The Riot Kissers Are Idiots

I've had it with the Riot Kissers. You've seen them, lying on the ground between lines of riot police and amidst clouds of pepper spray and tear gas. Their story is supposed to be one of tenderness, an island of humanity in an ocean of rage and violence. In reality, they are in their own small moronic way partially culpable of the events that occurred on the night of June 15.

There has been lots of analysis on whether the rioters were 'hockey fans' or not. The received wisdom has been that a small corps of anarchists and troublemakers were the cause of the riot, and the vast majority of the rest of the crowd didn't participate.

In reality, the imbeciles who took pictures and milled around and cheered and went from one hotspot to another gave the troublemakers cover for their actions and impeded police response. If all the "good people" had given their head a shake and left for home, the rioters would have been isolated and rounded up, or at least forced to relent and scram.

The Kissers explained how they 'suddenly' found themselves in front of the police lines, were overrun and thrown to the ground. We're supposed to feel sorry for them a little, yet they were participating in an unlawful assembly, and had been read the riot act (literally) over Vancouver Police Department loudspeakers. They had been told to go home and chose to enjoy the spectacle. They aren't victims, they're not romantic, they just insisted on remaining in the wrong place at the wrong time.