Originally Posted by
Leader-Post
Canuck flag caper has California townsfolk seeing red
By Douglas Quan, Canwest News ServiceApril 5, 2010
Authorities in a Southern California resort town say charges are possible against two Canadian men suspected of tearing down a U.S. flag and hoisting a Canadian one in an apparent act of post-Olympic hockey gloating.
The flag-swapping caper happened Feb. 28 — the day Canada beat the U.S. in the men's hockey final — in La Quinta, Calif., better known for its sun-drenched golf courses and a popular destination for Canadian snowbirds.
La Quinta police Lt. Jason Huskey told Canwest News Service investigators believe the pranksters had been watching the game at the Beer Hunter Sports Pub and Grill before trekking up a steep, craggy mountain known as Point Happy to replace the flag.
Huskey said two suspects has been interviewed and both could be charged with misdemeanour vandalism charges because the U.S. flag was damaged, he said.
Huskey declined to name the suspects, but confirmed they are Canadian. One lives in nearby Bermuda Dunes; the other lives in Palm Desert.
Charges or no charges, many local residents said they were not amused.
The flag's keeper, Mayte Sterling, 58, said she couldn't believe it when a neighbour alerted her to the prank.
"I was surprised, shocked," said Sterling, a bartender at a private club. "It's a special place."
Sterling said she put up the flag to commemorate victims of the 9/11 terror attacks. She said she replaces the flag every six months — thanks to donations from Walmart — because winds can cause the flag's edges to fray.
Her son, Robert Sterling Jr., climbed up the mountain in early March to replace the Canadian flag with a new American one. He said he found the old one torn apart and buried underneath a pile of rocks. "Maybe hockey does make you go crazy," he said, recalling the riots that erupted in downtown Vancouver in 1994 following the Canucks' Stanley Cup defeat to the New York Rangers.
Whoever put up the Canadian flag did a "half-assed" job, he added with a hint of a snicker.
After the story broke in the local Desert Sun, dozens of people weighed in with their opinions on the newspaper's website. "I didn't like Canucks before this incident due to their refusal to drive the speed limit, and now I'm really, really, mad," one reader wrote.
"We should just invade Canada and annex the whole slow-moving country. It should be easy since they don't have any guns."
Another reader wrote: "I'm ashamed to be Canadian — absolutely outrageous. I'm stunned.
"If they find the pranksters deport them to Canada immediately!"
A Desert Sun editorial called the act "disrespectful, outrageous and downright rude."
"It's our flag, the symbol of our liberty."
Dan Held, general manager of the Beer Hunter pub, said his bar was split evenly between Canadian and American hockey fans on the day of the big Olympic hockey final.e said he doesn't really know what all the fuss is about. "I consider it a minor prank. I even giggled to it," he said. "I don't think there was any malicious intent."
Held said he cares about more important things — like trying to get a satellite link to TSN for the pub.
Doug Baldwin, outgoing president of the Canadian Club of the Desert, said he considers the flag removal disrespectful.
But filing criminal charges against the two culprits might be a bit much.
Maybe fine them for the price of a new flag, and "move on," he said.
© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service
Crazy Canucks
Reply With Quote
Re: Crazy Canucks
That's hilarious!
- Four Horsemen of the Presence
(which is, like, 100x cooler than that one with the AK47)
Bookmarks