"It's awesome, but shocking," said a Korean tourist who was a bystander in the midst of the Vancouver riot. Here's some footage of a video made by writer/actor Tetsuro Shigematsu. Shigematsu talked to people who were gathered for what they had hoped would be the Canucks' Stanley Cup celebrations. A few touching moments of small acts of ordinary heroism.
Meanwhile, the Vancouver police chief thanked Good Samaritans like those in the video (above) who tried to stop Stanley Cup riot. The Canadian Press reports:
Police Chief Jim Chu thanked the Good Samaritans who tried to intervene as the crowd spiralled out of control, some of whom can be seen in witness video being beaten by the drunken rioters for trying to stop the violence.
``I'm sorry that we couldn't back you up and get to you earlier,'' the police chief said. ``I know we have training and we have protective gear and all of you didn't, so thank you for trying....
``What you've done is truly heroic.''
Chu was on the defensive about the department's preparations for the final, given that Vancouver hockey fans rioted in 1994 when their team lost in the final game of the series.
But he downplayed suggestions that a department report to city council foreshadowed that they didn't have the resources necessary for the massive crowd.
``When you review the riot, even among my own officers, there's lots of should-haves, could'ves,'' Chu said. ``But going into the riot we did the best we could using the right judgment and the best expertise and judgment that we could come up with.
``Knowing what I know now, there's many things that I would have done differently.''