National Guard raids dance music event in Utah - please read

**shosh** · August 21, 2005, 10:44:24 PM

i live in utah... i had a friend call me and tell me what happened... he seemed scared for his life. he said it was insane...

fuck the police

**stencil_cp** · August 22, 2005, 12:05:12 AM

Re: National Guard raids dance music event in Utah - please read

there's been crap for years about washington (in general) wanting to shut down events considered to encourage or be designed around the use of recreational drugs, and the EDM community has been singled out. i can only guess that's what this was about. interestingly though, off all the events i've been to big and small, everyone knows this and seems to gets there permits taken care of.

still... when i say to a lot of people i'm into 'prog house' they go "huh?", it means nothing. then i say 'like trance' and they assume i do candy raves and like the party and don't care about the music.

it's messed up. but like so many things, They're not completely off base in their assumptions, only enough to piss Everyone off when they do shit like this.

i wonder though, if They want to crack down on entertainment designed for those under the influence of drugs, why do they leave Cartoon Network on the air?

**3ibb3** · August 22, 2005, 01:09:13 AM

Re: National Guard raids dance music event in Utah - please read

fucked up

**shosh** · August 22, 2005, 01:19:54 AM

they brought the war to utah... looks like iraq...

i guess the video link is dead. here are some more links to the video and story:

Dance party broken up by police in Utah, USA - Wikinews, the free news source

http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Utah_dance_party_broken_up_by_police

**headrushmusic** · August 22, 2005, 09:40:40 AM

Re: National Guard raids dance music event in Utah - please read

If you can't get to the video link above, try [this one] (people have been smart enough to start saving the file on their personal servers. Save backups if you can...)

**deepdish** · August 22, 2005, 10:40:50 AM

Re: National Guard raids dance music event in Utah - please read

The US government can eat me. Im tired of reading about things like this and never hearing about it again.

**headrushmusic** · August 22, 2005, 11:13:32 AM

Re: National Guard raids dance music event in Utah - please read

I just checked the American Civil Liberties Union site to see if they've published anything on this incident yet, and they haven't.

Interestingly, I don't see anything on there about an event that was raided in Michigan about a month or so ago. A friend commented that these sorts of things seem to happen about once a month, yet they are not widely covered.

Page not found | American Civil Liberties Union

http://www.aclu.org/DrugPolicy/DrugPolicylist.cfm?c=185

Please channel your energy into an articulate response to these sorts of things. Volunteer for the ACLU, send a few bucks to them so they can beef up attorney support in the legal fight, write intelligent letters to your Congressman. I know it's frustrating, but responses like "eat me" and "f the police" are just going to feed their fire and perpetuate a negative image of the dance music community.

**Yao** · August 23, 2005, 10:41:42 AM

Re: National Guard raids dance music event in Utah - please

You're right about that Headrush, though for some people it's the feeling of powerlesness that makes them say that.

The story is indeed incredible, and especially the fact that it seems to happen in Europe as well, as I learnt from the story from a Chzech guy on one of those boards. I cannot remember anything as severe as that happening in my country, and it has astonished the shit out of me. It's almost like a game, hunting on party-goers for fun, as a toy in their political games. If the judicial system in the States cannot deal with this, I'm afraid the US is already further down the moral road than I previously thought.

In the official press release it was made to look like some Sodom and Gomorra-like happening, the only thing they forgot was to add that all the people out there were butt-naked and having sex in public all over the place...I got the impression every single one out there was OD-ing on some substance, that weapons were carried openly and fighting occurred all over the place and people almost lynched a few of the 'policemen' at the scene...indeed 99% of that story was a damn fabrication to suit the moralistic bullshit that accompanied the explanation for that action.

**shosh** · August 23, 2005, 01:49:16 PM

Re: National Guard raids dance music event in Utah - please

here is a pretty good non-biased article... but it appeared in utah's most liberal paper...

Ravers say cops were too rough making bust
By Michael N. Westley

Partygoers at a rave in Spanish Fork Canyon that was busted by police Saturday night say officers used brutal and excessive force to clear the crowd.

As many as 90 police officers from several agencies, including SWAT members and major crimes investigators, stormed the DJ-driven dance party around 11:30 p.m. dressed in full SWAT gear and holding automatic weapons.

A helicopter announced the police presence as it crested a nearby hill and began shining a spotlight on the outdoor dance area, said 19-year-old Scott Benton of Logan.

"The cops just came in wearing full Army [camouflage]. It was basically brute force," Benton said. "I had a gun put in my face and was told to get out of there."

Standing in a crowd of people near the main stage, Alisha Matagi says she was just in the wrong place at the Related Articles
Police raid rave party in Spanish Fork Canyon wrong time when she was thrown to the ground, punched, kicked and handcuffed by police.

"I did absolutely nothing wrong," she said. Matagi was arrested with about 60 other partyers. She was booked into the Utah County Jail on the suspicion of resisting arrest and failing to obey an officer, according to police records.

About 1,000 people were cleared in less than a half-hour from the private ranch owned by the Childs family in the Diamond Fork area of Spanish Fork Canyon, rave promoters said. Several party attendees told The Salt Lake Tribune that officers barked orders fraught with profanity, beat people to the ground and used their weapons to intimidate the crowd.

A video of the opening moments of the bust, taken by Jeffrey Coombs and snatched from the ground by another partier as Coombs was tackled, shows the officers using force on individuals as they took over the crowd.

Utah County Sheriff James Tracy said Monday that he had seen the video and called it an accurate representation of the bust.

"I stand by everything that was done there that night. We did use some force. It was appropriate and necessary to take those who were fighting us into custody," Tracy said.

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.

"I saw a girl tackled to the ground for no reason because she told them not to touch her. It was vicious," Benton said.

Police said the party Saturday night was the third event held in Utah County during the past month. The all-night parties attract a host of illegal activities including drug use, theft, sexual assault and underage drinking, according to Utah County Sheriff's Sgt. Darren Gilbert.

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.

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.

There is DnB track someone made with the samples from the stupid ass cops screaming 'SHUT IT DOWN, NOW" and "OFF OR I'LL KICK YOUR ASS IN JAIL" and "I THINK THEY'RE SERIOUS, THEY'VE GOT GUNS!" http://www.edgey.net/mp3/tracker2.as...idual_Burn.mp3

one more thing: Footloose was filmed in Utah County, 15 minutes away from where the rave was...

I'm on my way to vegas to party with remoh and get away from all these motherfuckers.

**thesightless** · August 23, 2005, 02:18:26 PM

Re: National Guard raids dance music event in Utah - please read

wonder what thier base reason for the raid was. i.e. whats thier main justification?? probably bullshit. but anyone who tells a cop not to touch them is begging for it. cops dont do this for pleasure. just listen to em, cuase they will win in the end if you fight them. they are the authorities and they dont like ppl telling them 'NO' after they demand something.

any ideas of the cause of the raid, more particular, what reason was used to get around the permits? were there known drug dealers associated with the promoters? were there fights before hand? there is something not being said here. cops dont feel the need to explain and the ravers are gonna tell you they were being beaten by the SS.

and this has nothing to do with Iraq, the federal govt or bush. executed on the local and state levels. FBI wasnt there either.

i smell bullshit. shame they cant let people enjoy themselves. imagine if they broke up woodstock....

**shosh** · August 23, 2005, 03:08:17 PM

^^^ i think they wanted to send out a message that raves wont be tolerated and they say they've been following it for a while. their main reason was that there was no permit, but there were cops infiltrated and noticed drugs being sold and used.

at the same time its an ultra-conservative state... so it could be expected... and utah county is very boring and nothing really happens here... maybe they just wanted to create some excitement...

fuckers

**thesightless** · August 23, 2005, 03:19:16 PM

Re: National Guard raids dance music event in Utah - please read

i read somewhere that all the permits were secured and approval was given by the local gov't

if not, then i hate to say it, but too bad. you break the law, dont complain about the guys enforcing it. blame those who wrote it.

**Civic_Zen** · August 23, 2005, 03:22:10 PM

Originally posted by shosh

^^^ i think they wanted to send out a message that raves wont be tolerated and they say they've been following it for a while. their main reason was that there was no permit, but there were cops infiltrated and noticed drugs being sold and used.

at the same time its an ultra-conservative state... so it could be expected... and utah county is very boring and nothing really happens here... maybe they just wanted to create some excitement...

fuckers

I don't think its as much that its ultra-conservative, as that its ultra-radical-christans all living together in one place. Mormons are the epitome of "radical christians" not to mention the most hypocritical.

Seriously, the state only has a couple counties that aren't dry. They have that stance on alcohol, how would you expect them to react to anything "worse".

**thesightless** · August 23, 2005, 03:25:36 PM

Re: National Guard raids dance music event in Utah - please read

still though, if you break the law openly, what do you expect? im not condoning either party, but hell, law=law=law. if your gonna break it, dont make it obvious.

National Guard raids dance music event in Utah - please read

National Guard raids dance music event in Utah - please read

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