Vancouverites fight back against rioters through social media Facebook, internet, against, Twitter, believe

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Vancouverites fight back against rioters through social media


VANCOUVER - Social media is all about sharing: thoughts, memories, and to the chagrin of Wednesday night rioters, evidence.

Pictures, videos and posts detailing every step of the riot began to appear on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter within minutes of the first signs of trouble. The quantity of digital evidence already posted to the internet is enormous and police believe it will help them track down those responsible for the violence.

Some of the earliest digital notice that trouble was pending came in the form of tweets.

Twitter user TomMcGarry tweeted “Time to riot,” around the time that the Canucks’ game seven loss became a certainty.

“Heading DT about to join the riot soon!! ,” wrote bkambere.

While it is difficult to discern sarcasm from honesty in posts like these, visual evidence of acts of violence are far more telling.

As rioters smashed windows and lit fires, witnesses soon flooded social media sights with digital content. Photos and videos of perpetrators appeared in real-time on Tumblr, Flicker and other photo blogging sites.

Robert Gorcak created a Facebook page titled “Vancouver Riot Pics: Post Your Photos,” within 10 minutes of game end. He said he created the page to gather photos of the perpetrators in the hopes of bringing them to justice.

“I had a funny feeling that there was going to be some people out there who wanted to start trouble,” said Gorcak on Thursday. “I was just so disappointed [when the riot started].”

Gorcak’s page had been “liked” by nearly 70,000 people by Thursday evening. Hundreds of photos have been posted on the page documenting people looting stores, setting fires, and smashing property.

Some fans of the page have also taken screen capture photos of Facebook status updates made by smug hooligans, including one who bragged he “punched a f---en pig in head with riot gear on knocked him to the ground” and “burnt some smart cars.”

The Vancouver Police Department released a statement Wednesday thanking individuals for sharing their digital evidence.

“The response from the public wanting to help the police identify the individuals involved in last night’s criminal activity has been overwhelming,” it read.

UBC Okanagan social media expert Christopher Schneider said police face a different challenge sorting out the turbulence and aftermath from Wednesday’s riot than they did 17 years ago, in 1994.

He said only a small handful of television crews documented the ruckus at that time and that footage became crucial parts of a subsequent investigation that took weeks.

Schneider said that this time around, the riots unfolded on the streets and on social media simultaneously, leaving behind a moment-by-moment roadmap to the disturbance.

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He said police are now dealing with a “whole treasure trove of data,” much of it self-disclosed by rioters, that will aid in their investigation.

Schneider suggested many people posting content simply wanted to witness the riot and “document their experience.”

Others, ostensibly, were more interested in cataloguing acts of mischief.

According to one screen shot that was uploaded to Gorcak’s page captured a Facebook post that read “did exactly what I planned to do if we lost... f--k yeah free stuff- hectic night. good s--t.”


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Vancouver police has requested anyone with videos or photos of criminal activity during Wednesday night's riot to send them to: [email protected].


Instructions on how to email videos from a YouTube account are located here: http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?answer=157177


Vancouver police also requested evidence from citizens in 1994, following the riot that ensued when the New York Rangers beat the Canucks in the Stanley Cup final.

At that time, police set up kiosks in public areas, and asked for help identifying anonymous people in photos.


Post-Riot Clean-Up - Let's Help Vancouver: http://www.facebook.com/event.ph ... otif_t=event_invite

Vancouver Riot Pics: Post Your Photos: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Va ... 37081234162?sk=wall

Vancouver 2011 Riot Criminal List: http://vancityriotcriminals.tumblr.com/

Identify Rioters: http://identifyrioters.com

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Citizens armed with plastic bags and brooms swept up broken glass, litter and trash downtown this morning after last night's Stanley Cup riot. They worked alongside Vancouver City crews, who worked through the night and reported 90 per cent of the mess had been cleared by noon.




Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson and B.C. Premier Christy Clark at the memory wall on the side of the Hudsons Bay building during the next morning aftermath of the Stanley Cup riot in Vancouver, B.C. on June 16, 2011.



Canucks fans riot after the Vancouver Canucks lose to the Boston Bruins in The Stanley cup final, Vancouver, June 15 2011.


People take pictures of a burning vehicle on June 15, 2011 in Vancouver, Canada. Vancouver broke out in riots after their hockey team the Vancouver Canucks lost in Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Finals.

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Cleanup in downtown Vancouver following a riot after the Canucks lost the Stanley Cup Final game seven against the Boston Bruins at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, BC., on June 16, 2011.



A security guard stands in front of a shop on Granville Street following last night's riot in Vancouver June 16, 2011. Violence erupted on the streets of Vancouver on Wednesday after the Canucks were beaten by the Boston Bruins in the final of the NHL's Stanley Cup.



People take pictures of a burning vehicle on June 15, 2011 in Vancouver, Canada. Vancouver broke out in riots after their hockey team the Vancouver Canucks lost in Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Finals.



A police officer in riot gear and his K-9 police dog patrol Vancouver, British Columbia streets during a cleanup of the damage June 16, 2011 as a result of rioting after the Vancouver Canucks lost Game 7, the final and deciding game of the Stanley Cup playoffs to the Boston Bruins on June 15, 2011.


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