Vancouver riot “like a war zone”
Posted Jun 22, 2011 4:30 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – A former US Army National Guard Chinook Helicopter Pilot turned Reuters photographer’s past experience guided him through last weeks riot.
Anthony Bolante of Seattle was assigned to cover the crowd reaction during and following Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. Once the final horn sounded, he encountered far worse behavior than he had anticipated and found himself stuck in the middle of the downtown riot.
Recalling some of his war zone experiences, Bolante drew a few similarities to the two rough situations. “In traditional war zones you can kind of tell who the good guys and the bad guys are. Everyone was wearing a Canuck jersey, relatively speaking. So you really couldn’t tell when someone was going to go postal on you.”
It wasn’t Bolante’s first riot either; he had previously covered the World Trade Organization’s 1999 disaster in Seattle. Recalling that experience, he says there are three critical rules you have to remember when amidst the chaos:
“Number one is situational awareness. Number two is completely being under the radar. The third thing that has really helped over the years is befriending the right guy or gal at the right time because those people can become allies.”
Bolante’s images from the riot have been picked up by numerous national news sources, such as Sports Illustrated, the Washington Post and the Toronto Star.
You can also find some on his website, theimagearsenal.com.
