Protester accosted at Vancouver Black Lives Matter rally
Protester standing in intersection of West Georgia and Granville shoved in the chest by elderly man
A Black Lives Matter protest at the intersection of West Georgia and Granville was disrupted briefly Wednesday afternoon when an elderly man started an altercation with a demonstrator who was interrupting bus traffic.
The peaceful protest drew a large crowd of onlookers — some visibly and audibly frustrated by interrupted bus service — when an elderly man got out of one of two stopped buses and violently shoved a young man holding a sign.
"Get the f--k out of here! We want to go home!" the man yelled, inches from the protester's face.
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Onlookers stepped in immediately to defuse the situation, pleading for calm from the obscenity-screaming man. The protester appeared shaken but unharmed by the attack and resumed protesting on the street.
Protest in solidarity with beaten UBC student
Protesters were raising the issue of a former UBC football player who was beaten five years ago by Transit Police at Rupert Station.
That case saw Transit Police Const. Edgardo Diaz Rodriguez given 12 months probation in June after pleading guilty to assault causing bodily harm.
The protester who was accosted carried a sign reading, "Transit Police beat a 22 yrs old black UBC student for not having a $2.75 fare."
Other signs read, "Transit Police, leave POC [people of colour] alone #blacklivesmatter" and "F--k Transit Police."
"He just kinda like, pushed him," protester Elisa Paczos said, adding the elderly man left the scene after the altercation.
"We're just trying to make a point: you shouldn't be discriminating against colour."
Transit Police on scene
Transit Police spokesperson Anne Drennan said there were about six protesters and a crowd of 200 at the scene.
She said the incident "wasn't much of anything."
"A passenger got off and there was a bit of a shoving match, I guess, because the passenger was annoyed, and then the passenger took off," she said. "The police are there, there's no further issue, and that's it."
Transit Police are advising that buses in the area are being detoured.
With files from Matt Meuse and Stefan Labbe