Utah party busted by Army

[specialk]

saw this on another forum site and it's pretty messed up. the video only proves the reality of the event. :confused: :confused: :confused:

between this and that hanging pic in dayton and a family member passing away yesterday, i'm about ready to just shut my computer off and just leave work and go back to sleep for a while.



This is pretty full on
Video here

http://homepage.mac.com/apexgrin/FileSharing2.html


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Knick, from Evol Intent just posted this on the 404 audio boards:
http://www.404audio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14814



Last night, I was booked to play an event about an hour outside of Salt Lake City, Utah. The hype behind this show was huge, they presold 700 tickets and they expected up to 3,000 people total. The promoters did an amazing job with the show.. they even made slipmats with the flyers on them to promote in local shops.

So, we got to the show around 11:15 or so and it was really cool. It was all outdoors, in a valley surrounded by huge mountains. They had an amazing light show flashing on to a mountain behind the site, the sound was booming, the crowd was about 1500 people thick and everything just seemed too good to be true really. Well...

At about 11:30 or so, I was standing behind the stage talking with someone when I noticed a helicopter pulling over one of the mountain tops. I jokingly said "Oh look, here comes big brother" to the person I was with. I wasn't far off.

The helicopter dipped lower and lower and started shining its lights on the crowd. I was kind of in awe and just sat and watched this thing circle us for a minute. As I looked back towards the crowd I saw a guy dressed in camoflauge walking by, toting an assault rifle. At this point, everyone was fully aware of what was going on . A few "troops" rushed the stage and cut the sound off and started yelling that everyone "get the fuck out of here or go to jail". This is where it got really sticky.

No one resisted. That's for sure. They had police dogs raiding the crowd of people and I saw a dog signal out a guy who obviously had some drugs on him. The soldiers attacked the guy (4 of them on 1), and kicked him a few times in the ribs and had their knees in his back and sides. As they were cuffing him, there was about 1000 kids trying to leave in the backdrop, peacefully. Next thing I know, A can of fucking TEAR GAS is launched into the crowd. People are running and screaming at this point. Girls are crying, guys are cussing... bad scene.

Now, this is all I saw with my own eyes, but I heard plenty of other accounts of the night. Now this isnt gossip I heard from some candy raver, these are instances cited straight out of the promoters mouth..

- One of the promoters friends (a very small female) was attacked by one of the police dogs. As she struggled to get away from it, the police tackled her. 3 grown men proceeded to KICK HER IN THE STOMACH.

- The police confiscated 3 video tapes in total. People were trying to document what was happening out there. The police saw one guy filming and ran after him, tackled him and his camera fell, and luckily.. his friend grabbed it and ran and got away. priceless footage. That's not all though. Out of 1,500 people, there's sure to be more footage.

- The police were rounding up the staff of the party and the main promoter went up to them with the permit for the show and said "here, I have the permit." The police then said, "no you don't" and ripped the permit out of his hand. Then, they put an assault rifle to his forehead and said "get the fuck out of here right now."



Now.. let's get the facts straight here.

This event was 100% legal. They had every permit the city told them they needed. They had a 2 MILLION DOLLAR insurance policy for the event. They had liscenced security guards at the gates confiscating any alcohol or drugs found upon entry (yes, they searched every car on the way in). Oh, I suppose I should mention that they arrested all the security guards for possession.

Oh another interesting fact.. the police did not have a warrant. The owner of the land already has a lawsuit against the city for something similar. A few months ago, she rented her land for a party and the police raided that as well. And catch this, the police forced her to LEAVE HER OWN PERSONAL PROPERTY. That's right. They didnt arrest her, but made her leave her own property!!!

Don't get it twisted, this is all going down in probably THE most conservative state in the USA. And this is scary.. a gross violation of our civil liberties. The police wanted this party shut down, so they made it happen. Even though everything about this event was legal. The promoters spent over $ 20,000 on this show and did everything they had to to make it legit, only to have it taken away from them by a group of radical neo-con's with an agenda.

This was one of the scariest things I have ever witnessed in person. I can't even begin to describe how surreal it was. Helicopters, assault rifles, tear gas, camoflauge-wearing soldiers.... why? Was that really necessary?

This needs to be big news across the USofA. At least in our music scene (edm as a whole)... this could happen to any of us at any time. When we're losing the right to gather peacefully, we're also letting the police set a standard of what we can get away with. And I think that's BULLSHIT!

The system fucked up last night... They broke up a party that was 100% legal and they physically hurt a lot of people there at the same time. The promoters already have 6 lawsuits ready to file with their lawyers and the ACLU is already involved.

I'm sure some pictures (and hopefully some video) will surface soon. I'll make sure to post them up here on 404, so you can see the Police State of America at work.

[Lidja]

wow. that's all i have to say.

didn't think this sort of thing really happened anymore.

shows what i know.


http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_2964938

[markalot]

I call bullshit on one persons opinion of what happened.

Find an objective source.

- The police were rounding up the staff of the party and the main promoter went up to them with the permit for the show and said "here, I have the permit." The police then said, "no you don't" and ripped the permit out of his hand. Then, they put an assault rifle to his forehead and said "get the fuck out of here right now."

RIIIIIGHT a cop pointing an assault rifle at a civilian. Happens all the time.

But this would be perfect if it did happen, wouldn't it?


He also said that no officers used profanity as they conversed with partiers, nor did they punch, kick, Mace or use tear gas on any of the attendees.
"It's all a lie and we refute every word of that," said Tracy.
But the video clearly shows an officer using profanity as he demands the music be turned off.
"Turn that off. Turn that music off or I'll take your ass to jail," the officer can be heard saying to the DJ. In the video, the area where people had been dancing transforms into what looks like a battlefield with groups of officers surrounding ravers on the ground, guns drawn and assault dogs in tow.

OMG, he said ass. ASS. What the fuck kind of foul language is that? And a RAVE party? dude!

[Lidja]

I call bullshit on one persons opinion of what happened.

Find an objective source.



RIIIIIGHT a cop pointing an assault rifle at a civilian. Happens all the time.

But this would be perfect if it did happen, wouldn't it?


read above.

[markalot]

I did,

did you read the article?


Saturday's party, named Versus II, had been tracked by police for several weeks, Gilbert said. Police planned the bust when they discovered that the rave's promoters had not filed for a mass gathering permit through the County Commission office.

To have more than 250 at an event without that permit is a violation of the law, Gilbert said.
Party promotor Brandon Fullmer said he purchased a mass gathering permit through the Utah County Health Department about three weeks ago. The purchase of that permit, which ensures water, sanitation and medical services, was confirmed by County Health employee Jay Stone.
Fullmer did not know that a similar permit, which requires a security plan and event details, needed to be acquired.
The sheriff had little sympathy for the promoters or those at the rave. "They did nothing more than ensure this was a venue for illegal drug use and consumption," Tracy said. Officers confiscated ecstasy, marijuana, alcohol, cocaine and mushrooms, he said.

[Lidja]

Yeah. They were still pointing rifles at random civilians.

[yoshomon]

maybe people have heard about the police crack down on the rave party in czechoslovakia last week, attacked by 6000 cops even though it was totally legal and permitted. a good summary of the situation is here:

http://www.indymedia.org/en/2005/07/118313.shtml

Quote:

"At 16:25 the police requested the participants, now numbering more than 6000, leave the gathering. If they failed to comply the police action would follow. The assault started at 16:30. Around 1000 riot cops using masses of tear gas and trying to push visitors away from the place. The assault was answered by objects being thrown at the police cordon and people shouting "gestapo" at the police. According to eyewitnesses police used water to damage the soundsytems. There are also unconfirmed reports of the use of gum projectiles and mobile phone disrupting frequency-jammer."

with pictures here:

http://ttckrew.org/teufland/images.php?ind=961

and videos here:

http://leo.avu.cz/czechtek2005/

and pictures of the ensuing protests here: http://freshpolitics.us/?p=930 (link is to a stupid site)

this guy http://djripley.blogspot.com/ has been keeping up with the whole thing:

Quote:

"The fact is, over 5000 people jumped ahead of, broke through or snuck through police blockades, many walked, left mostly junky but often precious and shared cars by the side of the road to dance before the speaker towers, behind police lines and under the helicopters. Something about this culture is incredibly important to people.. that in itself is kind of fascinating."

Quote:

"I also want to note that the music (the soundsystem nearby) changes to jungle precisely as the first pops of teargas canisters being shot towards the crowd goes off. I heard those pops in my headphones and immediately started to shake - I'm shaking now- partly from memories of Miami in 2004 at the FTAA protests, and partly because the previous video showed a mother and baby smiling up at the videographer, and teargas is particularly not-good for infant lungs and eyes, as I'm sure you can imagine. The more I think about this, the more furious I get. So much so that I will probably rewrite this essay again later (not to erase this original, but to repost it).. But it's breaking news now, and I encourage you all to follow how it goes...

As the first gas (that most-favorite Gift from police to crowds) starts to reach the people, the dancers twist down a bit and put their faces in their hands, the soundsystem drops out, the video shifts, and then the bass and skitter of dubsounds filter through for a moment."

[Shimmercore]

Raves have always been shut down by the cops. In my hometown of Indianapolis, raves are now extinct and illegal. You can't even find a rave DJ anywhere. It's like they all left town. It's a shame that these parties get busted by cops, but anyone who has ever been to a rave can tell you that it's a haven for drugs. Going to raves used to be an underground event, but now that it's past being mainstream, every cop in the free world will continue to bust up these parties. I hope they bust that thieving wannabe drug dealer that sold me fake ecstacy back in the day. :mad:

[specialk]

The Sheriff's Office statement:

http://www.co.utah.ut.us/News/DeptNewsDetails.asp?ID=17759&WN_System=SHERIFF


they claim they had no permit.

i heard about the czech one as well. it still just seems pretty messed up to me. they could do this at any random hippy show, or even coachella and bonnaroo and all that shit if they wanted to. fuck, go up to dayton and do it on a few streetcorners.

[george]

Raves???

Is it still 1995???

[teribl sob stry]

fuck, go up to dayton and do it on a few streetcorners.

seriously. they're wasting time and money on concerts where everyone is hanging out on private party listening to music rather than swat-style repelling into some crack houses?

[Nellie Bly]

seriously. they're wasting time and money on concerts where everyone is hanging out on private party listening to music rather than swat-style repelling into some crack houses?

Well, the ravers are the more dangerous of the two y'know--they might try and hug you :rolleyes: ;)

[Handy Smurf]

The Sheriff's Office statement:

http://www.co.utah.ut.us/News/DeptNewsDetails.asp?ID=17759&WN_System=SHERIFF


they claim they had no permit.

i heard about the czech one as well. it still just seems pretty messed up to me. they could do this at any random hippy show, or even coachella and bonnaroo and all that shit if they wanted to. fuck, go up to dayton and do it on a few streetcorners.
Not that I really like the fact that this happened, but a few points
a) personally I hate Raves and Raver culture. If you want to do illicit drugs, don't expect me to feel sorry for you when you get caught.
b) bonnaroo is an event where cops are outnumbered about (estimate) 500-1, they essentially work crowd control there. An event of this size is ideal for cops to try and break up if theyre looking to make drug related arrests
c) I'm not prone to taking anything a raver says at face value. If teenagers were beaten for no reason and had gun barrels pointed at their heads, why havent any of these videos surfaced yet? The cops know these are kids on ecstasy and not gun toting maniacs, you must really think police officers are completely retarded if they went in there with a game plan to gas, threaten, and beat unarmed ravers. Maybe there was an isolated incident or 2, but I would tend to not believe anything quoted from ravers in the paper
d) I've been involved in a riot (not directly, as part of the crowd really) and know how this shit gets passed along. Its like the telephone game. I was 20 feet from a kid who got pulled out of a tree and cuffed. A few days later I was hearing from people who werent even there--they were in their dorm rooms at the time-- that the kid got pulled out of the tree and pummeled with night sticks

[the happy prole]

True Handy, but I think we've all also seen cops act like complete dicks before as well.

Let's face it. No one brings drug sniffing dogs to bust someone on a permit violation, so it's kind of bogus reasoning to use the omitted permit as a reason for this.

I'm not siding with the ravers, but from that news story the cops have a "They were druggies, fuck 'em" tone that bothers me.

[The_Buffalo]

This regime we have in charge sure has a hard on for public gatherings.
Sad

[Shlep]

You know it's a rockin' party when it's broken up by SWAT officers deployed via vertical-envelopment.

Anyway, I'm not sure what to believe. I've come across dickhead cops in my day, none dickheaded (or dumb enough from a career suicide standpoint) to rip up a permit and press a gun barrel to someone's head in front of hundreds of people in a day and age when anyone with a frickin' cellphone could be digitally filming you. Anything's possible, but it's been my experience that if there's one thing the "independant media" does better (and more brazenly) than the "mainstream media," it's playing fast and loose with the facts to tart up a story,

[BigSugar]

mmmmmmmm.....fast and loose tarts.....<drool>

[wombat18]

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,600157877,00.html

"This is the second time landowner Trudy Childs has had to deal with a party fiasco. During a concert in July, Childs said police came in, broke up a concert and roughed up some of the partygoers.
Childs leased out part of her 350 acres for this weekend's party but didn't attend. She was hunting on another part of her land — but went to the site when she saw there was a problem. That's when she was cuffed and taken to jail for allegedly contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
The land has been in Childs' family for almost 80 years, and she said she is continuing her plans for an outdoor amphitheater, for future concerts and shows.
The large gathering was the summer's third party of "extraordinary size," said Utah County Sheriff's Sgt. Darren Gilbert.
"It's not just a mass gathering, there's illicit use of drugs, distribution of drugs," Gilbert said. "There was a lot of criminal activity just going on at the party itself."


Sounds like a lot of the parties that I used to go to.

Hmmm, does that mean that the next time the gun show comes into town and they start selling guns to criminals we can expect to see the helicopters swoop. Eh, guess not ... the gun show would be armed, wouldn't it ?

[markalot]

So how was the ARMY involved again?

Drugs and drug paraphernalia were also found littering the ground after partygoers left.

The guards gathered drugs and were holding them to turn in to law enforcement at the end of the night, Fullmer said. However, when police broke up the party, those security guards who had confiscated drugs were arrested for investigation of possession of the controlled substances.

Generally you arrest people who have drugs, not just take it off them so they can get away with bringing it in.

Sorry, I say bust the hell out of them and if they were minors then invistigate the parents to. And how about this Trudy chick who owns the land but was hunting on another part of her property. HUNTING. I guess all the noise makes for easy shooting?

[the happy prole]

I guess the major reason why I don't cut the cops much slack in this case is because they controlled the situation.

They knew the guy lacked a permit, and they suspected (okay they pretty much knew) that the party was going to have a lot of drugs and could escalate out of control.

They could have had the city to deny these guys the permit. Or they could have just shut down the party as soon as it started. Or if they felt like committing that much manpower they could have said, "Look, we're going to have cops in the place and we won't hesitate to search people coming in and maintain control."

Instead they decided to wait until the party was in full swing so they could come in and make a big bust. The cops say there was a woman that OD'd on X. Well, they were there and they let it happen. If there was a riot or people had to be physically restrained, maced, or nightsticked it was because they waited on it and allowed the situation to develop.

[dragonflier]

seriously. they're wasting time and money on concerts where everyone is hanging out on private party listening to music rather than swat-style repelling into some crack houses?
Meth addicts and meth labs are a huge problem here in Utah, but, by all means, law enforcement certainly should spend their Saturday nights harassing teenagers. This definitely addresses the roots of the drug problem here in the US. :eek:

Actually, after living in Utah for 5 years, this doesn't surprise me in the slightest. Utah County (where the rave occurred, and not coincidentally, the same county that contains Provo and BYU) has a variety of convoluted laws about having any gathering of any size after certain hours in the day. Unless the gathering is sponsored by a church. And when I say "a church," I really mean the Mormons.

[tobedawg]

A Bunch of ravers on drugs without a permit got busted..

Who cares?

I'm actually getting tired of seeing this story ALL over the internet..

The Question is, this is sadly a case where I don't know who to believe, a bunch of doped up ravers or the Cops? Did they cross the line or are these folks exaggurating?

[Homsar]

Everybody's overreacting.

[hoh]

And how about this Trudy chick who owns the land but was hunting on another part of her property. HUNTING. I guess all the noise makes for easy shooting?

i am going to asume that you just glossed over "Childs leased out part of her 350 acres" and that you actually know how much land 350 acres encompases

[markalot]

i am going to asume that you just glossed over "Childs leased out part of her 350 acres" and that you actually know how much land 350 acres encompases

1 square mile = 640 acres. Not knowing the shape of her property it's impossible to judge how far away she could get, but it wouldn't be far enough away for me to feel safe. She's letting a rave party be conducted on her property, she's armed, she's in Utah, she's hunting.

So let's see if I can make a fool out of myself with math and english units of measure.

If she had 640 acres and a square plat it would be 1 mile x 1 mile in size. She has 350 acres (let's call it 320). That's 1/2 mile x 1/2 mile in size.

I'm standing 4 blocks away from you, I have a rifle. Feel lucky?

[the happy prole]

Who said she had a rifle? Maybe she was snipe hunting.

[markalot]

With or without the bag?

[The Ugly Thief]

I say beat the shit out them !!! Those fucking crazy Mormon ravers think they can just get away with anything !!!

v

[shivui]

I guess the major reason why I don't cut the cops much slack in this case is because they controlled the situation.

They knew the guy lacked a permit, and they suspected (okay they pretty much knew) that the party was going to have a lot of drugs and could escalate out of control.

They could have had the city to deny these guys the permit. Or they could have just shut down the party as soon as it started. Or if they felt like committing that much manpower they could have said, "Look, we're going to have cops in the place and we won't hesitate to search people coming in and maintain control."

Instead they decided to wait until the party was in full swing so they could come in and make a big bust. The cops say there was a woman that OD'd on X. Well, they were there and they let it happen. If there was a riot or people had to be physically restrained, maced, or nightsticked it was because they waited on it and allowed the situation to develop.
exactly!

i don't really like ravers either, but i don't see a whole lot of difference between them and all the coke fiends or pot hippies i know. ravers are just easy prey and people love giving them a hard time.

[AmericanScience]

Wow. This is crazy...

[AmericanScience]

1 square mile = 640 acres. Not knowing the shape of her property it's impossible to judge how far away she could get, but it wouldn't be far enough away for me to feel safe. She's letting a rave party be conducted on her property, she's armed, she's in Utah, she's hunting.

So let's see if I can make a fool out of myself with math and english units of measure.

If she had 640 acres and a square plat it would be 1 mile x 1 mile in size. She has 350 acres (let's call it 320). That's 1/2 mile x 1/2 mile in size.

I'm standing 4 blocks away from you, I have a rifle. Feel lucky?Buzz - nope.

350 acres is just under 3/4 mile x 3/4 mile. 0.7395 miles square. Or 1/4 x 2-1/4 miles, again, we don't know the layout of her property.

This is insane that this is broken up in this style in this country.