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 | | BUS STOP: Protesters block an empty bus which they believed was transporting the Olympic torch. pic/ap | San Francisco: The Olympic torch’s only stop in North America turned into the mystery of the missing flame today, as San Francisco abruptly changed the route, angering both China supporters and protesters.
Thousands of people converged along the announced scenic Embarcadero waterfront route. But after the opening ceremony, the first runner was flanked by blue-clad Chinese security officials and carried the torch into a warehouse. The torch eventually turned up miles away, leaving crowds baffled.
“We were cheated, because I think the meaning of the relay was to show the whole world that our country is hosting the Olympics,” said Michael Huo (30), a Chinese engineer working at a Silicon Valley start-up company.
The torch was a magnet last week for chaotic demonstrations in London and Paris China’s human rights record and its crackdown on Tibet.
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom said that the route had to be radically changed at the last minute to ensure public safety. “We assessed the situation and felt that we could not secure the torch and protect the protesters and supporters to the degree that we wished,” Newsom said.
The bewildering changes united supporters and protesters who had been divided by politics. Both sides were angered by the sudden changes to the only North American leg of the torch’s journey to the Beijing Olympic Games in August.
“I think it’s cowardly. If they can’t run the torch through the city, it means that no one is supporting the Games,” said Matt Helmen-stine (30), a California high school teacher. | 
