Protesters blew up beach balls in an effort to disrupt the arrival of the Olympic torch in Kitchener, Ontario, in December 2009.

By IAN AUSTEN

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Christopher A. Shaw, a middle-class, middle-aged professor of ophthalmology at the University of British Columbia, seems an unlikely target of police interest. But Shaw is also the author of “Five Ring Circus: Myths and Realities of the Olympic Games,” a book highly critical of the Olympics and his hometown’s decision to host them.Over the past year, Shaw has been approached by plainclothes officers from the Integrated Security Unit, an Olympics operation led by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, who want to discuss his book and his views about the Olympics. Friends of Shaw’s in Vancouver and as far away as Toronto have received similar approaches, as has his ex-wife.

But Shaw is not alone. Several other people who oppose the city’s decision to host the Games and who plan to participate in demonstrations say they have also been approached by plainclothes police officers, as have their friends and relatives. Others have come home to find business cards from police officers slipped under the doors. Last week, Martin Macias of Chicago, another critic of the Olympics, said he was detained and interrograted by border agents at Vancouver International Airport and not allowed to enter British Columbia.

None of this was anticipated by Shaw when he decided to oppose the Games.

“It’s very chilling when two police officers are at your side with a copy of your book in their hands and one of them says, ‘I’m very concerned about some of things you wrote,’ ” Shaw said.

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Tags: Olympics, RCMP, Vancouver

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