Dozens of police officers waited outside the headquarters of Vancouver's Olympic organizing committee on Wednesday, preparing for a clash with anti-poverty protesters.
The police presence included roughly 40 officers, including some on horseback and riding bicycles, along with a helicopter.
The Anti-Poverty Committee (APC), notorious for crashing 2010 Olympic events, had planned to hold a rally directly outside the offices of the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC).
"We were informed by people that they were going to try and enter the building and try to enter the board room," John Furlong, the organizing committee's CEO, told CTV British Columbia.
Garvin Snider, charged with defacing the 2010 count-down clock in February, could be seen near the building as he spoke on a cellphone, apparently informing protesters about police presence.
He said he had no issue with the police, only VANOC.
About 30 APC members arrived outside the offices by bus, holding signs and yelling slogans.
"When they feel f----ing safe in their palaces, we are going to bring the class war to their offices, to their front doorsteps," one protester shouted through a megaphone.
In the end, the group left without incident.
The APC argues the provincial and municipal governments should be focusing their energies on the city's homelessness problem, rather than investing in the Olympics.
David Cunningham, an APC spokesperson, said demonstrators may protest outside the homes of VANOC members.
"We have found where their offices are, we have found where their homes are. We're going to go and we're going to evict them from their offices like they've evicted hundreds of our brothers and sisters,'' he told The Canadian Press.
"This isn't a game. This is a struggle. This is a life and death struggle. We are going to struggle and win."
VANOC has maintained their plan includes converting some of the housing for the athletes' village into low-income housing after the Olympics.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Janet Dirks and files from The Canadian Press
