Vancouver police: 111 people being investigated, ‘hundreds more identified’ from hockey riot

Our score so far from the June 15 Vancouver Hockey Riot & Looting Festival: Police say that 37 people have turned themselves in (including seven females), and 111 others are under active investigation for wanton destruction following the Canucks’ loss to the Bruins in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final. Those who have turned themselves in run the gamut from a national water polo standout and a pro mountain biker to students and other Vancouver residents. From The Province:

Police say they have 1,500 hours of video to review and 15,000 images, an “unprecedented volume of data.” In addition to the 111 people being investigated now, hundreds more have been identified and will become subjects of investigation in the coming months.

Mayor Gregor Robertson, avoiding use of the word “riot” to describe the incident, praised Chu’s leadership and said much had been learned since a similar occurrence in 1994.

Coun. Suzanne Anton called the riot a “black eye” that may have undone Vancouver’s Olympic legacy. … Anton has announced her plans to run for mayor against Robertson in the coming fall municipal election.

Officials discussed the investigation at a city board meeting on Wednesday. From the Globe and Mail:

With the help of thousands of photos and videos sent to police by members of the public, riot investigators have so far identified 202 incidents, with each involving from one to 300 suspects.

Many of those have come from social networking sites such as the Vancouver Riot Photos Facebook page and Canucks Riot 2011, where video and photos of rioters are shown and circulated among the online community. Some of the as-yet-unidentified rioters are known in the online community by names such as “Pot Hoodie Rioter” and “CB Perp.”

Also, some of the rioters have accidentally identified themselves. Many people were shown on YouTube committing various acts of destruction, and some of those people contacted YouTube to get those videos removed. Oops, dumb move.

Under Youtube’s “Notice and Takedown” policy, all you need to do is claim you own the rights to a video and demand that it be removed, and Youtube will remove it. The video’s uploader will be informed of the allegation and then have a chance to challenge it.

But here’s the rub: in order to claim ownership of a video’s copyright, you have to identify yourself. And when Youtube informs the uploader that they’re being accused of a copyright violation, they have to tell them who their accuser is. So rioters are indirectly handing their names over to the very people who were trying to identify them.

Dave Teixeira of Port Coquitlam runs the site canucksriot2011.com. He posted a video of a guy getting hit in the groin with a stun grenade. Youtube told him “Flashing Nut Shot” was removed due to a copyright complaint filed by a certain individual. Texieria simply forwarded the complainer’s name to the police.

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Vancouver Police Board discusses Stanley Cup riot [The Province]
Vancouver rioters accidentally identify themselves [Yahoo News]