Fascism in Utah - Rave gets raided by army!

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Posted by preach on Aug-23-2005 12:50:

Fascism in Utah - Rave gets raided by army!

Legal Utah rave gets raided by the army in a horrible way. Unbelievable, our regards go out the the people who were present at the time!

From an eye witness:
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.

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

Article in the Salt Lake Tribune:

http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_2961967

Posted by the_devil on Aug-23-2005 13:51:

holly shit...
Thats f*cken corrupted

Posted by Tag on Aug-23-2005 14:06:

http://www.tranceaddict.com/forums/...threadid=286894

Posted by Alex on Aug-23-2005 17:40:

Just imagine something like that happening at Swirl or another party like that...

Posted by Tag on Aug-23-2005 17:55:

quote:
Originally posted by Lopitrance
Just imagine something like that happening at Swirl or another party like that...

I know you're drunk!

Posted by LiGHT78 on Aug-23-2005 20:41:

3 clich�'d words...

Only in America!

Stupid bastards....go raid a godamn 50 Cent concert...

Posted by Tag on Aug-23-2005 20:58:

quote:
Originally posted by LiGHT78
3 clich�'d words...

Only in America!

Stupid bastards....go raid a godamn 50 Cent concert...

Hey!!! some of us here like 50 cent... GGGGG GEEE UNIT!!!!111

Posted by St�phanie on Aug-23-2005 22:03:

OMG...how can they do that!

Posted by fastmp3 on Aug-23-2005 22:09:

home of the brave, land of the free

Posted by mcb001982 on Aug-23-2005 22:40:

now i am going to point a finger on this one and i am sure some people are going to say i am not right........but this all happened because of their stange ass religion they have in that state, 90% of the religious people in the state of utah are mormon, and they have some strange rules there, like you will not find a liquor store.......at all in the city of salt lake city or most of the state, they all have a curfew for all at 10pm and a bunch of other really strange rules, i am sure that this is related to someone that tipped them off and they just wanted to break it up.......but then again i may be wrong, but that is one beautiful states to look at and go do outdoors type stuff there "ie. mountain climbing, skiiing, snowboarding, ect.", but i would never live there for there freaked up rules they have

Posted by Tag on Aug-23-2005 22:58:

Posted by mcb001982 on Aug-23-2005 23:02:

quote:
Originally posted by Tag
Dude mormons also HATE dancing...I think they tried to ban it all together. It's not just Utah, much of my family lives in Colorado Springs. The city is the self proclaimed capital of evangelical christians. Anyway, while i was there this summer I tried to find somewhere where I could get drunk ( I was bored as fuck). Well for one I;m not old enough there, however I never found a bar or anything. The best I came up with was beer at a restaurant. They carded me though. Anyways bottom line is the US is fucked up and I will never use my dual citizenship.

yeah.........i miss montreal

Posted by nchs09 on Aug-23-2005 23:02:

it wasnt that bad. it was a raid for drugs. the peple who had them got fucked those who didnt nothing happened to them

Posted by Tag on Aug-23-2005 23:03:

quote:
Originally posted by mcb001982
yeah.........i miss montreal

I feel your pain.

Posted by shawn05 on Aug-25-2005 18:01:

Thats complete bullshit. Sometimes I wonder what the fuck the governmental system in the United States is thinking. If it was 100% legal, they had no right to do what they did.

Was it ever justified?? (the raid, not the rave.. raves dont need jusitifcation....hehe.)

Posted by Blacksunshine on Oct-18-2005 16:24:

quote:
Originally posted by mcb001982
now i am going to point a finger on this one and i am sure some people are going to say i am not right........but this all happened because of their stange ass religion they have in that state, 90% of the religious people in the state of utah are mormon, and they have some strange rules there, like you will not find a liquor store.......at all in the city of salt lake city or most of the state, they all have a curfew for all at 10pm and a bunch of other really strange rules, i am sure that this is related to someone that tipped them off and they just wanted to break it up.......but then again i may be wrong, but that is one beautiful states to look at and go do outdoors type stuff there "ie. mountain climbing, skiiing, snowboarding, ect.", but i would never live there for there freaked up rules they have

NOTE TO SELF: I should probably update my Profile, and I"m late on this post being it's so old...but fuck it!

Anyway, just wanted to expand on this being I AM from Utah!! HAHA moved back from California (what was I thinking?) Anyway I really just wanna expand on this particular post.

This moment in "raving" was and is insane and unfair, and in all Honesty I fear for all of America if SOMTHING dosn't come of this to change the way we are currently running this place (USA.) Utah is a great place to start...becuase deep down i think that "they" thought/think they can get away with this. Thank God the people that were promoting this show WILL NOT LET THIS STAND WITH OUT A FIGHT.

The religion is very strange here, but in all actuality I dont feel that religion had TOO much to do with this raid. it's the cops wanting to play some "superior use of our tax money so we can keep our weapons and funding...lets go fuck people for no reason" thing. Utah county really has nothing more the BYU going for them, and those "stuck in the closet people" probably had no fucking clue that the party was going on.

Now, agreed that most of our state is Mormon, and yes they do have weird mind frames...but it's not as bad as you have come to think. But what we have to concider here, is that they have allowed things to pass "i.e buying public streets, fucked up liquor laws etc." not allowing certain things at certain times and or days. This is a threat to everyone, I feel, and this is why. They have allowed completely in one of our 50 states to "overlook" the seperation of church and state. So the question is...When will the federal protection, the government, or the judicial system (ANYONE really) decide to look at this as breaking the constition, and depriving us of what WAS our civil rights? This is why as a country we must figure a way to fight on this together, or eventually the states and the majority are gonig to infinge everywhere. There should not be one single place that "can get away" with this kind of action, or it will continue to spread until our rights everywhere are in danger.

i am actually glad this happened in Utah, perhaps a slap is just what some of the people here need in order to realize what they are doing. The only thing I fear is this "going away" and being forgotten, it hitting the court system with no real attention, and us (America eventually) loosing this freedom battle.

Unexperienced people dont understand that we are not a group of criminals, we do not judge even near the capabililty of what they judge. It is completely immoral what they did, and it will take your support to stand up and help us say NO this will not happen in my country. Take a moment to over look the fact that this took place in Mormon land Utah, and expand that this happened in YOUR COUNTRY so technically on YOUR TURF.

This was not tipped off spur of the moment. They planned this "raid" for 3 weeks. They had all the equipment, all the weapons, and all the men they could possibly need. I believe they allowed the permits, and didn't inform them (the promoters) of the 1 permit they would NEED... JUST TO BREAK THIS PARTY UP, and come off as some kind of hero. They didn't only threaten and injur "druggies" they beat anyone and everyone they could to the ground, and shoved them into paddy wagons, as if they (the attendees) were planning some sort of conspiracy...Ironic isn't it?

So, while I sit here in "the weird rule land" I wonder are we ever going to escape this maddness of control? or is there going to come a day when we will live under the thumb of the "conservative mind?" Take a look at the states voting sides and decisions, and tell me that eventually we will not be able to expand on our thoughts and desires. MOST of this country is conservative. It's just a peice of history repeating....unless we stop it. We dont really have anywhere else to escape to, like they did to America some 200 years ago...so we are left with no choice but to fight back. I am not saying that this said "conservative frame" is wrong...but they are not the only existant people, and for some reason they are able to get away with ENOUGH to convince me that perhaps they are...but really at this time they are nothing more then the loudest voice. So please if you felt that this was dangering your freedom, dont be silent, it could one day end up affecting you there, as it has me, here.

You have brought up a few things, that I would like to keep here, and dear god yes I fear that is we dont speak we COULD face loosing.

We do infact have Liquor Stores, and we do not have a 10 PM cerfew, they instead have the "dance law" basically stating that you can not dance here after 1 am. (another right that has been forbidden)

So in closing, I'm asking that you continue to support this scene this country and your rights!!

Posted by layloula on Oct-18-2005 17:02:

mann violence violence! thats what our neighbours know! Greatfully I live in Montreal...and thank god! cause honeslty MTL is one of the greatest city for the EDM scene!

Posted by e_trance on Oct-18-2005 17:04:

Fuck the american government.

Posted by ninjahola on Oct-18-2005 17:06:

HOLY FUCK Thats is unfuckingbeleivable, this really really pisses me off. That video is so fucking scary man, I can't beleive something like that could go on, ANYWHERE in North America. The fact that the military had to come in in full camouflage gear and sub-machine guns in absolutely pitiful. What ever happened to cops coming in and stopping the party. The fact that the permits, insurance and property were in check makes it even more unacceptable. The clips of the people being held down with a machine gun to their head by 4 bloody marines is ridiculous. This video should be circulated as much as possible in order to penalize the guilty parties. WOW I can't even think right now....
Glad to see you made it out okay, Preach. Fucking America.

Posted by e_trance on Oct-18-2005 17:16:

maybe the american soldiers thought the glowsticks were saber laser straight out of star wars . the video is really shocking, the way they hit the guy on the ground, it's fuckn crazy.

Posted by Caela on Oct-18-2005 19:58:

heard about this when it happened...make sure u watch some of the video's on the site...it's appalling.

it's not like my country has anything better to do like fix the mess with iraq, or *try* to attempt to salvage any sort of respectable national reputation, this country is SO FUCKED UP. sooo many people (aka americans) have noooo clue whatsover, because everything is spun in order to show the US in the best light, and they're just too damn lazy to research. I live in a horrible, horrible, place, where shit like this happens, and do u think that 99% of people here EVEN ARE AWARE of this Utah story? nope. That's ok, because if the media covered it, they would shine light on the government, and make us, 'ravers', look even worse to the the close-minded idiots that live here. I HATE THIS PLACE, 'land of the free?' F*CK NO, all of these so called 'rights' have tons of loopholes (aka amendments) twisted around them, so that in reality, no one has rights here. the US is getting significantly worse by the day.

Posted by Caela on Oct-18-2005 19:59:

quote:
Originally posted by shawn05
Thats complete bullshit. Sometimes I wonder what the fuck the governmental system in the United States is thinking. If it was 100% legal, they had no right to do what they did.

Was it ever justified?? (the raid, not the rave.. raves dont need jusitifcation....hehe.)

nothing the government ever does needs justification

Posted by jester on Oct-18-2005 20:36:

oh i remember this. happy i wasnt there

Posted by Morales_HIGH5 on Oct-19-2005 06:02:

Have you seen the videos from a rave in CZECHTEK?
There's an armada of police officers busting a rave in day time.

http://visions.cz/media_activism_th...ult_on_czechtek
The format reads with Quicktime

Press release

Posted by Blacksunshine on Oct-19-2005 15:17:

quote:
Originally posted by Morales_HIGH5
Have you seen the videos from a rave in CZECHTEK?
There's an armada of police officers busting a rave in day time.

http://visions.cz/media_activism_th...ult_on_czechtek
The format reads with Quicktime

Press release

Ironically I saw that video just DAYS before the incident here happened. I was at a local record store yesterday and they do have the place flyered with this story, as well as in public circulation. I really hope to God that something changes. That video in Czechtek...it was appaling then and continues to be to this day. It's a freedom of music, dance, expression, love, and happiness. I guess I can see how that can bother the "miserable" people amongst us. Too bad they cant see the light and just join in what I have embraced as a happy life. I will forever (expecially now) walk proudly to my ways, my beliefs, and my lilfestyle, if I do get beat down for it, it will forever fight harder and prouder. On the local web-site www.utrave.org the response to this was so woverwhelming, and wonderful the world wide support gave me chills. I love our scene, I love our people, I love our music, and above all i love our attitude. So yeah, fuck the current "American way" you just wait, becuase some day, we will be running this place, and then the difference will shine down. But I would really like for this "revolution" to begin ASAP, or I dont see good things over the next few years.

Thank you everyone, for being you, for being supportive, and for you passionate ways to this scene, you keep people like us in Utah motivated enough to say "fuck it...who's partying with us this weekend?" We still go at it full force, infact instead of glo-sticks, we have cameras for footage, and now, evidence. we will have our god damn say!!!

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