A shocking act caught on video late at night in the heart of downtown Vancouver is raising serious concerns.
The video is taken on Granville Street late at night. It shows a man allegedly offering $50 to two separate homeless people in exchange for allowing him to assault them with a kick to the groin area.
The video was taken by Riley Speers, a local actor, who said he took the video on Sunday night after he came out of the Roxy, a popular club for young people.
“I thought someone should document it,” he said. “Most people were saying stop, but I think most people were pretty scared because he was a pretty big guy.”
When alerted to the link on Twitter, Vancouver Police replied ” We have seen this and have referred the incident to an investigative team for review,” but have otherwise not commented.
Speers took down the video after he started receiving comments strongly criticizing him for not doing anything to stop the incident.
“The guy was like ten times my size,” says Speers, who has not yet contacted police. “I was pretty scared.”
On Unfiltered, Mark Busse, a member of the Engaged City Task Force, was heavily critical of Speers.
“Why didn’t you go across the street and find the police…and find a cop, and say I have evidence? What were you thinking?” he asked.
“A city is defined by how it treats its lowliest citizens. And when it’s funny to a group of young people to pay $50 to a homeless person who’s probably mentally ill…it’s indicative of the situation,” he said.
Busse said the city needs to take a look the popular street, which is flooded with young people across Metro Vancouver late at night on weekends, and consider making changes.
“This city and the policy makers need to really think what the Granville Mall represents in terms of tourism, culture, and this party ghetto.”
WATCH: Unfiltered’s Jill Krop discusses the video
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