Fans riot, vandalize downtown Montreal

by Barry Artiste | April 22, 2008 at 08:36 am | 1949 views | 11 comments

Opinion
Barry Artiste, Now Public Contributor
Well Europe have their Soccer Hooligans, Montreal has their Hab (Montreal Canadiens) Hockey Hooligans.

Watching the news last night, it looked more like a War Zone than a Hockey Celebration, why burn and destroy a section of a city as a celebration?

Certainly shows a city out of control and one can only imagine what a Stanley Cup win in La Belle Province will result in.

MONTREAL — Street celebrations following the Montreal Canadiens seventh-game victory over the Boston Bruins turned violent Monday night after vandals torched and smashed more than a dozen police vehicles and damaged local businesses.

Police spokesman Const. Laurent Gingras said at least 13 people were detained, including three minors — one 14-year-old and two 17-year-olds. They will face charges including break-and-enter, mischief against a police vehicle, assault against a police officer and numerous municipal bylaw violations, he said.

The riot started after a massive crowd celebrating the Canadiens victory started to disperse just before midnight.

Jean-Francois Hotte said he was taking part in the celebrations when the incident degenerated quickly as police started chasing people.

“One minute we were all hanging out and celebrating and then all hell broke out,” said Hotte, who watched as a Foot Locker store was ransacked by looters. A liquor store was also hit. “It didn’t take five minutes before everyone was up on Ste-Catherine Street. It went really fast.”

While the initial celebration was relatively peaceful, small groups milled around on several street corners even as riot police surrounded burning vehicles to allow firefighters to douse flames.

Gingras said 16 police cars were damaged and had to be towed.

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Rob Walker

at 08:55 on April 22nd, 2008

good stuff:

Barry Artiste, I like this story. It's good stuff.

James Pate

at 08:56 on April 22nd, 2008

good stuff:

Wow, those pictures of police cruisers are shocking! This was probably started by a few people but snowballed into something much worse. Mob mentality is a force to be reckoned with. Thanks Barry.

Barry Artiste

at 10:09 on April 22nd, 2008

Thanks Rob and James, certainly disturbing to wreck a beautiful city over a sporting event, and a successful one at that. There were quite a few arrests made and hopefully prison sentences will be meted out to those revellers which will certainly temper their Celebratory Spirit next time.

dambridge

at 11:26 on April 22nd, 2008

I'm sorry, but LOL. It always cracks me up at how inane some folks are. If you explained to these dolts the irony of the situation, and how if they were going to be belligerent half-wits then why wouldn't you make the 4 hour trip to Boston and trash THEIR city, they would likely stare at you in confused silence for a moment before completely imploding from the colossal weight of their own insipid dopiness.

Darwin, we hardly knew ya.

optic

at 15:23 on April 22nd, 2008

I was in montreal in '86 when the same stuff happened. Most of the dolts (thanks don) had nothing to do with the game... just lined up looking for a stereo... damn ridiculous...

Barry Artiste

at 18:33 on April 22nd, 2008

Thanks Guys, I guess the positive thing about this on the eve of Quebecs 400th anniversary is that the Montreal Canadiens didnt lost that hockey game, as the fans surely would have burned down the whole gaddamn town in protest. Certainly an idiotic move considering the Tourists who must be thinking , Are we in Downtown Beruit?

akeys_99

at 13:47 on April 23rd, 2008

This was taken the next afternoon and was the only business who had not yet had their windows replaced. SAQ

akeys_99 has contributed a photo to this story.

Barry Artiste

at 15:02 on April 23rd, 2008

Thanks Akeys. perhaps they are waiting for their Insurance Agent, as I guess most are quite busy downtown today,

achotshelo

at 10:36 on May 25th, 2008

We must find the way to put an end to the sport’s vandalism

Barry Artiste

at 12:05 on May 25th, 2008

Perhaps a Tank Mounted "Really, Really Big Taser Cannon" with a one square mile radius!

Thanks for visiting Achotshelo

ghobrialm

at 20:29 on June 20th, 2008

Shouldn't all of those grizzly monsters get at least 30 or 40 years in prison. In Quebec, the maximum jail term for vandalism is 2 years, but those thugs who torched cop cars and smashed windows knew that what they were doing was wrong, so there is a reason for us to believe that they should get much more that 2 years. And even more should apply to someone (not a hockey fan, but a psychopath) who tried to derail the VIA rail train the very same night at the Windsor station. Those psychopaths do not deserve to live in our world. In America, the penalty for such crimes is several decades. Who can sign a petition to increase tougher sentences on vandalism?