Protest disrupts Olympic torch run
Protesters block the intersection of Cook Street and Rockland Avenue in Victoria Friday night.
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Updated: October 30, 2009 8:30 PM
VICTORIA – People who waited in the rain for a glimpse of the Olympic torch went home disappointed Friday evening as a raucous group of Halloween-themed protesters led police on a long wander of downtown streets trying to disrupt the torch run.
Police on foot and horseback surrounded the group of about 200 demonstrators as they chanted slogans and blocked successive intersections on Cook Street about 7 p.m.
The main prop for the demonstration was a large cloth salmon pursued by giant green bugs with death masks to represent sea lice.
Organizers led chants including "no Olympics on stolen native land" and protest staples such as "no justice, no peace."
There were reports that the torch run route had been changed or even abandoned in order to avoid confrontation with the protesters.
Shortly after 8 p.m., Vanoc issued the following statement:
"As the relay comes to a conclusion after a highly successful first day at the second to last stop at Government House, a large group of protesters were observed by the security and public safety authorities and by the Torch Relay advance team at Government House. "The Integrated Security Team implemented a rerouting contingency plan to ensure the safety of all participants. The torchbearers who were to run in the area of Government House carried the flame instead, at Mile Zero. All had the opportunity to carry the torch as planned.
"This change resulted in a minor delay in the arrival of the flame at the Legislature."
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