- 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...
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- 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.
-
- Evil or Very Mad
-
- 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.
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