VPD investigates video of truck hitting cyclist during weekend protests
Posted February 7, 2022 9:54 pm.
Last Updated February 7, 2022 11:05 pm.
Duelling demonstrations in Vancouver over the weekend led to a number of tense situations, including one being investigated by police after it was caught on video.
On Saturday, a large crowd of anti-vaccine mandate protesters started a convoy in Langley and wound their way through the city. The vehicles were met by people counter-protesting on foot and bicycle several times while passing through East Vancouver on route to their final destination downtown. Events in Vancouver played out against the backdrop of the escalating situation in Ottawa, where members of the so-called “freedom convoy” have occupied downtown for more than a week.
RELATED: Metro Vancouver anti-vaccine mandate convoy met with counter-protesters
Sgt. Steve Addison says the Vancouver Police Department began its investigation after receiving a complaint on Sunday morning about an incident at Ontario Street and 12th Avenue.
Addison describes the video circulating on social media.
“It clearly shows protesters standing in the path of a semi-truck on Broadway, attempting to block the path of the truck. It also shows the driver of the truck doing a slow roll through the intersection on a green light and essentially forcing the protesters out of the way.
It’s one example of a number of incidents that did occur over the weekend, as we had thousands of people in hundreds of vehicles entering the city, as well as a significant number of counter-protesters trying to prevent this convoy of vehicles from proceeding. So it’s one example of many where people engaged in reckless behaviour. We’re working to determine all of the circumstances, and we’ve got some work to do.”
Addison said he could not comment on who the complainant was, or whose actions are under investigation.
“We’re investigating the incident. An incident was reported to us. It’s our job now not to take sides, but to be impartial and to investigate the circumstances of the incident. While there appears to be an altercation and some conflict and some dangerous or reckless behaviour on both sides, it’s our job to understand all the circumstances,” he says, adding the reason why the people involved were present or in conflict is not necessarily relevant.
“We deal with behaviour, not beliefs. So, the reason why a person was protesting their ideology or their beliefs is not necessarily material. We’re investigating the facts as they relate to any kind of criminal activity that occurred, or any violations of provincial statute, such as the motor vehicle act or a bylaw. However, we don’t necessarily what anybody’s belief, ideology was or where they stood in the discussion, the debate that was happening on Saturday.”
— Michael Williams (@MikeWillsTake) February 5, 2022
The incident police are investigating is one of several caught on video, showing anti-mandate protesters in vehicles making contact with counter-protesters on foot or bike.
Michelle Fortin was involved in the counter-protest, and disagrees with the notion police stayed neutral.
‘It felt like they picked a side’
“They seem to be more concerned about getting us out of the way of the convoy of people coming from outside of our city into the downtown core,” she says.
“It felt like they picked a side.”
#VanTraffic The vehicle convoy has now split in multiple directions, as numerous counter-protesters attempt to impede its movement by blocking intersections. Convoy vehicles continue to stream into the city.
— Vancouver Police (@VancouverPD) February 5, 2022
Fortin is on the Board of Directors of Vancouver Pride, an organization that has been critical of police and banned the VPD form marching in the parade.
She says police arrived at the Grandview Highway and Nanaimo Street only after they were called due to safety concerns of the counter-protesters. But once they arrived, she says they prevented pedestrians from entering the intersection — even when the walk signal was lit up — while allowing the vehicles through.
“They were flowing through this intersection freely, with all four corners of pedestrians not being allowed to cross the street for about 10 to 15 minutes. That sounds like an infringement on my right to protest safely and peacefully,” she says.
“They certainly didn’t make it easy for us to hold up the convoy which was our intention was to slow it down and hope that they didn’t go anywhere near the hospitals.”
RELATED: ‘Refrain from wearing scrubs’: Vancouver healthcare workers warned ahead of convoy protest
The planned route passed three Vancouver hospitals, prompting a warning to staff from health authorities and a statement from Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart Friday. Fortin says she thinks the Vancouver Police Department should have done what was done in Toronto, where blockades were set up and roads were closed to prevent a planned convoy from getting close to or impeding access to health-care facilities.
Addison says keeping vehicle traffic moving through the city was a priority for police, but it was balanced with a number of others.
“Our officers spend a significant amount of time trying to defuse conflicts, to prevent further altercations, and to keep traffic flowing. We wanted to keep traffic flowing because Vancouver residents who live here, who wanted no part in this planned protest were unnerved — for good reason — by the talk of violence and disorder and horn-honking in conflict that was occurring,” he said.
“There was also a significant amount of anxiety that was created, and concern, about what all of these vehicles and all of this traffic would do to the three hospitals in the city. So, we worked really hard as a police agency to keep traffic flowing to prevent gridlock.”
Fortin says she would have liked to have seen police set up along the planned route, limiting the movement of the convoy.
“I understand that that’s going to be gridlock. But we’ve experienced a lot of things over the last couple years. A little gridlock on a Saturday is certainly going to show support to healthcare workers, the 90 per cent of truckers that are vaccinated, all of the frontline workers that have been working tirelessly.”
Another thing she would have liked was to see more tickets and fines given, specifically for drivers who were honking air horns and disobeying traffic rules — anything that would have resulted in “slowing them down, having them have to be responsible.”
— Michael Williams (@MikeWillsTake) February 5, 2022
Addison says no drivers were ticketed, but added neither were any pedestrians, or cyclists.
“Our objective was not to tickets for relatively minor offences. Our objective was to allow for an environment for peaceful and lawful protest.”
An update at Nanaimo and Grandview.
Closer to 30 counter-protestors now.
Lots of horns blaring in support.
More @CityNewsVAN pic.twitter.com/C3uWRMS3un
— Michael Williams (@MikeWillsTake) February 5, 2022
Fortin, as someone who has attended many protests and parades, says there’s a problem with treating vehicles the same as other demonstrators who take to the streets
“I believe in the right to protest. I’ve never protested in a vehicle. I’ve been in a parade in a vehicle, but not a protest. We protest on our feet. I worry because I feel like this is weaponized. I am going to respect their right to have an opinion, but they can’t listen to me when they’re in their cars and they’re blaring their horns.”
#VPDnews: #VPD made five arrests today, as thousands of protesters flooded the downtown core, caused traffic gridlock, and sparked skirmishes throughout the city. https://t.co/WxH1fEtw8G pic.twitter.com/AtE0qfa8vk
— Vancouver Police (@VancouverPD) February 6, 2022
Addison says it was a complex situation and he is proud of how the department responded.
“We were able to prevent a number of conflicts that were occurring, and create an environment where thousands of people with drastically opposing viewpoints were able to come into the city, peacefully assemble, and were able to express themselves,” he says.
“We had a few skirmishes. We had a significant amount of civil disobedience, things like horn honking and people lying in the road, people walking in the road, people disobeying motor vehicle laws. We were able to facilitate mostly peaceful and mostly lawful protests with no reported hate crimes, no serious assaults, a couple of arrests.”
Five people were arrested Saturday, after police said they received “numerous reports of rocks and eggs being thrown, cars being kicked, and nails being strewn on roadways.”
