Illuminating Stuff

From the sounds of it, the crowd that showed up to the Olympic and Paralympic flag illuminating ceremony on Monday wasn’t quite the demographic that VANOC was anticipating. Of the 200 + people on the scene, a majority were Games protestors. The Vancouver Police Emergency Response Team was on hand, a handful of its members armed with video cameras to catch the actions of any rabblerousers. In recent years, video cameras have become standard issue at protests. Protestors carry them not only to document an action but also as a way of communicating to the police and the powers that be that they can be held accountable for their actions. Oh, how I wish I’d been on hand to take a photo of a protestor filming a police officer filming a protestor. Somehow, I think French philosopher Jean Baudrillard, who died this week, would have enjoyed such a scene. R.I.P. Baudrillard!

Ever since the Olympic clock unveiling of February 12th, the police have been upping the ante on security. On Monday, everyone even remotely close to the illumination ceremony was searched, including the media! VANOC has also insisted that crowd-control fencing be set up at all events held in the open to separate the public from dignitaries.

In a Macleans article about the flag illuminating ceremony, it says that two arrests were made for breach of peace.

This from a Canoe story on the ceremony:

“Vancouver police Constable Tim Fanning says the intensified police presence at the event wasn’t coming out of the Olympic security budget.”

So all these extra security measures the police are taking aren’t part of the security budget for the Olympics? I assume this means the money is coming from the public. I for one would rather not be fleeced for security measures I find insulting and dehumanizing.

In related news, the Olympic countdown clock in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery was spraypainted with the words “Free Betty” (in reference to Betty Krawczyk, the environmental protestor recently sentenced to ten months in prison for breaching a court order) eight times on Monday, despite the fact that 24-hour security was supposedly hired last month to protect the clock. Can you imagine having that job for the next three years?

Apprently, VANOC and the clockmakers had amazing foresight on this one. The clock was coated with a special anti-graffiti coating.

The photo of the woman with the makeshift megaphone was taken by Jakeinvan.