Krick of Evol Intent offers a firsthand account of the events that took place at a party that he was scheduled to play August 20th in Utah. The event was fully licensed, fully legal, and non-violent. Halfway through the party, authorities arrived in full riot gear and ended the event like a full-scale riot (tear gas, attack dogs, and assault rifles). One attendee managed to escape with actual video footage of the shutdown. Another DJ at the event who goes by Syne offers her own account of the same event, and the Utah Raves forum is lit up like a switchboard. Lawsuits are pending...

(via Metafilter) This story is making the rounds today. This is pretty disturbing. The facts floating around don't appears to jive with each other. The various accounts state that the promoters did have a permit from the county, an insurance policy covering the event, and professional security guards confiscating any drugs found at the gates. These accounts also say that upon being shown the permit, the authorities on the scene simply ripped it up. They forced everyone to leave, including the person who owns the property. Other accounts say different, such as this one from Utah's Daily Herald:

The Utah County Sheriff's Office said in addition to all the illegal activity at the rave, the promoter failed to obtain a permit, bond and approval of the County Commission. The county's mass gathering ordinance -- created in recent years to control events like rave parties -- prohibits gatherings of 250 more people without county approval.

So did the promoters have the proper permits? In that article, there are all the other accounts you'd expect. They found drugs. They had a few young girls on hand who were sexually assaulted at prior events. The normal stuff.

Keep in mind, I don't think there has been any event entailing rock or electronic music that has not involved drugs, alcohol, and sexual misconduct. Its par for the course when you bring together 2,000 people for a party. It sounds like this crowd was pretty peaceful. Its not like they hired the Hell's Angels to do security or anything...

Straight to the obvious question.. What happened to the right to assemble? Is that limited to football games and church rallies now?

This link to the video being shot on the stage at the point the show was shutdown appears too be working.

More details about this are desired...

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