IN the hotbed of left-
wing lunacy otherwise
known as Commercial
Drive in Vancouver,
the posters called the
comrades to arms.

“Riot at the Hyatt,” they
screamed, extolling the clue-
less to join the mindless and
attack the police ata fund-

_ raising dinner for the federal
y Liberals the next night.

Vancouver police were

caught between the prover-
"bial rock and a hard place as
a result,

From the orginal posi-
tion of having to use some
extra manpower to ensure
the ubiquitous noisemakers
were kept in line, they. now
had to consider protecting
the prime minister against a
violent controntation,

In more. normal times,
the prime minister breezes in
and out of town with barely
a notice, Often it doesn’t ’

“even rate a mention among
the top stories of the: day.
| The PM would get an
escort of a few police officers

along with his regular body-

“guards and maybe even a
couple of motorcycle outrid-
ers maybe. °

With the fresh scalps ofa
“cabinet minister.and com-
plaints commission chairman’
on their belt, the lunatic
fringe. has been given an

inordinate amount of credi-"

“bility.
oo. Bair enough, I: ‘Suppose,
“the way the prime minister’s

“staff have rumbled, bumbled -:

“and stumbled their way
» through an. amateurish or
» COVer-up.;,
It could be argued that
the.spin machine of the ©.
“PMO ‘has been bested by the
“bleached out, bestudded
wunderkind call
partner .
‘a Westergard: =Sinith.
; y partner because I:
called: her his: irlitiend once.
ina national TV interview
nd got scorched, off-cam
with ‘blast of fanatic.

that the vious ce Were going to.”
b ceca It was ‘equ

for whatever. the proteste
could’ make: rc

Hyatt‘ prot st, I stated §
oing.to happen.’
police, lines".

crime and
| punishment

incident. Fortunately an

‘analysis of the video shows

clearly what happened last
Tuesday at the Hyatt Hotel.

A small group of the
protesting crowd had
planned to probe the police
lines and foree the ceps to
spread themselves thin with
diversionary attacks at vari-
ous entry points to the
hotel. :
While the police were
dealing with these skirmish-
es, Which took place mainly
on the Melville Street side of
the hotel and out of the view
of most of the media in
attendance, the main group
set themselves np to hit the
police line right in the front
of the hotel where the
majority of the media were
positioned,

‘The visible police line was
“soft hat.” In other words,
in everyday uniform, no spe-
cial riot gear. But they had
been stretched by the diver-
sionary probes on Melville
street.

A small group of about |
10 or 12 hit the security

"lines on cue at exactly the

same point, easily breaking

through into the breezeway . -
“area outside the main

entrance to the hotel,

They were intent on get-
ting inside to wreak whatev-
er havoe they could.

Fortunately, ‘they are idiots :

and the police aren't.
Now, let’s bear in mind
the prime minister was inside

“in that hotel along : with a cou-
ple of cabinet ministers. Nor 4

902. 5 or 987-2066 | :
(Ask abaue our Seniors Discount)
our $12.50 per panel unlined, $13.50 lined,
Rods,

J

to mention several hundred
paying guests in thar ball-
room with the PM as well as
the other hotel guests.

All polities aside, it is the
responsibility of the police to
protect our feaders, Asa
society, We demand it.

No one can accuse me of
being a Chretien apologist
or, indeed, a shill for the
federal: Liberals. But
Chretien is the Prime
Minister and his office
requires the appropriate
respeet be accorded.

This includes not being
accosted by violent, so- -called
protesters with God knows

“what on their mind.

Back to the breezeway.

With a half dozen of
these lunatics behind the
police lines and the others
being wrestled to the ground
by officers on the tine, the -
fully geared up riot ‘squad
was mobilized from its
position inside the hotel
lobby. ‘

Its members formed a,
line protecting the entrance
to the hotel and moved for-
ward to support the main
police tine on the sidewalk
which had been breached.

AS they moved forward,
they banged their 36-inch
batons on their shields in

unison.

Now, for all those who
have somchow interpreted

‘this as a-sign that the police

were spoiling fora fight, this
intimidating tactic has been
taught in crowd control
training since the early ‘70s
at least.

It is meant to be intimi-
dating. It is meant to show
the crowd they, mean busi-

onesse It is meant to stop the

confrontation before vio-
lence occurs. :
“Once at the line; the riot

‘troops pushed back the
crowd to regain the security.

of the provection zone.

The skirmishes that -
occurred at that point wery

with protesters who refused

to move back or who physi-
cally attacked the police.

Any suggestion that the
police waded into the crowd
and strack people over the
head willy-nilly is pure fanta-
sy. oo,
The National Post ran a
photo the next morning that
told the truth about those
few moments.

A police officer, PC
1878, having already tost his
hat, is getting his fluorescent
vest ripped off him while
wo other protesters are

iv

! pointing and sercaining at

the other officers on the
line. Another officer hay his
arms up defensively in front
of hin and the one beside
him is ducking down to
woid something thrown.
Controlling an unruly

Wednesday, December 16, 1998 - North Shore News — 7

cmob isa trighteni ing and dif

ficult task, ;

Last week, despite what
Mautlins and the rest of the
International Socialists (their,
group? savs, the Vancouver
Police did a stalwart job.

— lhnightGdirect.en

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