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SWAT Raids Legal Rave

  
 
LVX23
16:56 / 22.08.05
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/8/22/13030/7546

http://www.drugpolicy.org/news/82205utrave.cfm


http://utah.indymedia.org/news/2005/08/11330.php

and http://www.utrave.org


Originally Posted by knick evl ntnt

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.

p.s. - there are more stories of police brutality that
i'll post up later. gotta hit the airport soon. can't
wait to get the fuck out of this shit hole state.

www.buzzlife.com/forums/showthread.php

SHERIFF'S STATEMENT:
www.utahcountyonline.org/News/.....sDetails.asp

VIDEO: homepage.mac.com/apexgrin/...Sharing2.html
 
 
LVX23
17:21 / 22.08.05
scary video of military raiding the event and subduing ravers
 
 
grime
17:36 / 22.08.05
wow, this sounds unreal. shocking.

is anyone else talking about this besides local news?

i can't imagine how i'd react if this had happened to me. what a nightmare.

is there any possibility that the cops might have been warranted in their actions? i don't really believe it, but you never know.

i also can't get the video to work (creepy). anyone know another place it might be available?
 
 
Jake, Colossus of Clout
18:20 / 22.08.05
That is indeed frightening.

I think it's a bad idea for people to say "oh, well, it's just Utah, fuck it." That said, why the fuck would any reasonable person want to live there?

The Sheriff's office page was ridiculous.

"
Parents need to be aware of the type of illegal activities that occurs at these type of gathering. Sexual assaults, rapes, overdoses, drugs, alcohol abuse, thefts, and firearms violations. The sale of drugs at these parties is so prevalent that at this particular Rave party drugs were offered to a local off duty emergency medical service personnel who were contracted to be there. In addition two security personnel hired by the promoter were arrested for possession of cocaine and ecstasy "

The grammar alone is fantastic.
 
 
grime
18:21 / 22.08.05
okay, caught some of the video. i dunno, hard to tell what's going on. they've got people on the ground, but it's hard to tell what level of force they're using.

i also saw a bit of local coverage and their "dope on the table" shots were pretty weak. a couple onces of pot and little bags with three or four pills in them.

another big charge seems to be for underage drinking. all i can say is thank god the SWAT teams were there to take care of all that underage drinking.

the really fascinating thing about this story is the spin. you can read two different articles, and hardly beleive that they're talking about the same event.
 
 
LVX23
21:09 / 22.08.05
They tend to justify these actions by hiding under the guise of drug enforcement. But you won't see them raiding a NASCAR race for meth. They're attacking the scene/movement, straight and simple. Utah is fucked, in general, but it's still no excuse for this type of martial police state bullshit.

This needs to be pushed all over the web. Hopefully, the ACLU will pick it up and turn it into a general challenge against the aweful Rave Act.
 
 
jbsay
03:07 / 23.08.05
along the same lines, a czech rave raid
welcome to the new world order

http://milleniumcookies.blog-city.com/violent_crackdown_at_czech_rave.htm
 
 
jbsay
03:18 / 23.08.05
For the record, the system didn't fuck up. That's the way it's supposed to work. That's what happens when people trivialize private property. The authorities can do whatever they please. Welcome to communism.
 
 
Gendudehashadenough
09:12 / 23.08.05
A ton of information is available at www.utrave.org, including various statements from DJ's, promoters, abused party goers, etc.

This is just the kind of movement that needs to be crushed if the War on Drugs is going to keep any semblance of legitimacy. The medical cannabis community is stepping up in California, and it seems that with the passage of the Rave Act (it was actually a rider attached to the Amber Alert Act attempting to curb child abductions across the US, after it died time and again in committee) this kind of thing gives carte blanch for the police to invade private property, regardless of the steps the promoters took to ensure saftey, awareness, and most importantly IMO that they would like to have this kind of gathering be an accepted form of expression for those who would like to use it as such.

I just would like to know when SWAT started showing up in full millitary getup after undercover officers were already dispatched to the event and witnessed, but didn't intervene in any of the illegal activities, if any (though I'm sure there were some) that were occuring.

All this the day before Bush is schedualed to make an appearance in SLC, which happens to be a full 100 miles away.

Hopefully word will not simply be confined to internet surfers and candy ravers...
 
 
LVX23
22:30 / 23.08.05
They had the permits.

And, word is spreading, possibly to federal court.
 
 
Gendudehashadenough
09:37 / 24.08.05
This, i suppose, is a semi official site created by people involved. Tales of violence, new videos (really nifty night vision chopper cam), and a page that will hopefully include useful updates, if they can pry themselves away from the lawyers.
 
 
Tryphena Absent
13:31 / 24.08.05
The authorities can do whatever they please. Welcome to communism.

Look sweetcakes, in a communist state private ownership wouldn't exist. At all. There would be no private ownership. Do you understand?
 
 
Lord Morgue
08:57 / 28.08.05
The prevalence of digital mini-camcorders and still cameras built into phones adds an interesting spin to these kinds of brou-ha-ha. For a while, it looked like authorities had closed-circuit cameras everywhere, watching us, Big Brother style, now that this technology is in the hands of the public, this can backfire when cops go out of control. Every beatdown is a potential Rodney King or Victorian riot police waiting to happen.
 
 
Morpheus
00:50 / 02.09.05
Raves are Drug houses and cops are like meth bullies on a full dose of power and self-rightous boredom. When else do they get to all dress up for the big show and put on their own act of true brutality. How else can the powers that may be make sure to repress any sign of dissent with a foot to the gut and ribs. Now that is a message. Are you not hearing, we live in a brutal dictatorship under the cloak of a human and law abiding capitalist democracy. We live in Hell itself. So just do like the greeks and suffer. Ravers and youth in general are a lost cause...give-up.
 
 
STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK
05:36 / 02.09.05
Helpful as always, Morph.
 
 
---
09:22 / 02.09.05
That just looks unreal, yet with the state of things at the moment, believable at the same time.

For anyone who hasn't seen footage, this link works :

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

The media player version stopped a few seconds into it and cut out, but the quicktime one ran all the way through.

It's typical to see that the military looking guys are telling the person with the camcorder to switch it off when it's pointed at them holding people down and kicking them. I suppose that when they can find drugs they can justify this type of act and get away with it though, which sucks, but twisting the story into all types of shapes must be pretty easy for them when they can say they found some. Here's hoping that it can be proved permits had been obtained anyway, and that it makes people think about what the authorities are actually going around and doing.
 
 
macrophage
22:30 / 03.09.05
I know this has nothing to do with the Utah Bust, but the authorities all over the Globe have been clamping down on raves. Go seek Free Party websites, loads of Sound Systems have left Britain due to the situation that happened after 1990, look at Spiral Tribe and Total Resistance Sound Systems. You got to get organised to hold free parties successfully. Embrace the latest of technology, scanners wouldn not go a miss to keep a track of the police.
 
  
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