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This story about a rave in Utah being raided has become huge news quickly, at least in the blogosphere. Most of what I’m reading seems to be from the side of those who think it’s wrong that the party was raided, going as far as calling it fascism and describing beatings, dog attacks, and other excessive uses of force. But let’s slow it down a bit and look at this objectively…

On the one hand, you have the eyewitness account. The raver asserts that the party was 100% legal and that all necessary permits were in place. He says that “they had a 2 million dollar insurance policy for the event” and that “they had liscenced [sic] security guards at the gates”. He also asserts that “the police did not have a warrant.”

On the other hand, you have the statement issued by the Utah County Sheriff. The statement claims that “no mass gathering permit had been obtained for this incident”, but confirms that “a health department permit had been obtained and EMS personnel were contracted to be on scene for first aide”. The statement also says that “at least 60 arrests were made for weapons offenses, DUI, illegal underage consumption of alcohol, possession of marijuana, possession of cocaine, possession of methamphetamine, possession of ecstasy, distribution of ecstasy, resisting arrest, assault on a police officer, and disorderly conduct.”

Okay, so there you have the two sides of the story. But then there’s this video, which is being heavily circulated online in connection with the story. In the video, I really can’t say that I see anyone being beaten. Most of the officers (or are they soldiers?) appear to be in relatively casual, non-combat stances and are not waving or even holding their weapons, though there are assault rifles on their shoulders. There appear to be two people on the ground, each surrounded by officers, presumably being arrested, but while there is certainly some commotion going on around at least one of them as the camera turns, I honestly can’t say that I see officers beating up ravers. I presume that the barking dogs - which can be easily heard but not seen - are for drug sniffing.

So far, I don’t see the fascism. I will grant that without being there I can’t possibly know what happened. However, from what I know about raves, it seems like they got off easy.

If 60 people (out of 1500) were arrested for drugs and weapons, I’m guessing there are about 600 people who went home that night and breathed a sigh of relief for not getting caught. That assumption is supported by this part of the Sheriff’s statement:

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

The assertions by the eyewitness that licensed security and EMS were on scene are not disputed by the law enforcement. But having security and paramedics on hand is not the same thing as having a permit. It doesn’t matter how good your intentions are or how responsible you thought you were being, the law is the law and you have to follow it. In fact, I think anyone who was organized enough to gather up 1500 people at $20 each - and provide security and EMS services - should be kicking himself for not being smart enough to get the proper permit. Moreover, he should have spoken to the relevant law enforcement office to make it known that such an event would be happening. NEWS FLASH: You were responsible for the safety of 1500 people, and you failed them.

Helicopters, assault rifles, tear gas, camoflauge-wearing soldiers…. why? Was that really necessary?

Do I disagree with the use of SWAT teams and riot control gear? Absolutely not. When you’re dealing with 1500 (and they had planned for twice as many!) people, you’re outnumbered. That is a textbook situation where riot control gear is necessary. The officers didn’t come in brandishing their weapons - their rifles were shouldered. The weren’t looking for trouble, they were just breaking up a gathering without a permit.

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.

Oh my goodness! (Note the sarcasm.) A girl at a rave was targetted by a police dog… I wonder why that could be… You don’t think it was, perhaps, a drug sniffing dog, do you? And she was trying to get away, you say? Wouldn’t that be EXACTLY the situation in which police are supposed to tackle somebody? Come on, man.

So what about the side that nobody is telling? You know, the one about a party of 1500 people - expected to be as many as 3000 - who all paid $20 each to attend? That’s $30,000 cash, with possibly another $30,000 to come before the night was over. The “promoter” stood to make $60,000 in ONE night. I wonder if he’ll be offering bail to any of those kids that got arrested for attending his party? I’ll bet this asshole throws these parties every month - maybe even more often - and banks $200,000 a year. He doesn’t care about the kids and he probably doesn’t even care about the fines he’ll have to pay. He’ll probably be doing this all again a few weeks from now in the next county over.

And at $20 a head, I can tell you I would damn well be expecting more than just some loud dance music. Why does a kid cough up $20 to go to a rave? Let’s be honest here. Everyone knows that kids go to raves to get drugs, and booze, and maybe some sex. And speaking of alcohol, I don’t remember the raver kid saying anything about a liquor license.

The bottom line is that some asshole decided he can get rich by giving kids a place to get drunk and do drugs while listening to crappy music, but this time the cops caught him. There was no military assault, and there was no facism. This is nothing more than some kids who are pissed off because their party got ruined. And now their parents know what they were doing and they’re pissed. Boo hoo.