SWAT Raids Rave

[stanneh]

this is your future stay in line or be dealt with by any means.

Torrent of the video

15mb quicktime video

8mb windows media video

6mb windows media video

mainstream media wont show this video and anywhere hosting it has been under constant attack by the nazi government spread it far and wide show everyone what the governments got in store for peaple that dont fall in to line.

[El Bourricot]

What the hell? some people partying then soldiers come and tell them to go home. Not too good on the "freedom" thing (although might be explained by curfew rules) but how exactly do they "assault" them? Sounds like cops busting an underage party more than anything...

[Sensayshun]

Bit OTT. So some kids are having a party and they called in the fecking military to start doing them in?

Fortunately american kids being what they are they just left, if they did that to one of our parties, we'd all be arrested.

What are they going to charge us with? dancing become a crime?

[stanneh]

they were attacked with dogs and tazers.

a couple of the peaple who caught any of the video had their cameras taken off them.

what gets me more is that the media are fighting as hard as they possibly can to try to let this slip and never be an issue.

[Sensayshun]

My brothers got a copy on his site. Need maddox to host it, that'd get it seen :p

I think Sweden is a better place to emigrate to, their laws are sensible, and if a party did get raided it would be by tall blonde ladies so......

[mAcOdIn Veteran]

Well what were the specifics?

Were they on military property?

I only saw a couple of people getting screwed with, so it doesn't look they were just whoopin everyones ass.

So what is the story? It's hard to say anything with just a video.

[Sensayshun]

^Yeah, me and my brother were just debating it, it could have been an illegal rave, also if police has preiously tried to shut it down and failed then of course they'd call out the army, and the army would think 'wasting my time stupid kids' so they'd probably be being pretty rough anyway.

[stanneh]

Well what were the specifics?

Were they on military property?

I only saw a couple of people getting screwed with, so it doesn't look they were just whoopin everyones ass.

So what is the story?  It's hard to say anything with just a video.

586419714[/snapback]

source inside the Utah government reports that this action was undertaken out of fear that the Rave would be used to rally support for the protest against Bush's Utah visit.

Story from someone who was there.

[Sensayshun]

Yup, seems like it was just the government wanting to keep everyone from having fun then.

[NTUsEr Veteran]

Well what were the specifics?

Were they on military property?

I only saw a couple of people getting screwed with, so it doesn't look they were just whoopin everyones ass.

So what is the story?  It's hard to say anything with just a video.

586419714[/snapback]

It wasen't on military property. It was a legal party on private land with all the right paper work. The police decided that they didn't want this to happen, or someone higher up didn't want it happening, so they stormed private property WITHOUT a warrent and decided to shut it down. The owner of the property already has a lawsuit after Utah county for doing the same thing. This only shows that our police don't care about the laws they said they where protect. And i do now why is right for police in wood pattern fatges, masks covering there faces and assault rifles to break up a rave.

[Denis W. Veteran]

What gets me ****ed off the most about this entire raid was that they (the soldiers) beat the s*** out of anyone that had a camera. Lucky that some guys got away with some film, otherwise we'd be brainwashed by your f'ed up government.

I can see what will happen to the protesters against Bush. They'll call in the army and tanks will run over the protesters. :crazy:

[Viserov]

Well what were the specifics?

Were they on military property?

I only saw a couple of people getting screwed with, so it doesn't look they were just whoopin everyones ass.

So what is the story?  It's hard to say anything with just a video.

586419714[/snapback]

^Yeah, me and my brother were just debating it, it could have been an illegal rave, also if police has preiously tried to shut it down and failed then of course they'd call out the army, and the army would think 'wasting my time stupid kids' so they'd probably be being pretty rough anyway.

586419725[/snapback]

Good points. We only saw one small portion of the story. They could have been doing something seriously illegal; they could have been close to houses and were disturbing the peace (they could have been nicely asked to shut the party down earlier); heck, for all we know, there could have been a big fight between the kids earlier on and the police figured they needed bigger muscle in dispersing the crowd. You gotta get the full story before you judge what happened. Could it have been a perfectly legitimate party and the government was being hard-asses? Yes, that's possible, too. I guess we'll never know. :)

[Boffa Jones Veteran]

If i was there I would lie and get a brand new wicked camera care of the gov't. I can't beleive they can get away with this stuff and no one says anything other than on the internet.

[Black Hawk]

From what I've seen on the vid, I think those are SWAT. They don't have any insignia.

Of course there is always this account to go by, but I am sure they are lying since it is part of the oppressive, nazi government.? :rolleyes::

586421074[/snapback]

It's not unheard of. Cops here have covered up a crap load of stuff. This could go either way.

[Aaron Veteran]

Good points. We only saw one small portion of the story. They could have been doing something seriously illegal; they could have been close to houses and were disturbing the peace (they could have been nicely asked to shut the party down earlier); heck, for all we know, there could have been a big fight between the kids earlier on and the police figured they needed bigger muscle in dispersing the crowd. You gotta get the full story before you judge what happened. Could it have been a perfectly legitimate party and the government was being hard-asses? Yes, that's possible, too. I guess we'll never know. :)

586421052[/snapback]

You are right, that little few minute snippet showed nothing. It didn't even show WHY the first skirmish you see even started. For all anyone knows, the kid hit the officer first. I dunno...

Of course there is always this account to go by, but I am sure they are lying since it is part of the oppressive, nazi government. :rolleyes:

More related stuff:

http://www.mapinc.org/safe/v05/n1367/a06.html

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,600157703,00.html

http://kutv.com/topstories/local_story_233220802.html

[Palin]

I wouldn't get too excited about this, it's certainly nothing new in Utah. There's a phenomenon here (and I imagine, in plenty of other places) where in out-of-the-way, low-crime places like the Spanish Fork area and Logan the police simply get overzealous. Maybe it's because they don't often have the opportunity to deal with major crimes, so they get all hyped-up when they can bust underagers drinking. I'm not saying that what happened was a great thing, just that it's not exactly new or exciting here.

When I was a student at USU in Logan, it wasn't unusual to see the police show up en force to disburse a party. They surround the place, arrest everyone, tackle anyone who tries to resist or run, then ticket everybody and let the judge sort it out later. I've even seen them make up reasons to tow peoples' cars that are parked nearby if their owners aren't around ? since they're usually underagers who ran. (Never did see a SWAT team, though.) In fact, when I was there, on any given Friday or Saturday night you would often see more police cars driving through town than regular cars.

As for anybody wondering if it was some kind of warm-up for Bush protestors ? I was at the protests, taking photos as part of my job. I didn't see any incidents with police, and as far as I know, there weren't any arrests.

[sbweb77]

For all anyone knows, the kid hit the officer first.

586421074[/snapback]

You are so blind, like some kid (possibly drunk or high) would ever hit an officer. Like he would try to impress some girl or their friends that way. Obviously it is far more resonable that Bush was reading his CIA report on utah rave parties and decided to launch an all out military assault to crush this rebellion.

OPEN YOUR EYES!!!

[mAcOdIn Veteran]

The rebellion lol.

First off the actual military themselves can not arrest people, if this had been an actual Army operation I'd say you'd have a huge cause for concern however it turned out not to be, which would explain why some had camo covers on thier kevlars and others didn't. Why they came out in full gear for a rave, I'll never know, especially since they didn't seem to be concerned about "stealth" but hey.

Second, the idea, that Bush would bust a rave with the Army to curb negative public opinion concerning the war is completely absurd, it would have the complete opposite effect. As smart and evil as everyone says Karl Rove is, it would seem to be a pretty amatuer affair to me.

They came out in more force than was probably needed for a party, but I've always been an advocate of better to have and not want than want and not need. And lets not even pretend like the chances of high drug use is improbable at a rave, we're all competent adults, we know what people do at raves.

[stanneh]

The rebellion lol.

First off the actual military themselves can not arrest people, if this had been an actual Army operation I'd say you'd have a huge cause for concern however it turned out not to be, which would explain why some had camo covers on thier kevlars and others didn't.? Why they came out in full gear for a rave, I'll never know, especially since they didn't seem to be concerned about "stealth" but hey.

Second, the idea, that Bush would bust a rave with the Army to curb negative public opinion concerning the war is completely absurd, it would have the complete opposite effect.? As smart and evil as everyone says Karl Rove is, it would seem to be a pretty amatuer affair to me.

They came out in more force than was probably needed for a party, but I've always been an advocate of better to have and not want than want and not need.? And lets not even pretend like the chances of high drug use is improbable at a rave, we're all competent adults, we know what people do at raves.

586421488[/snapback]

i agree this isnt some thing bush has said to do personally he prolly doesnt know its happened still now i think the problem is right there tho under bush this is what is whats happening the police are taking liberty's and nobody in power gives a flying *&%(K).

here is a thaught tho why on earth are everyday police officers and soldiers taking orders that are clearly a breach of your civil liberty's why do they not say no becouse at the end of the day police officers and soldiers are not androids their generally like ourselfs everyday peaple working a 9to5 job with real life issues bills and kids and such who are not government elite and shown the big picture showered in money to make them look the otherway at some point surely the everyday police officers and soldiers are just gonna say no we wont brake the law we enforce the law.

[mAcOdIn Veteran]

Wow, I think you're missing the actual picture.

No right or liberty was taken away here. Plenty of raves have been broken up all over the country by the police the only thing, I repeat only thing, that set this one aprt from other raids on raves is that they came in cammies instead of normal clothes you associate the police with, which caused people to panic and assume they called in the Army.

Had they called in the Army to bust a rave, I would be all up in arms, as that would require federal approval since there's no way in hell you could mobolize any National Guard unit in under 24 hours.

[stanneh]

my point is they had a right to be there they went to every length to please all authorites they got permits rights were abused without reason do u not agree?

[Chris Allen Veteran]

This has been all over the dance community since the evening it happened. I'm pretty shocked with the footage and articles I've written.

Here is an account from one of the actual DJ's at the event (Sorry if this was posted previously);

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 **** 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 ****ing 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 **** 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 BULL****!

The system ****** 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.

Now this seems quite overboard in my mind, especially as a DJ. Not to mention the media is spinning this as a 'drug raid'. I don't care who you are, you're aware that there are drugs at these kind of parties. There are at nearly every concert I've been to as well. So to spin it this way to me seems incorrect.

There are many opinions about this matter which I will withold as I am in the industry itself and don't want to confuse my opinions with those of the rest of the community. However, I don't think I want to play in Utah anytime soon after this mess ;)

Discussion and stories by people who apparently were there:

http://www.utrave.org/showthread.ph...20&page=1&pp=10

Here is what the mayor had to say about the issue;

Rave Party

Utah County Sheriff's Office shuts down Rave Party in Spanish Fork Canyon.

During the summer of 2005 the Utah County Sheriff's Office has seen an increase in the number of large Rave parties that have occurred within Utah County. Approximately four weeks ago the Sheriff's Office became aware of another possible Rave party that was to occur somewhere in Utah County on August 20, 2005.

Tickets were sold through a Salt Lake vendor, Uprock, for $20.00. Tickets could be bought in advance and directions to the exact location of the Rave would be provided on the day of the event.

Utah County mass gathering ordinance prohibits the gathering of two hundred and fifty or more persons without a permit, bond, and Utah County Commission approval.

Research was conducted and no mass gathering permit had been obtained for this incident. However, a health department permit had been obtained and EMS personnel were contracted to be on scene for first aide.

From several previous experiences with Rave parties of this size, a large amount of drug use and underage consumption of alcohol occur. In addition reports of sexual assaults, overdoses, firearm violations, vehicle burglaries, and numerous individuals drive from the party under the influence of alcohol and or drugs.

Utah County Sheriff's Office Detectives interviewed several females that had attended a prior rave party in the Utah county area in the past month that had been sexual assaulted. These females stated that the combination of drugs and alcohol made them fear for their safety due to the groping and sexual assaults that occurred during the Rave party. In the last year alone one near fatal shooting was investigated by Utah County Sheriff's Office at a similar party.

Around noon on Saturday, August 20th, the Sheriff's office learned that the Rave Party was to take place in the Diamond Fork area located in Spanish Fork canyon at the Child's ranch. At that point it was again verified that the Utah County Commissioner's office had no knowledge of this nor had a permit been obtained.

Utah County Major Crimes was contacted to assist with undercover surveillance. Both local and state SWAT teams were called in to control the crowds ( Utah County Metro SWAT, Utah Department of Corrections out of Salt Lake and Gunnison, Department of Public Safety and their helicopter and Provo SWAT) approximately 90 law enforcement personnel combined.

At 9 pm the Rave party began and by 10 pm Major Crimes observed numerous illegal activities. Which included illegal use of drugs, distribution of drugs, and underage consumption of alcohol.

It was verified that more than 250 individuals were at the party, in violation or county statutes and by 11:30 pm law enforcement personnel moved in to curtail and disburse the party. During this process at least 60 arrests were made for weapons offenses, DUI, illegal underage consumption of alcohol, possession of marijuana, possession of cocaine, possession of methamphetamine, possession of ecstasy, distribution of ecstasy, resisting arrest, assault on a police officer, and disorderly conduct.

A safety sweep was conducted after the crowd was ordered to disburse and numerous narcotic items were located scattered on the ground which included: cocaine, ecstasy, marijuana, mushrooms, alcohol and large amounts of drug paraphernalia.

A 17 year old female from West Jordan, found by officers, had overdosed on ecstasy. She was treated and released to her parents.

Several local teenagers from Spanish Fork, Springville, Provo, and Payson were identified at the party by officers. As well as, numerous individuals out of the Salt Lake and Davis County area.

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

They have prevented your right to congregate and listen to electronic music. As I said before... Americans tend to act with SWAT teams, we (Canadians) tend to act with bylaws and parliamentary bills. Either way we arrive to the same outcome. No freedom. Although our way sees less broken bones.

A quote from a user on TranceAddict.com;

If I was a lawyer I would set up a booth at any rave I could get to.

Another source of video footage: http://slcdnb.com/versus.mov

ABC4 Report on the incident. Interview with some witnesses.

mms://dayport.wmod.llnwd.net/fc/a258/e1/v2/0044/21590020050821_000125p6000355p7.wmv

Wikinews article is already up:

http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Dance_p...ce_in_Utah,_USA

However then we take a look at some other information ...

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

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.

Among those arrested for drug possession were several security guards hired by Fullmer to patrol the event. Guards at security check points confiscated alcohol and drugs as ravers filed into the party, Fullmer said.

"[security guards] have no legal statutory authority to take and hold controlled substances. It's against the law for them to have them," Tracy said.

...looks like the promoter didn't have all the permits?

Edited August 24, 2005 by [NFC]Wave

[mAcOdIn Veteran]

my point is they had a right to be there they went to every length to please all authorites they got permits rights were abused without reason do u not agree?

586425198[/snapback]

No, I do not. What I saw was alot of inital yelling to try and get the situation under control quickly, then 2 people getting messed with on the ground, and alot of people walking away peacefully.

Raves are hard to judge, based on who has the right to be there, because while I support people's right to gather and listen to crappy music, I'm not going to even pretend that there's any event, outside of a Grateful Dead concert, that has more illegal activity going on in one small place than a rave.

Of 400+ people there, 60 were arrested, I'm willing to bet even not being there, that only 60 people being busted at a rave for drugs and alcohol is probably an accurate number.

Now had all 400+ been arrested I'd think you have a point. Remember you can get permits for everything, health permits, gathering permits, pyro permits, but there is no permit for illegal activity. Having all the permits in the world doesn't give you protection while illegal activity is going on, and even with all the permits in the world the police always had and still has the right to break it up.