Thread by @judyrudin

Wrap-up about what I saw on Granville St today, as ProHK and ProChina demonstrators faced off, once again.
ProHK organizers kept it very tight: the demonstration lasted a little over an hour.
Both sides had people out in force, tho ProHK had a bigger crowd today./2 #freeHongKong

2) with their people on the west side of Granville stretching from West 16th Avenue to Angus Drive.
I counted about 20 @VancouverPD officers in attendance, with more showing up about midway through the rally. The master of ceremonies thanked the @RCMP for coming, /3 #FreeHongKong

3) though I didn’t note any uniformed officers there. All police seemed to be distributed equally along both sides of Granville Street.
Crowds really didn’t have a chance to get into each other’s faces because...6 lanes of traffic.
The climate on the ProHongKong /4 #FreeHongKong

4) was actually quite convivial, even when sloganeering was going on.
From my perspective, on the other side of the street, ProChina suppporters seemed, by turns, exasperated, angrier and puzzled as the event unfolded.
That may be due to the set-up and prep by.../5 #FreeHongKong

5) the ProHK side: they came equipped with a sound setup which effectively reached across the street. Oddly, the ProChinaSide didn’t have any mic until about 10 minutes from the end of the event. The HK side also conducted at least half of the proceedings in.../6 #FreeHongKong

6) english, possibly for the benefit of the media that came.
Both sides had signage and flags as we saw from yesterday.
I saw exasperation on the faces of the ProChina demonstrators as many drivers—buses, cabs, vCard—on the ProHK side of the street blared ../7 #FreeHongKong

7) their horns, which really seemed to lift up the ProHK side. ProChina looked very dismayed. Finally, a few minutes from the end, a few very expensive and large SUV’s with very big (hmmm. Where did those come from?) China flags came barreling down the east.../8 #FreeHongKong

8) side of Granville Street. Alas, supercar fans—none of those ‘Proud Boys’ showed up today.
At one point, some suited men came up the street and may have come from inside the China consulate, but I couldn’t quite see. They had a short convo with an officer, who/9 #FreeHongKong

9) shrugged his shoulders. And stayed where he was (I like to think it was one of those ‘meh’ gestures, unique to the west. 😊) No way of knowing what was said or asked of him. A tip of the hat to all @VancouverPD who were there, but not obtrusive.../10 #freehongKong

10) The crowds today on both sides were a mix of ages. Lots of students on both sides. Some of the ProHK kids adopted accoutrements of HK protestors: the ‘bloody’ eye patch, gas mask, caps—perhaps in fear of being identified. The adults on the ProHongKong side 11) #FreeHongKong

11) seemed to have no fear of being filmed. I did ask people if I could take their pictures—and all said ‘yes’without hesitation. Several people expressed their thanks that other CDNS joined in with them today. I was asked why I was there: Simple. I have friends/12 #FreeHongKong

12) from HK, new and old. Some friends whose parents or ancestors came here long ago from HK and China. We share common values in our belief in #democracy #FreedomOfSpeech and assembly. They are our brothers and sisters. So, we as #Canadians should #StandWithHongKong #cdnpoli