He gets iPhone, charity gets donation

Canadian cell carrier Telus has rewarded a man who bravely defended the company's Robson Street store during the Stanley Cup riots in Vancouver by rewarding him with a free iPhone, six months of service and the donation of $1,000 to the charity of his choice -- a total value of over $2,000. The man had no connection to Telus and was not even a customer, but attempted to prevent looters and vandals from attacking the downtown store.

The riots, which made headlines worldwide, erupted after the Vancouver Canucks lost to the Boston Bruins in Game Seven of the Stanley Cup finals. Post-event analysis has turned up evidence that small groups of people had planned violence regardless of the game's outcome, but the way the disappointed and mostly-inebriated crowd took up the mob mentality and engaged in a wide path of destruction, looting and violence shocked the nation.

Social media, video surveillance and other tools have uncovered the identities of a large number of the rioters, who have been threatened, fired, suspended from school and in other ways publicly shamed for their actions. A number have come forward with sincere apologies, and many more have been arrested.

Chris Ivany, a 33-year-old welder who was on the scene, saw rioters attempting to break into the Telus retail store and tried to prevent further damage, telling the crowd to stop the destruction. He was then hit in the jaw and knocked unconscious, but the store was spared any further significant damage, and the security windows weren't shattered, thus preventing any looting as had happened at a number of other downtown merchants.

Ivany was surprised by the gift, and was pleased by the iPhone even though he had recently signed up with a competitor carrier and gotten a Blackberry. He told the Vancouver Sun "I would do it again. I just feel that we've got to get some peace, love and understanding on this planet, not this hate and fighting."

A company spokesman said that Telus wanted to thank him for trying to make a positive difference during the event, and that in facing down rioters "he really demonstrated some remarkable courage." [via The Vancouver Sun]

By Electronista Staff