What bothers me FAR MORE than the Olympics themselves, are these protests from the *self-appointed* *self-righteous* saviors of the universe, my soul, and everything decent and honest (according to them). The protests are RARELY peaceful – no-one can control the riff-raff of social degenerates that generally latch on to such events. And – speaking of riff raff – the protests usually end up completely unfocused and generally whining about everything under the sun. The “first nations” take on this whole thing is just a re-rant of every complaint they’ve had for the past 50 years. (- but that’s a whole other ball of wax I haven’t got time to flame here… the amount of legal wealth that has been generated by that futile pursuit is simply mind-boggling…) Give it a rest – you’ve got social programs coming out your asses to handle most of the world’s whoas and complaints. I live in S.E. Asia now – try living without any sort of ’social safety net’ for a while! Your priorities change – and you take responsibility for your own existence (for once, maybe !?) Stop depending on government handouts to “make me happy”.
I’d hate to be in your “Olympic traffic jam” Vancouver! – but nevertheless – enjoy your games, and all the best to everyone. (Missing downhill skiing here! And how HARD it is to get ANY ice-hockey on the TV! sheesh…)
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Glen is a troll. Mar 5
Glen is a puppet troll! probably Ratjen’s. No human being could sincerely display such a disgusting knee-jerk reaction towards a cause for the betterment fellow human beings!
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