A collection of letters purportedly written by anonymous police officers, fire fighters and paramedics venting their frustration at Stanley Cup rioters have been posted online.
The blog ‘Letters from the Front Lines' also features messages attacking those who refused police requests to vacate downtown Vancouver as the city was gripped with violence and mayhem after Game 7 of the 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs.
One contributor, who calls himself a "police officer from the suburbs" who drove to the city to help with the riot response, even chides those who have expressed remorse for their actions.
"Please stop saying you're sorry," he writes. "Stop posting YouTube videos begging for forgiveness. Stop writing letters asking that society cut you some slack and leave you alone."
He challenges those with a guilty conscience to do more than turn themselves in to police.
"You owe Vancouver and the surrounding population more than mere words… You can't fix life altering injuries with an "I'm Sorry." You can't repay someone's car loan with a YouTube video."
"Actions speak louder than words. What are you going to do about that?"
Another letter, written by a purported Emergency Room nurse who was working at St. Paul's Hospital in downtown Vancouver, sheds light on some lesser-known consequences of the chaos in the city.
"To you, it's just an overturned car that you set on fire. To me, it's walking into an overflowing ER and helping to treat a girl with a severe asthma attack because she was exposed to the noxious, acrid smoke of a burning vehicle."
She describes crowds "pounding on the triage window demanding to be seen for teargas exposure and cuts from looting and fighting, while posturing and bragging about how you kicked the crap out of somebody."
"Apology not accepted," she writes.
The blog's author does not say whether the sources of any of the letters have been confirmed, and has yet to respond to a request for comment.
