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We are breathless about the events that occured 2 nights ago. We know all of you were there to dance and have fun and your and our rights to do so were RAPED by government officials as well as our constitutional rights!
To clear any untrue media statements...
We were granted the utah county mass gathering permit # 2005-11 to occur on the date of aug 20 2005. We were raided and ABUSED by county AND federal officials.
We WILL NOT let this go un dealt with.
We will keep all of you informed on what is going on.
Our attorneys have been contacted, and we are takeing action immediately!!
WE WILL STAND STRONG, WE WILL NOT LET THIS HAPPEN!!
WE ARE AMERICANS AND WE WILL FIGHT FOR OUR RIGHTS UNTIL THE
END!!!
We would like to extent our gratitude to all of you all over the world for you support!!!
Thanks,
Destrukt, Johnny Law, Loki, Totem
(The Versus II Crew)
My account of the night of versus 2 is as follows:
I was standing behind the second stage watching a friend of mine play records. Everyone on the dance floor was talking or dancing to my friend's Reggae / Ragga music he was playing. Everyone appeared to be having a good time.
Up on the hill I noticed some cars that had been stopped for some time and on top of one of the bigger cars I saw what looked like ambulance lights. I commented to my friend standing next to me that the vehicle over there looked like an ambulance. He jokingly said that it was a paddy wagon.
Ironically, he was right. That was a paddy wagon from the Utah National Guard. After a little while I saw flashlights coming toward us. I leaned over to my friend at my right and mentioned how I think the cops are here. I was pretty wrong since no longer than thirty seconds had passed when we had assault rifles pointed at us. I was standing there behind the DJ booth with my hands in my pockets when they started yelling at us. They told me to take my hands out of my pockets, which I did. Then they told me to just put my hands on my head. I did that. They told my DJ friend that he needed to shut the music off. After they had said that they turned around and started yelling at us again. They said that it was an Illegal party and that we needed to fill our car with people and go. Their rifles were still pointed at us. They asked us if this was our equipment at the booth, to which we replied no. They told us that they knew we had been drinking and if we were too drunk to drive to stay there. Then another armed officer told us that we needed to leave now.
We walked back to our car and saw groups of people being harassed and being told to leave. We kept walking to the car. I counted about 9 police trucks, an ambulance and a paddy wagon on our way out the gate.
This is my account of what happened. I heard a lot more happened to other people. I feel lucky to be one of those who didn't go to jail. Didn't have police dogs sent after them, and most of all, I'm glad I didn't get tasered.
Last night at 10:00 PM I arrived at a party in the Spanish Fork canyon. I was excited to be there to listen to the great electronic artists that had traveled for to play for the crowd.
Before coming to the event I researched it extensively. The party was %100 percent legal and legit with all permits and necessary security required by law being acquired. The event was well organized, with garbage cans, porta potties, and rope lines blocking off parts of the area that you could no go into.
Now I want you to know that many people out there consider ravers a bunch of drug taking freaks. I also want you to know that that is a stereotype that is passed down through legions of undereducated parents, politicians, and media. There are many of us who are drug free party goers who attend these events for a pure love of the music.
So on to my point. At around 11:00 I was enjoying the good vibes and great music. Then at about 11:30 pm a helicopter began circling the party. Out of nowhere huge semis filled with what I thought to be national guard, swat, and the police rolled up. Soldiers came out of the bushes and rushed down to the party. Carrying M-16s, Ak-47s, nightsticks, and tazers. They proceeded to attack random people and push their might around on people who had done nothing wrong.
I saw about 7 people attacked (before being forced to leave). I saw two of them right in front of me. One was a guy who was walking around with a camcorder stunned at what was happening. A soldier told him to give him the camera now. The raver said no it is my camera. The soldier then proceeded to grab the camera, throw it to the ground and then began beating the kid. In the end they threw him to the ground violently an put their knee into his back while handcuffing him. All for wanting to keep his property. When I last saw him he was knocked out and unmoving.
Another girl next to me said to one of the soldiers that she didn't know how to get home as they had just arrested her friend. The soldier told her to walk home. My friend tried to grab her to bring her with us, but the soldier began yelling that she had touched him (which she hadn't). WIthin seconds, five soldiers had jumped on her and were literally beating the crap out of this innocent women. She was punched in the face, thrown to the ground, and kicked while down. All for worrying how to get home safely. She is now suing.
The soldiers proceeded to attack anyone with cameras or camcorders, obviously wanting to restrict the film that got out about it. This was not a legal attack, it was a blatant violation on our rights as American citizens. And the swat, police, politicians who authorized this, and the national guard knew this. That is why they were removing potential evidence.
We were treated as terrorists, innocent kids without weapons or even violent thoughts in their minds were manhandled, treated like terrorists, and forced to stop doing what we were by constitutional rights allowed to be doing. Our rights were completely removed from us. It was if we had visited the 1960s or communist China.
I hope for the sake of the American people that the news media does not let the lies of the government blind them to what truly happened last night. This could happen anywhere to anyone not just ravers, so AMERICA DON'T LET THIS STAND!
My name is Colby and this is my account of what happened at versus. In a large clearing a mile or so up Diamond Fork Canyon near Spanish Fork, Utah, there was an outdoor electronic music show. At approximately 11:30 PM, a helicopter with a spotlight made its first pass over the main stage. It came back and hovered over the confused crowd, as National Guardsmen in full camoflauge, helmets, boots, gas masks, and armed with assault rifles and dogs swarmed into the crowd. They first made their way onto the stage, grabbing people and forcing them onto the ground to handcuff them. I saw at least two people being beaten on the ground while barking, snarling dogs are held just a few feet from them. Weapons were being pointed at unarmed, peaceful civilians. A friend of mine was forced at gunpoint to put his hands on his head and turn around, because he asked if he could get his things from the tent. Tents were ripped open indiscriminately, and all belongings and bags were recklessly searched. I've heard accounts of people taking pictures, and when they refused to hand over the camera to the authorities, beaten or tasered. One sheriff said that "many people at the party had guns" and that there were "children in danger". The only guns I saw were the rifles held by soldiers, and the only children in danger were the people being wrongfully attacked by them. They say they shut it down because of drugs. Raves are not the only musical gatherings where drugs are used and distributed. The fact is that it was a premeditated strike, more likely motivated by a vendetta against raves stemming from Sequence Five (a previous outdoor party that the police did not have the manpower to shut down) than actually enforcing drug laws.
The Following is an Account of the Actions of the Night of August 20th 2005.
I arrived at the location for an outdoor electronic music event, at around 9:25 p.m. The First thing I noticed was the structure, and the layout of the site was very well organized. Markers were placed to prevent people from wandering off the designated paths. Wastebaskets and Trash recepticles were numerous. I was assured that the promoters had obtained 100% Legal Access to the land. All in all I was looking forward to a fun night with my friends, listening to music. I consider it like any other event ive gone to (Rock Concerts, Rap Concerts, etc.) The mood was festive, people were dancing and I could even smell the meat cooking from a grill.
At Around 11:39 p.m. I noticed a bright light in the sky to the North East, which I quickly realized was a Helicopter Search light, and I saw it circling over head. I assumed that the Helicopter was only there to scout us, make sure we weren't doing anything wrong, so I quickly dismissed it. However, it made 2 more passes and got substantially lower to the ground each time. At this time I heard a Woman next to me say "The Police Are Here, Everyone Has to Leave" Lots of people were disappointed, but noone was: rioting, fighting, or being insubordinate. People merely began to file towards their cars. At this time I actually got a look at my surroundings. Dozens of Men in Full Camo, Kevlar Vests, Gas Masks MP5 Navy's AUG's and many other fire-arms. Attack Dogs, were barking somewhere ahead of me. Suddenly I saw the sight that disgusted me. A person whom I had met before was on the ground face first, 4 Reservists had their guns pointed to his head, and were handcuffing him. Their attack dog was mauling his: Shoulder, Neck and Torso areas. I was quickly shuffled along but was very disgusted. I had attempted to record the man on the ground with my Camera-Phone, but a soldier approached me and took my phone and said "move Along" I still have not recovered it.
I also was witness to the blunt beatings using shoulder rests of weapons. My friend Katie Mercer was hit in the side of the head with an MP5 because a soldier took her camera, and she was trying to recover it from him. I was witness to numerous people being held at gunpoint, people being handcuffed, Attack Dogs, Guns, Malice, Hatred.
This blatant over-use of force is not only un-moral, it is also ILLEGAL. At no time during the night did I see any person with:
-Firearms
-Knives
-Fireworks
-Drugs
While it may be true that some individuals choose to take drugs at said events like this, Myself as well as many others choose to go for the music. Just like anything, you have bad apples, but you shouldn't cut down the tree.
Last night was one of the worst nights of my life. I am still incredibly shaken up by what happened ....enough to the point of where I'm still having problems talking about it. So i will tell you my side in a few words then link you to a more detailed version of how Knick explains it .
I was playing in Salt Lake City about 1 hour away at a massive outdoor event. 700 presold tickets, and by 11:20, there were 1400 kids there already.... all in all total expected... 3 - 4k. This was an all drum and bass event, held on private land, with an amazing view of the mountains surrounding us. This event was fully contracted with the city. They had all permits, a huge insurance policy and they were paying taxes. you have to know this is because of what happened next. And in NO MEANS is this story exaggerated. word for word this is what happened.
It was 1145... i had 30 min before my set, so i was running around lookin at the mountains and the people dancing, laughing , the crazy visiuls they even had prjecting on the mountains. i will share photos once i can see them. All of the sudden a helicopter comes in with massive spot lights .. all on the people circling everyone ... and within minutes like out of some fuckin movie , soldiers with guns (fucking rifles )come in out of the grass, like some vietnam shit. The police in full riot gear come in, big trucks ... next thing you know they are throwing tear gas at people, setting dogs on people, arresting kids. 4 big guys on one dnb fan kicking him down tieing his hands .... making kids sit in the dirt with their hands tied all in a line, now you must remember in this whole time NO ONE was resisting arrest or making a big deal, everyone peaceful started to walk out... but yet they were throwin tear gas... it gets worst ... but whats even more fucked up is hundreds of kids on drugs driving home on the freeway while they were just in major trauma.
i still cant even figure out what the hell happened, the promoter called me to make sure me knick and spor were ok and i broke down crying.. couldnt breath, i was freaking out ..... why? Is this what our fuckin country has come to .... a point of someone making a fully legal show and STILL getting busted for WHAT?????? What did 3000 kids on private land in the mountains near NOTHIING .. do to ANYONE?
The promoters have a massive lawsuit and they have so much evidence against the county that its not even funny, I will be present to testify against these fuckin pigs. And if you think this matter is a joke then all i have to say is . I didnt belive it until i had gas thrown at me. I am going to make sure i keep you all posted on this, and let you know if theres a way any of you can help.
This is my account of events that unfolded while attending an outdoor electronic music event. I arrived shortly before 9 pm sharp. My two friends and i set up camp and headed to the stage. All was well and peaceful enjoying the music to the full extent while dancing. Around 11:30pm or so i noticed a helicopter flying above the main stage of the event. At this point i am confused. The chopper began to come in closer to the stage with a search light focused on the crowd. I got nervous and still very confused and walked over to find my two friends I had arrived with earlier. Just as soon as i did that I looked over at my friend and asked "whats going on". That is when I was greeted by a man in full army attire, gas mask and all. He said to leave. I said what whats going on, at which point i was brutally attacked. Thrown to the ground and in the scuffle punched in the face by swat. That was not it either. I suppose i posed some a threat as another swat member rushed over to subdue me to the ground puting his knee in my back and arresting me. At that point I am screaming to a patron "whats going on?" He is just as confused as I am. At that point another swat member came over and kicked me in the leg. Let me tell you that I also only weigh 130 pounds. I had three grown men attack and beat me and throw me to ground for absolutely no reason at all. Not to mention being dragged to a van and violently being tossed in and taken to jail. Fined for resisting arrest and another outrageous charge. I do need to mention also that while this is all happening to me at the same time my two friends, a boy and girl were trying to reach out and stop them, at that point they were attacked and arrested as well.
That is my account. I have all the bruises to show. Our basic human rights were violated in a very bad way. We have to tell our story. Do all that you can and dont be afraid to speak up.
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.
http://www.404audio.com/forum/image...s/icon_evil.gif
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.
It's interesting to note how one-sided a conversation can quickly become upon having a fully automatic weapon waved in your face whilst attack hounds bark the vicious roar of bestial ferocity intended to strike fear deep into the heart. Evidently, by way of my actions that evening, I was a criminal who's acts were so heinous that suitable reprecussions included incarceration, or attacks with deadly force upon my person, all in the name of retaining order in a fit of domestic terrorism. I am a criminal, and was treated as such, all because I went to a large scale, state approved, and peacefull public gathering. Having no weapons, no illegal substances, no malicious intent, nor any kind of political agenda for the evening, in retrospect this gross display of militant force seemed excessive for such a circumstance, yet with my hands in clear sight, no yelling nor raise in my tone at all, I was a threat to myself, those around me, and to our proud and honorable men and women in uniform. Just a small recount of my experience last night.
Details of the show are trivial to the underlying theme of this article, but to list a few, the name of the show was Versus 2, featuring two artists I was quite excited to see, being DMC Champion turntablist Craze, and Knick from Evol Intent, amount others. The venue was just outside Spanish Fork, Ut., at what I believed to be some kind of construction site or quarry, it was hard to gather details in the dark. I arrived at approximatly 10:15 PM or so. Everything seemed to be very well run. Two security checkpoints searching cars, multiple people in the parking lot directing traffic to ensure dense and well structured parking, and lots of portable restrooms and trash cans spread about, both of which being key details to obtaining a mass gathering permit (amoung others). I just so happen to know that, as it was explained to me by a county sheriff last year, which makes for an interesting story in itself, but will be left untold for now. I got out of my car, and I was excited. The setup looked great, the moon was big and bright, the weather was ideal, and I was ready to hear some great music, see my friends, meet new people, and dance the night away. The venue was set up in such a fasion that when you walked down a path from the parking lot, you came to the secondary stage, and if you kept going on the path, you came to a larger clearing where the main stage was set up.
I made my way down to the second stage, said a quick hello to a few friends that were there, and started walking up towards the main stage. I was about half way up the path when I heard the music cut out from behind me. I could still hear the generator running, so I couldn't figure out why the music had stopped, but I just assumed they were having technical difficulties and thought nothing of it. I thought I'd probably head back down that way in a few minutes to see if there was anything I could do if they were having problems with the equipment, but I still wanted to go find a few people since I had just barely arrived. As I start walking back towards the main stage, I overheard a random person in the crowd yelling that the SWAT team had arrived and were shutting everything down.
I've been to a number of shows, and seen a fair share of them shut down, but I couldn't believe it was happening tonight. It was my understanding everything had been handled to ensure proper permits, legitimate private property with complete consent and understanding from all angles. I heard many people later explaining just how far the promoter of this show went to ensure everything went smoothly. I looked to my right and noticed police officers trudging through the bushes towards the main stage. Local enforcement was obvious, but I still couldn't believe that the SWAT team was there. I got to the main stage, saw a few more friends there, and just waited for a brief moment to see how it would pan out. What I had anticipated, as had happened before, would be music shut down, an officer barks a few orders on the microphone, kids with paraphernalia are searched and/or arrested, the furor dies down, and usually a suitable compromise is made. We turn the music down a bit, kids are asked to leave, but those who are truely there to have fun, to enjoy themselves, be there only for the music, get to stay and pan out the rest of their evening. That wasn't the case this time around.
After the main stage was shut down, the circling helicopter was getting closer to the ground, and that's when I saw the men in fatigues brandishing assult rifles. I had told a friend of mine to calm down, go with whatever happens, and we'll see how it works out. Thats when I spun around to see that innocent people on stage were recoiling in horror from having guns waved at them and orders barked. I can remember one officer in particular demanding that the record not just stop, but that everything had to be completely turned off, which people were scrambling to try comply with the demands, but that's not as easy to do when you're fearing for your life, I can only imagine. As people were rushing to try to collect their belongings, records, tents, audio equipment, the SWAT kept waiving their guns around and demanding microphone access after they had already had everything turned off and shut down. A man in uniform approached me and barked the order that I was to return to my car with no delay and leave. Even though previous experiences were less intense, I had been in that possition a time or two before, I feel a little veterened in handling such a situation. You win some, you lose some, I knew I was going home this time, but there's never any harm in a quick dialog between bystander and enforcement. In more words or less, I made it apparent that I was on my way out, I would passivly comply with whatever was needed to make this go easy, but I wanted to know under which grounds I was being evicted from my peacefull, private gathering. Usually when you show a voice of reason and zero threat of violence, you can at least talk with an officer for a bit. I was only able to ask my first question in a series that I had carefully planned, but the response I recieved was a curled lip, even more violent shouting, a gun pointed at me, and the threat that if I asked a single other question I would be detained or disabled my any means necessary. This is when I saw the dogs attacking people, and other kids being tackled by 3-4 of these "civil servents" at a time. I felt violated. I had done nothing to deserve that kind of treatment, but I felt I had to do what I could to try help other kids not get themselves in trouble. I told people to put there cameras away, I quelled a fair share of the anti-police sentiment amoungst the groups around me. Our small protest, albeit nonviolent, was better saved for another time.
I noticed in most of the shouting, many of the men in fatigues had trouble annunciating, indicating they were so full of adrenaline, who knows how itchy trigger fingers could have been. This full scale assult had obviously been carefully planned. I'm sure it took quite a bit of preperation to get this assult team properly geared up, get the helicopter ready, have probably every single bit of local enforcement that they could muster. There were even several reported sightings of morse code being blinked back and forth between opposite ends of the valley we were in. Many of these officers had also been recognized as being at parties previously, dating back as far as 2001 for shutting events down, and then being undercover at other shows later. Carefull planning indeed, but I am appalled. If you really felt you needed to, you could shut a show down with a handfull of cops and not a single gun comming unholstered. Although upset, there's no harm in being reasonable, there are so many other ways this could have been handled. I reprehend your execution on this one Utah County.
I suppose this is the result of a bored little army, but I feel dehumanized when treated like a terrorist when standing on the soil of a country I show patriotism for just as much as anyone. I've always been a big supporter of ending the war, support the troops, bring them home, yet suddenly a war of some nature is brought to me, and I am the enemy. Am I a criminal? Am I a terrorist? Verbage is freely open to interpretation, but there is no reprimand for such a severe punishment that was threatened upon me. Had I inadvertantly said the wrong thing, or quickly moved my hand, or something that seemed imposing to one of these fatigued men, what's to stop me from quickly becoming a casualty of a battle that had no reason to happen in the first place? This night will bear the example of the most unnecessary act of force that Utah has seen all in the name of the Reducing American's Vulnerability to Ecstacy Act. Tax dollars well spent to ensure my safety, and the safety of my future children.
My friends and I went and purchased tickets at Uprok to an event that as far as we knew was completely legal. We arrived at the party at about 9:00. We set up a tent and were prepared to camp the night. When the ambush started I was in the parking lot. I tried to hurry back to my tent to grab my possessions and pack. I almost made it to the stage when a swat told me turn around and get out. I tried to explain that I need my possessions, he didn't listen and just screamed "Get out or get arrested,". I headed back to the parking lot and again attempted to speak to an officer about my belongings. Same response, "Get out or get arrested,". Finally I spoke to an officer that gave me second of his time and told me I would have to come back tomorrow. We were by the car waiting for the rest of our party when another officer said "get out or get arrested,". We tried to explain that we had friends down there still and we were not going to leave without them. The Nazi replied with same god damn sentence, "Get out or get arrested,". I am not a criminal! Why should I be detained from my possessions or get arrested for going back for them? I did nothing wrong. I thought the party was legal and even if it wasn't why didn't they shut it down from the beginning. They wanted to bust, hurt, and arrest us. It was unethical, cruel and malicious what they did. They didn't treat us like human beings. They had no compassion or empathy for anyone. They broke up our peaceful, non-violent, party with guns, tear gas, and whole lot of violence. I am one of the lucky ones. I didn't get beat, mauled, or arrested but I saw a lot or innocent kids that were. I am truly disgusted with Utah County Sheriffs Dept. and will do whatever I can to help.
I sent the following e-mail to radiofromhell@x96.com . Maybe they'll talk about us a bit as well.
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Hello, my name is Dylan Elder, and although I'm not sure whether or not this may be of interest to you, as a long time listener I've known there isn't much the Radio From Hell DJ's aren't willing to be open mined with and filibuster about. A great injustice has happened this past weekend of Augest 20th, mosty along the lines of overstepping personal freedoms, police brutality, and a gross display of unnecessary militant force. We're looking for media exposure to cover more than just the angle that local authoroties would feed everyone to believe. Local news stations have been most uncooperative, but we've been recieving great support from many international internet forums, as well as discussion of possible media coverage in magazines such as The City Weekly, URB, and Rolling Stone.
As you may have seen on any of the local news broadcasts on Sunday, there were reports of a bust on a "large scale drug party" as it was refered to in the headlines. Unfortunatly these news reports were filled with nothing but biased propoganda to further a destructive stereotype against what most people like to brand as "ravers."
The event that happened on saturday was instead just a concert or sorts for people who enjoy a particular subgenre of electronic music. Really no different than the Big Ass Show for people who listen to the beat of a different drum, although I'm sure many of the attendee's were also frequent listeners to your program and x96 in general. Yet the type of music we were there to hear was unimportant, the great seriousness of the way ths event ended is what makes it an attrocity. Parties of this nature have been busted before, but had always been just by the local police. The news reports have stated it so far as being that the police recieved an annonymous tip that this party was fashioned to distribute illegal substances, so they stopped it, made arrests and confiscations. What the news failed to mention was that there were two security teams searching everyone to prevent the entrance of illegal substances. The news also stated that there were no permits obtained, thus making this an illegal public gathering, yet there were in fact all the needed permits, which were presented to the authorities, and promply torn to shreds. The news would also state that it was a simple procedure of the police showing up, stopping the show, and making arrests. What they did not mention, is that the raiding police had no warrent, this was on private land, and it wasn't just a handfull of local cops, but instead SWAT teams in full cammo and body armor, assult rifles, a helicopter, and tear gas.
Innocent bystanders were attacked by dogs, mercilessly beaten by troopers, threatened with assult rifles, and tasered amoung other things. In fact, a story of one person in particular, was a small 100 pound girl who simply jerked her shoulder away when she was grabbed from behind by two men in full camo suits, was tackled, tasered into submission, and arrested on the grounds of resisting arrest and aggrivated assult on an officer. She beared no threat to anyone, and is now in jail waiting to face a Judge on felony charges. This was no simple party bust, Utah County had declared war. There are tesitments of the carefull planning the police had forumlated to raid this event weeks in advance, having dozens of SWAT team members ready to disable and detain by any means necissary. I amoungst countless numbers of my friends retell their experience with having military assult rifles waved in their faces. Also has been surfacing are pictures of people with bruises and far worse bodily harm while the officers "peacefully" controlled this enviroment. There is also video of these men taking control of the main stage, helicopter spotlights seen, as well as people being beaten. By method of comparison, you may watch actual footage of the raid at this url ( http://homepage.mac.com/apexgrin/FileSharing2.html ), as well as the KUTV Channel 2 news report at this link ( http://kutv.com/topstories/local_story_233220802.html ). The actual video was shot by an annonymous individual who was at the party, and one of the few that made it out with their cameras. Few others have yet to make their pictures available for viewing online, but I have personally seen pictures taken with SWAT team members pointing their guns in peoples faces, attack dogs mauling people, and other horrific things.
The video of the raid doesn't have any audio, and unfortunatly can't quite capture the intensity of the moment. Everything is retold as no dramatization, it was almost like it was out of a movie. In full detail, my precise recollection of the event can be viewed at this web address ( http://forums.utrave.org/showpost.p...82&postcount=21 ), as well as others on this internet forum as well.
Long story made short, our community is furious that such a gross display of militant violence could possibly happen mere miles from a place that we would call home. I have always opposed war, particularly the disputes we are currently in with the Middle East, but if ever you were to see a video of innocent Iraqi civilians being overrun by an eccentric American military, that is how many of us felt on our own American soil. We are not terrorists, but were treated as such. Never had I seen a gun of any nature brandished in my direction, until I was threatened by a fully automatic assult rifle held by a civil servent, when I had commited no crime. A bored little army had to lead their raid on a well setup venue, with appropriate permits, security and medical staff on site. They were out to make a point, and the point they made to me was a tremdous disregard for the rights of a peacefull congregation. If they had to shut us down, that's fine, it's happened before, but this night was different, as I had said, to Utah County, this was a war.
Take from this story what you will, but by whatever method we can, we want to make this act of militant violence and police brutality be known. If you have questions or comments, you may reach me in response to this e-mail address, or you may read and/or participate in our lentghy discussions on our public forums found at utrave.org.
Thank you for your time,
-Dylan L Elder
My name is Colby i was there hanging out around 15 feet from the stage and i remember i looked up the chopper in the sky then realized there were men waving assault rifles around and the music had stopped, when i started to walk over by the concession stand to gather belongings i had a gun waved in my face by a man wearing full body camoflauge and a ski mask he yelled at me to " Get the fuck off the property now , or you will be leaving in cuffs" then when i reached the parking lot i remember i was being yelled at to get in my car drive even though i had NO where to back out or go too because we were in front of three rows of cars.
Well On the 20th of August 2005, I was attending an electronic music concert in Diamond Fork Canyon, just outside of Spanish Fork Utah. Around 11:45 P.M. I noticed a helicopter flying quite low with a spot light. It wasn't much longer after all of us noticed the helicopter that we saw full camo swat teams rush in from every side... It was like Iraq in Utah. Swat was surrounding the event with guns drawn and in an attack position. With in moments of seeing the first gun, swat jumped onto the main stage, guns pointed, and started screaming at the dj's. At this point I make my way to an officer to inquire about their reasoning for breaking up the event. Upon asking the officer their reasoning for entering the premises the officer raised the barrel of his gun and placed it no more that a foot away from my face and said , "Get the F*ck out of here!" At this point I turned around to witness an officer trying to grab a female in a red sweater. This female is screaming at the officer to not touch her. After about a minute of yelling and the girl continuously backing up, the officer took her to the ground in brute force!!! They were assaulting her. Her boyfriend stepped in and tried to pull the officer off of her. At this point I saw an attack dog released upon the male who was trying to pull the officer off the female. Then 4 more officers ran in and started attacking the male and a 2nd female. I witnessed people being attacked and harassed all around. I saw people's camera's being stolen and thrown on the ground by officers. I was even told by an officer that If I didn't stop taking pictures on my phone he would arrest me..I have never witnessed anything like this.. Not even in my years of growing up in Oakland, California. I hope that someone from your office takes a look into this case... This is already national news amongst the electronic music scene!
Thanks,
Scott B.
I arrived at the event about 11 pm. Got checked in, parked the car and found Loki. Me and my best friend Dave, then headed for a look around the whole event. On the way to the second floor, I saw a helicopter coming over the west ridge of Diamond Fork, and what looked like an RV coming up to the top of the hill, half way to floor #2, people started running and yelling "SWAT" is here and they have guns. I returned to the main stage, next to the non-operational visual screens, and that is when I watched 5 officers pass me to go behind the stage, and then more police, a K-9 dog, and started yelling at everyone to leave. One person, I witnessed just taking pictures or filming in front of the sound system, (It was quite chaotic, so hard to tell if it was a video camera or just a still camera), was dragged to the ground, kicked, I saw officers arms pull back, fists clenched, and this person was obviously getting a beating. Then I saw a flash, that must have been the Tazer. None of the officers said anything to me, but I did see some pretty abusive behavior going on with the dispersal of the crowd. After taking to the EMT's hired for the event, We left. That is my account of the events that transpired on saturday night.
An account of my night-
My group arrived roughly around 7pm to assist with the O2 bar set up and handling of the vending that night. Upon arriving I talked to the promoter and we discussed the mass gathering permit and he showed it to me and my brother. I'd done a show myself in utah county about 5 years ago, thus bring up the topic of this conversation and seeing the "Utah County mass gathering permit". In order to obtain one of these, there is a check list you must complete. I must say that this show was in order and put together very well.
We set up the O2 bar and get our tents set up. The DJ's start playing and we are pretty much just hanging out and listening to music, and even get in a bit of dancing to some great drum n bass that was played before the party was shut down.
Around 11:40 my brother and myself are sitting behind the O2 bar relaxing and enjoying the music when we see a helicopter over head. The chopper circles the party and gets lower as its circling. During this time I look up at the stage and see men in camo uniform and carrying guns up on the stage shutting down the music. I tell my brother to just stay where we are and wait to see what will be instructed.
They arrive at our area yelling at us to "Get the F*ck out". As I look over at my tent behind me I see 2 officers open it up and go inside. They find nothing and leave (as there was nothing, we were sober patrions enjoying the event). As I proceed to my tent, another officer approaches me and asks if its my tent. He proceeds to question me about drugs, I of course tell him there isn't anything. He searched my brother and myself and he lets me take down my tent, which was one of the most hardest things I've ever done.
As I started to take down my tent at least 6-8 officials stood in a row yelling at me with guns pointed my direction telling me to "leave my belongs and get the f*ck out". I feared to give eye contact to any of them as I could feel the hostility and adrenaline pooring from them. I managed to get all my belongs and get them to our vehicle not missing one thing. Everything was stuffed into the our SUV unpacked. We rushed as fast as we could with out drawing attention to ourselves. Looking around I'd see people laying on the ground hand cuffed, armed officers yelling at people and pointing thier guns at them telling them they will go to jail if they do not get of of there. Tents being ransacked in the distance, and cars lining up to leave.
I believe I missed a lot of the action being behind a large trailor for the sound and behind the O2 bar when the SWAT first arrived. I feel perhaps that its also what saved me from being one of those people that were harmed when they didn't need to be.
I left fearing for all my friends and hoping for their safety. I look back at this event as being one of the most tramatic in my life. As I sat in that chair and saw the things I saw, I felt like the war on Iraq had found its place in Utah County and I feared for my life.
Hello ive been DJing/going to allnight parties in s.l.c. for 7 years now. I was hired to play at Versus 2 on sat. aug. 20th 05. This was one of, if not the most professional set up ive scene at a party in this state. Two security check points, port o' potties, garbage cans all over, and of course a professional stage/speaker arrangement. I was at the party for only 30 mins before the helicopter sighting, and shortly there after, atleast 100 fully armed swat members had the place surrounded. I had no time to react, infact as soon as i saw the swat team my attention was aimed at a young lady being attacked by atleast 4 swat members. She was yaling for them to get off of her, and they proceded to tackel her to the ground and handcuff her. Her boyfriend was standing near bye nd had the horrifing position of watching this happen. His reaction was all verbal and he just yaled "get off of her, your hurting her arm". Before he could even finish, he too was tackled and cuffed. For what? he in on way was acting in a violent manner, nor was she. I was standing about 10 feet away when this all happened(it was right in front of the stage). I quickly left the scene, grabbed my friends and left. This was the most horific thing ive ever seen at a party/concert. Dj Brain email djbselekt@aol.com thanks
My experience of what happened went pretty much like this:
I was standing on the side of the main stage talking to a friend when we heard the helicopter start circling above us. We joked about the military showing up to bust the party as we stared up at the sky, and when i looked back down again, there were soldiers with guns pointed at us yelling at the top of their lungs. I made my way off the side of the stage and grabbed my records and started walking towards my tent, which was about 20 feet in the opposite direction of where they were telling people to go.
One of the cops saw me walking that direction and ran up and grabbed me by the neck and threw me to the ground. Another guy ran up and pointed a very large, scary looking gun inches away from my head as the other cop searched my record bag.
As this was going on, I watched my friend filming people getting the shit beat out of them as he walked towards the parking lot (this is the footage that was shown on all the news stations). Two cops then proceeded to knock his camera to the ground and literally body slammed him into the dirt. All for doing nothing but filming as he was walking away. I watched in awe as I saw bewildered kids getting pushed around and huge guys with guns running around tackling people. I couldn't fucking believe it.
The cops finally let me walk to my tent to get my car keys so I could leave (btw: tents come down in record time when there are 3 cops with machine guns and dogs watching your every move), but as I was leaving, I saw another kid on the ground tackled by 3 soldiers being punched in the head repeatedly. Anyone who was so much as said a word to the guards were being screamed at with weapons pointed in their face.
I am still in absolute shock about what happened. The helplessness and anger I felt that night as I watched my friend being attacked for no reason and knowing there wasn't anything I could do about really got to me. This whole thing is EXTREMELY disturbing to me.
They didn't need to use that kind of force, but they wanted to. They wanted every person at that party to be terrified of them. They wanted to instill fear as intensely as they possibly could. I felt like we were a part of some sort of terrorist camp that had just been discovered by the military. There is absolutely no reason that kind of force and weaponry should be unleashed upon the public in an unjustified manner like that. I feel so fucking violated.
I can't believe they can't think of better ways to spend thousands and thousands of tax payers dollars than to use it busting a single party.
Ya I know, another thread about it, but this is my experience...
Chilling, cooking beef for all the kids, killer vibe, not even 11:30 yet and all the sudden a helicopter hovers with a big ass fucking light, then comes back around lower with the same light, we think oh well they knew wew ere here and are just checkin us out, go back to serving the beefysnax, all the sudden some kids comes up
"Dude!! Fuckin vans, cars, trucks all full off swat with guns and full riot gear and shit rush every where, yelling "get the fuck out of here, go now or you go with us!"
We are like what the fuck!! We are chillin one second, then swat team is pulling kids from the woodwark back in handcuffs, kids are trippin, the stage clears out in like 20 seconds, no exageration, boom, party is done before midniught even came, I dont think most the people were even there yet, we got hella beef we didnt sell, and ther worst part is, this party had everything done the way it shoud: Bathrooms, garbage cans, security, EMT, permits, licenses, all that on lock, no one beligerant and shit
So heres my theory
Sequence went off, they didnt have the man power to bust it down..they were pissed and embarresed that it went off...
SO an order comes through for a permit for another big party, cops know exactly what they want to do, they had been planning this sicne the permits were ordered. There were people scoping out the set up crew, they had helicopters, swat team, this wasnt just put togehter at the alsdt miniute, they had a fuckin portable labroatory with them for christ sake, so they let people get there, then the get to be the oh so great police force and bust down this rave and be the hero on the news, revenge on all us for getting away with sequence... Wasnt sequewnce in Utah county? So was this, so kinda bullshit, no matter what yo do they will stil shut you down, so the only way to do it is to go underground.... Shit like this makes you want to say fuck it and give up, but then they win.... SO I dont know, pretty fuckin pissed, I will be erating hamburgers for a fuckin week, but feel evern worse for the DJs that did not get to play, for Jeremy and Loki and all the promoters involved, all the kids who had to drive the deadliest freeway in the State all fucked up on drugs, for the sence in general, this is a mighty fine kick in the ol nut sack, all I can say is FUCK!!
FEG
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
HOLY FUCK!
I HAVE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS....
When did IRAQ come to utah county!...
I was there and im lucky to alive some fuckin army guy grabbed me by the neck and threw me down he said if I wasnt compliant I would goto jail but im only 16 so I wasnt scared.but alot of my friends were there and they were on e so I hope they got home safe.its some brutal shit there fucking dumb ass k-9s attacked some girls and mauled them.I was just helping a friend sell his energy drink at the fuckin thing and those pigs were being such dicks.I shoulda punched that fuckin pig in the face.they tried to arrest my sister cause she was bitchin them out for beating everyone up.fuck um.that was my first rave it sucks it was such a shitty experience.post the your stories about what happends to you,friends,and family I want to hear them Im going to print them all out and take them to rocky anderson hes a good friend of me and my sisters well get those fuckers for what they did.atleast will try to get them for what they did.hope you all got out of it safe and sound.
If that's true we should fucking sue their asses and make them pay. This was totally unecessary. WTF why did they bring guns. We didn't have guns. Jeez.
I saw a soldier tell a kid to give him his camera and the dude said no it's my camera, and the soldier through the camera, called 6 other cops and they beat him down on the ground. He was probably knocked out cause he was completely lifelessly still.
And another chick whose friend got arrested was like what am I supposed to do? and the soldier yelled at her to get a ride. And she was like I can't you took my ride. THe guy then yelled that the girl had touched her and like 5 soldiers through her to the ground and manhandled her. That should never happend especially to a women.
I saw like 4 other people getting thrown around, but I don't have the details. I'm going to protest this at bush's visit. Those fuckers probably did this to gain browny points with bush. We should have signs that say: Long live versus, and Raving is not illegal. And We have no rights, the military has removed them.
I'm sending a letter to the mayor, the governer, the police department, slc weekly, news agencies etc. You guys should do the same, so that the public doesn't end up believing the fake coverage and praise that the national guard is going to receive. We can't let this type of shit happen. America is long gone, now we are just a mascarade pretending to protect the rights of people across the world when we are removing the rights of our own countrymen.
I don't even know where to start . . .
girls getting tasered for taking pictures
people gettin bit by dogs
M-16's getting pointed in peoples faces
helicopters
tear gas
making a dj cry . . . .
are you serious??? did this really happen?
in my wildest imagination did i ever see this coming. the day when the Man would attack us like we were terrorists or rapists.
A simple "hey, could you turn your music off" would have done just fine, but to push a dj off his tables while he was spinning . . .
to beat people down that just wanted to know what was going on . . .
this is not America
i cannot believe that i live somewhere that this can happen . . .
I've seen parties shut down before but not like this
excessive use of force does not even begin to explain what happened tonight . . .
i hope that all of you who were attacked tonight will not stay quiet about
what happened
and hopefully those responsible will be brought to justice
wow... I seriously cannot believe this happened.
I was over at the second stage when the cops showed up. Sean says 'that looks like an ambulence' and I'm all 'I bet it's a patty wagon' little did I know it really was. A couple minutes later we see flashlights and all of a sudden have MP-5 sub-machineguns put in our faces. My hands go straight up and I freeze.. a few seconds later the helicopter starts circling the mainstage and I can only imagine the chaos there as the national guard approached the party.
After a few minutes of cops yelling at us not to move and questioning whether it was our equipment they told us to get the fuck out of dodge.. which we did immediately.
We ended up being some of the first people out of there since we were at the second stage.. The stories I heard of people being tackled, tasered and beaten for doing so much as taking pictures or questioning what was going on. I think they used this party as a training exercise for an entire fucking division about to go iraq. Seriously, that is unbelievable... they raided the place like it was a terrorist camp. What the fuck, a bunch of kids out in the mountains listening to music? The cops seemed to think everyone there was on drugs and treating people like they were escaped prisoners or something.
I was at the second stage watching dapper when this fucking cops came and man handled my ass. What the fuck is that shit? i was there having a good time when this cop comes and starts pushing me arould with a gun in my face!!!!!!! Like lil old me with a backpack full of water is going to do something yeah right
1. We had all of our permits. They took everything.
2. The cops told me that Ravers sold them drugs.
3. It was wrong what happened and it will be dealt with.
We will figure this out and let everyone know what is going on! I'll get back on here soon and give everyone a full update!
I got away with my camera, but I couldn't take any pictures.
I saw other girls getting stunned with tazers when they were told to give their cameras up, i luckily got mine put into a backpack.
=( I really wish I could have gotten some actual footage or some pictures. I saw what went down and I am truly sorry for those who got taken down and denied their rights.
My full support is being put into this, I have contacted numerous news stations and I am currently even trying to get a hold of the BBC news.
Account of what happened to jucybeats as a witness
I witnessed what is on that video first hand. I was sitting maybe 10 ft. from where it all went down. That girl did nothing wrong to deserve what happened to her. I feel aweful that there was nothing I could do for her. I just sat there in shock screaming at the swat members that were tackling her to the ground. I don't know the girl in the video but if she needs someone to testify for her I am available. They need to pay for what they did!
am the "cameraman" that got arrested. if you to explain to me why I got arrested wile peacefully walking back to my car thatd' be GREAT !!!
hmmm... or maby well let the video tell the story, machienes are such great story tellers...
btw, we have updated the video to a higher res.
Whats up crew- I just got out of the Utah county jail after being unfairly beat down and put face to face with a very angry k-9 unit. I have bruises and scrapes but my fucking faith in Utah promoters is dead. I am in touch with my fellow jail birds and we are compiling our case. Everybody give big props to those of us who stood up for our rights as human beings not just as people trying to party. Much love and respect to Alisha, Paul, Jeff, Mickey, Matthew, Trudy, and all the others I spent time with in the slammer. You guys are the shit.
Eyewitness to tear gas
they did use tear gas. I personally know people who had guns pointed at there heads for asking questions. They also where destroying recording equipment as well as confiscating it. I really can't think of a justification for the use of force that extreme. You say we should partee in clubs. Well it is well within our right to assemble peaceably whether or not you like it.
2nd view on the juicybeats getting taken down
Same I was sitting right in front of a girl getting beaten by a member of SWAT! Then her boyfriend was trying to help her and he gets beaten down too! All I can say is what the hell happened last night? I'm in total and complete shock. I watched friends get arrested, small girls get beaten and man handled and guns being pointed in peoples faces. Since when is it a crime to ask what the hell is going on? Ugh I'm so disturbed by the whole situation as I'm sure all of you are as well. Please, let's all get together and speak up! We can not let them get away with this!
My account...
What a sweet party, at first...the promotors paid so much attention to little detaisl,w ither it be portapotties, a lot of licensed EMTs*very nice too*,tons of trash cans, sweet ass sweet setup and tons of respectful kids out to say goodbye to summertime, beefysnax was fuckign HOPPING, doing really really good.
Around 11:30ish a copter started circling the area, i thought it was there to check out numbers and do survillance, then it started getting lower and lower and lower until the dust and grass was flying everyhwere. I was sitting behind our table when some poor kid come srunning up from behind me screaming SWAT ARE HERE, they just rushed me from behind and threw me on the ground for no reason....
I honestly thought this kid was pulling my chain....cops ya, SWAT...okkkkkk
THen BOOM!!! OUt of no where 80+ cops in full camo gear pointing automatic rifles and machine guns at kids faces telling everyone to get the fuck out...
this is when it gets crazy...keep in mind, people were leaving PEACEFULLY and besides running some mouths, there was NO resistance
-i personally witnessed 3 girls between 100-130lbs get thrown on the ground, for no obvious rerason, and had between 2-4 guys on thei back trying to handcuff them. I also wintessed one the girls get a boot in the face/head area. I saw on cop use his hand to push one of the girls face into the dirt very hard...and then they were pulled up at a very sharp angle(shoulder pain)
-i saw 2 guys get tackled while they were standing and forced to the ground with 3-5 cops on top of them, legs were kicking and forearms getting shoved in faces.
-i saw the tear gas go into a peaceful crowd
-i saw the dogs mauling some poor kid already on the ground with a cop on him
-i saw confused kids who were forced to leave even though their ride was no where to be found
-i saw a blatant power trip take place and it is disgusting....
so not onyl am i 150$ in the hole for the BBQ that the COUNTY SOLD US A PERMIT TOO, KNOWING WHAT IT WAS FOR, but i am also out a projected 400-600$ profit from our BBQ and the rape of mine as well as my co-partiers rights....and yes, iu meant rape.
ok once we got out of jail and made it all the way back to the party to retrieve my dads truck and our tent. it had been ransacked by the swat. cell phone gone. sleeping bags ended all the way on the other side of the party. everything trashed. so beaten up by the cops, arrested and robbed all thanks to utah county swat/army?
The promoter did have the permits he needed. People not being beaten? My family rented out the property and we were all there and have talked with a bunch of people about what they saw. There was a girl who got punched in the face after she was thrown to the ground. A guy got tasered when he was on his stomach with his hands behind his back. and there were many others who were hurt even though they weren't resisting. You're fucking retarded if you think that that raid was lawful.
On the evening of August 20th, my roomates and my boyfriend and his brother, and also some friends set out for a night of music, and outdoor entertainment.
Shane had left before us, and we(Cody,Ricky, and myself) were straggling behind. We had a goal set for at least 4:30 pm to leave and get there early, to set up.
On the road, we spoke about the location and how wonderful this weekend was going to be, because the last weekend was a let down. We stopped at the Chevron (joined to the Gandolfo's, in which we later on learned that our roommates were eating at) for some gas, and then headed up the road to Diamond Fork Canyon. As soon as we arrived, the gate was being shut, but we let them know that we were with Choatic Entertainment. They let us in and we proceeded to the event area.
When we got to the Area, it was amazing. Xile was setting up their stage, and it looked really good and legit. As soon as Shane arrived, we set up our Oxygen bar and then waited for the night to blanket us. Just when we finished setting up, Beefy Snax arrived and plotted out a spot next to ours. Perfect! It was going to be a great party.
As soon as the music started, we all enjoyed ourselves, sitting around, or even dancing behind the bar. I caught myself in conversation with some kids who needed to use a working cell phone - which I happened to have. They were stranded out at this party and were looking for a friend who would take them home later that night...
I conversed with a lot of people that night, many of them curious of the oxygen bar. It was around 10:00 that EMT's showed up. I talked to them as well, they were very cool and were excited about the event. I wandered off a little, to dance, to speak to old friends, and to take pictures. It wasn't til about 11:10 that a close friend of mine, Jeremy, pulled me over to the sound trailer and said:"Something is going on. See that truck (and pointed towards the direction of the exit)? It pulled up not too long ago and it's been sitting there for a while." He looked at me, scared, and said "I need to find my friends." And he took off. I have not heard from him since then.
It was then when my roommates' dogs started to act strange. A helicopter flew over us and we all jokingly said something about the police raining on our parade. The helicopter proceeded to get lower, and lower, passing over us about twice. I started to sneeze and cough from the kicked up dander, pollen and dirt in the air. Then, it happened. SWAT was everywhere.
I stood behind the bar and watched as Shane got searched. I listened to the SWAT officers yell at his wife and tell her that she was going to Jail that night. When I turned around, I saw people getting tackled, mauled, or even getting tasered multiple times. I was so scared for my own safety, I didn't even realize the SWAT officer asking me a question. I let them search me, and then he just sounded disappointed that I had nothing on me, and said "Just pack up maám. Get home as soon as you can."
I went to find my boyfriend who was taking down our MASSIVE tent. He looked like he was having a panic attack. They were screaming: GET OUT! GET THE HELL OUT! LEAVE IT!
But Cody was not stupid. There was no way we were leaving BRAND NEW camping gear there. As I started to help unpack things, I left my camera out on top of the cooler. I have a Cannon 35 MM camera, and I was using it to take pictures for promotions and etc. A SWAT officer came to me and said "Miss, If you don't want them (points to his fellow officers who were not paying attention) to take away your nice camera, I suggest you put it inside a bag or something." It was then when I got really shaky and scared to pick up my camera. The men were staring at me like I was some sort of grave robber. We continued to take apart the tent, and I accidently jabbed one of the SWAT officers with a tent pole. He then laughed and said "Your aim is horrible." Some of them were polite, and didn't believe in what they were doing. The others were just ASSHOLES.
I got my act together and packed all I could. We didn't even finish folding our tent, but we stuffed it into the back of our SUV and proceeded to get out. When we walked to our SUV, I saw a girl in a red hoodie, crying and telling me that she was hurt and to help her.Her wrists were ziptied, and a little bit too tight, I must say. I told her I couldn't do anything, but I did give her a hug and tell her to hold on for the best. Things will turn out okay, and she will be fine.
It was then when we left.
Many people were leaving on foot, and I'm not sure what happened to those who were arrested for distribution or other felonies.
I'm lucky I made it out with my camera, and I wish I would have taken pictures of the brutality and force that was used that night. I feel horrible for not attempting to, it would have been something to contribute to this. But in all actuality, I wasn't looking for a reason to go to jail that night, either.
To Whom it May Concern,
My company Exile Events ( http://www.exileevents.com ) was contracted by the event organizers to perform an all night laser and light show on the evening of August 20, 2005 to the morning on August 21, 2005.
I will try to layout the facts of the night as unbiased and straight forward as possible.
Here are the facts as I understand them prior to the Event.
The event organizers had a significant investment into this party and wanted everything to be fully legal to prevent any possibilities of this show ending prematurely.
The event organizers had secured a 2 Million Dollar Insurance policy to cover the party goers and equipment and companies used for the event.
The land owner concerned about an event of this size required the Event organizers to have a Mass Gathering Permit, prior to agreeing to host the event.
All required permits as recommended by the County were obtained.
Law Enforcement was contacted.
Licensed security was hired to help control the crowd.
EMT's were onsite in case of any medical emergencies should arise.
Vendors were contacted to sale water, food, and beverages.
Portable toilets and other amenities were brought on site for party goers to use.
Because it was an outdoor location camping was to be permitted.
To the best of the organizers abilities all legal requirements of the law were being met.
Here is what I witnessed standing next to the main stage. A helicopter approached the party with large a spotlight. It circled several times. I heard shouting to turn the music off. At this point I still have not seen any of the law enforcement individuals who had surrounded the party.
I then see an individual in full battle gear on stage turning off music. I then see that much of the party is surrounded by men in full battle gear, machine guns, helmets, bulletproof vests, and what appeared to be gas masks. I was assuming this is law enforcement though there wasn't any formal announcements other then they had guns.
Chaos as the party goers react to army type personal with machine guns, night sticks and Dogs. I immediately began turning down lights and pieces of equipment that were associated with the performance of the show.
Also immediately many partygoers began to leave there was no resistance. When partygoers asked to return and get their things (many were camping out) they were refused and at times forced to leave with brute force. An individual near the stage who was videotaping a girl that was being subdued with excessive force was then subdued himself. It appeared that he was being beat pretty badly for refusing to give up his camera.
I saw many people who were apart of the licensed security team being taken away in handcuffs. I saw an individual near the main stage subjected to one of the many K9‘s they had on site. It appeared that he may have been bitten and mauled by the dog. At no point did I see a single person attending the party resist arrest or attempt to fight back. This appeared to be a premeditated staged exercise carried out against a peaceful gathering.
Here are the facts as I witnessed them and understand them after the night came to an end:
It was a peaceful crowd.
I saw many individuals roughed up, beaten down and subdued in ways that seem to violate civil rights.
The police and army type troops were very proud of themselves for subduing and shutting down this event.
The police are claiming the “wrong” permit was issued thus justifying their actions.
Police are stating that a 17 Year old had overdosed ( I have seen no other information about this except for the police report not even sure this really happened)
They confiscated drugs from security that had confiscated drugs from party goers and charged them with possession.
The Police reported making over 60 arrests.
Many of the arrests made seemed to stem directly from the way they handled the situtation and from people resisting having their civil rights abused.
The Police reports that weapons were confiscated.
This weapon shown on TV is reported to belong to the land owners son thus can't be considered to be contraband
The police are charging the landowner and the Event Organizers for operating without a Mass Gathering Permit and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Several Party goers and Event Organizers are in turn suing the County for:
Excessive Force
Unlawful entry without a warrant
Unlawful search and seizure
Assault
Civil rights violations
I feel that it is my responsibility as a citizen to the United States to report the wrongs that I witnessed. We do not live in a police state. I do not approve of my TAX money being used to take down peaceful gatherings. It appeared that none of the troops used in this exercise of military strength had any concern about the well being of the people they were confronting.
If you have any comments or questions about my statement feel free to contact me at david@lsexile.com
David Miller
Exile Events
david@lsexile.com
My accounts on the evening of Aug 20, 2005
My name is Shane Lloyd, owner of Chaotic Entertainment's Oxygen Bar which was booked for the night in question.
After we set up, we were greeted by a friendly staff of EMT's who were interested in our Oxygen Bar. They were very happy to see it and commented several times about how nice it was. During the night as we served our customers, everything seemed fine, I saw nothing but happy kids enjoying themselves and dancing to the music. There was not one fight that broke out, no violence, nothing. This party seemed to be going great.
We brought our two yellow labs with us. The dogs were fine until about 11:30 pm, when my youngest puppy started whining and barking, completely freaking out. We put her into the tent to calm her down, but within minutes a helicopter had started circling, spotlighting the area below. The music died, and by the time I had exited the tent, swat and police were moving in. One of our customers was tackled off of his stool while he was waiting to be hooked up to oxygen. Put belly down, hands zip tied behind his back and a riffle pointed at him.
My wife was waiting in the tent with the puppy. When she came out, she had to restrain our dogs as there were now K9 police units everywhere. She tried to put the dogs in the tent, but was stopped by the police. The police told her repeatedly to leave, and when she told them that the oxygen bar was her business, they made her sit on the ground with an armed guard, and told her that she was going to jail. They did not tell her what for, and would not even allow her to help me pack up the oxygen bar and all of the supplies.
Police grabbed me, pulled me off to the side and stated “You are in the center of this X shit.” I questioned him, not understanding him and he clarified that he thought I was the ringleader of all the extacy being sold. At this point, I explained to him that I had no Extacy on me or around my bar, and offered to let him search me. Four men searched me and found nothing. He acted irritated when he didn't find anything in my pockets and then ordered another police officer to complete the search by making me remove my shoes.
My other assistant and I got our oxygen bar ready to be packed up and waited for K9 units to go through our Uhaul, and all of our supplies and our tent. At this point we where being guarded by two armed swat team members. When they were done searching our equitment, we were allowed to repack the Uhaul. My wife was still sitting on the ground restraining our dogs. Our friend who drove us up there had his hands zip-tied behind his back and he was told he was being charged with distribution of a controlled substance. He was zip-tied so tightly that he had bruises and lacerations on his wrists the next day and had lost feeling in his thumb. They were searching through the interior of his truck, although they had not secured his permission before doing so, and they did not have a warrant. They also searched through all the purses of the girls who we had helping us out, again without any warrants or permission. The truck looked like a bomb had hit it when we were allowed to go near it. They did not find drugs in any of our supplies or anywhere in the uhaul, tent or truck. They took our friend to jail. A policeman came up before we left and accused us of knowing that our friend was selling Extacy. We knew for a fact that he was NOT doing any such thing. When they took our friend to jail, they didn't even charge him with distribution of a controlled substance because they didn't have any proof. Instead, they charged him with contributing to a minor under the age of 18. Their “proof” was the fact that he picked up a case of beer for his own consumption.
It looked like a war zone. I did not see anyone resisting arrest from the oxygen bar, but I did see police and swat attacking people without any obvious reason. I saw one guy on the ground with four policemen attacking him, and several others had at least two to three policemen attacking them with batons. Police everywhere had guns pointed in peoples faces and were screaming at them. I'm surprised no one was shot. I have never seen so much chaos, even including my time in the military.
Eventually they released us. There was no reason for the swat team to be there. From what I saw, most of the violence came from the swat team, and it was unprovoked and unnecessary. Regular police could have broken up the event on their own very easily; nobody was resisting or even objecting to the party being busted. They just wanted to get out of there.
I did security at a party called SEQUENCE in the middle of July, and as I was heading home I was harassed by Utah County Sheriffs Deputies waiting at the bottom of the hill for us. They pulled me over for a “burned out license plate light” which was their excuse for at least another DOZEN or so vehicles leaving the party. They asked me if I was on drugs or had been drinking, and I was wearing Military BDU's, with a name tape with my last name on my right breast, and SECURITY on a tape on my left breast. I was also wearing a black baseball hat that said SECURITY across it. He asked me quite snidely if I were on “military operations” up at the party, and I simply told him I'd been working security for the party, and which he sneered and laughed at. He told me to warn the promoters that the next party WOULD get shut down, threw my license and registration in my lap, turned around and walked away. This act in itself tells me that this has been in the works for quite some time. They were obviously upset that they did not have the man power to shut Sequence down and came at the promoter of THIS party with a vengeance.
My next issue is the brutality by the police. I've seen video of people being taken down at the party, police dogs SNAPPING at scared, unarmed individuals. I don't know if anyone has provided you a link to this video, but I'd be happy to forward to it if you'd like. This kind of behavior by the police is amazing to me. With the police we'd like to expect that they'll behave with professionalism, integrity, and empathy. I laugh as I see the news report of all these alleged “near fatal shootings” at raves, as I'd worked them for two years, and NEVER had to draw a firearm, and I never even felt that I was in danger. Sure, I've taken people into custody and waited for the police to come pick them up, sure I've broken up fights, but in all honestly the majority of the people who attend these parties are peaceful people, who don't want drama, don't want fights, they just want to go to a party, dance as hard as they can to the music that moves their souls. Absolute brutality to these kind of people outrages me to no limit. I expected that the police would shut down another party, which is not even the issue, it's the way they handled themselves. I never would have imagined that they would be recruiting SWAT teams to handle these people. I can see calling SWAT on a Rap show where they're going off about rape, murder, drugs and money. I don't even see why you would need to be recruiting K9 units to break up a rave. They had helicopters overhead with infrared cameras, so you can't even say that they needed it to be able to find someone that took off running. I think that the addition of K9's to SWAT for a rave, is completely uncalled for and SEVERE overkill. I don't know how familiar you are with electronic music, but most of it doesn't even have lyrics. And never have I heard any that endorses drug abuse, rape, violence like the police ACT like it induces. Sure, in ANY music gathering you have, you will have drug use of some sort. People see the Grateful dead, and they smoke weed, do acid and whatever else floats their boat. You go see Snoop Dogg, you have people Smoking weed like there's no tomorrow. I mean, the only music you can go to without finding people abusing drugs in one form or another would be things like Classical, Opera, and Yanni or Enya. Even then, half the classical composers wrote their music while drunk or hopped up on drugs. Drugs and music will inevitably forever be linked together in some way shape or form. It's one of those sad things that we're powerless to change, no matter how we try.
The Police stated that there was a 17 year old girl who had overdosed on ecstasy that they found, not the promoters, and they said the girl was treated on site, and released to her parents. I'm sorry, but when you've overdosed on a drug, it typically requires hospitalization for at least 6 hours. You don't just “treat” an overdose on site. Not only that, but MDMA itself is VERY hard to overdose on because it causes the neural receptors to be flooded with serotonin, a chemical in the brain, produced by the brain. It's all the other dirty stuff floating around that she would have been overdosed on, and I can tell you a methamphetamine overdose is NOT something that an EMT can treat with water. You see, with Ecstasy, there is MDMA which is the primary component, but its non-cohesive. It can not on its own be pressed into a pill. So drug makers combine it with things from cocaine, to meth, to lord knows what else. That in itself is what makes taking Ecstasy so dangerous. You NEVER know what the other components are, nor do you know the quantity of what you're taking. So honestly, I have to call the Sheriffs office's bluff on the alleged Overdose.
In closing, I want to thank you for enduring my two page letter as to my outrage and concern regarding this entire fiasco. The police departments are looking at MANY law suits, and I pray to God that they are held accountable for the severe lack of good judgment displayed by City officials, Police administrators, and the officers themselves. I hope you take this community seriously, and help us have our cry heard loud and clear by ALL law enforcement agencies that have sensationalized our community to the very outer limits of the truth. Please make our voices be heard, and please act with the very integrity, honor, and professionalism that we all hope will be given to this ordeal.
Sincerely,
Sean.
P.S. I'm 25 years old. I'm hardly a “kid” as the law enforcement community refers to us.
ok so helicopters show up, swat yelling time to go, ok no problem. Start packing my tent, At which point they start pointing guns at me saying I need to leave now, start rolling the tent up, then they begin screaming go now still pointing guns dogs barking, so I just grab the whole thing and leave. Get about 150 yards away from my car then all the sudden BOOM! Some hardass in a uniform kicks me square in the back knocking me flat on my face, puts his knee in my back and handcuffs me in these plastic hand cuffs that were way to tight, my hands were purple by time I got to jail. I then ask him what im being charged for so one of the other swat members brings over who I believe to be James Tracey, and he just writes on my arm distribution. I did not have anything to do with pills this night, I was searched and they found nothing on me as well, I also had no money on me. And yet im getting charged for distribution. I was then pushed and shuved into a van crammed with people, they did not put on our seat belts. Sent into jail, didn't even read me my rights or why I was even there really. Then had me spend sunday in Utah county jail. and thats my story
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