Chip off the old politics

[kigs]

A rave in Utah last night was shut down by the military.
The disregaurd for civil rights was obscene. Tear gas was tossed at the crowd, dogs were released, and the cavalcade of ravers which were trying to peacefully exit the area were escorted out at gun point.

The worst part was this was a 100% LEGAL gathering. Permits, licenses, and the whole dirty mess of red tape.

A personal account can be seen here.

This is disgraceful. I havn't been so dissapointed in the government in a long while.

Can some of the folks out in Utah please give me a call or get ahold of me? I'm wondering if you guys have heard anything about this.
~Kigs

Comments

[theginko.livejournal.com]

Now... I must say, that I am disappointed in this repost, and exhaggeration in what is already an overblown rumor...
Firstly, let's look at the facts.

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_2961967?rss

http://www.harktheherald.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=62703

Namely.
A.)Where's the idea that there were military there come from? Even the MySpace bulletin that hit me didn't mention anything about that.
B.)Say what you will about the media, lawyers are worse which means they're not gonna straight out lie due to fear of a libel suit... Which means this was an illegal, unbonded gathering.
C.)Funny that only one excessive force complaint has been filed, and the idea that there was tear gas, while possible, is highly unlikly because Police are about the most anal inventory whores and there's pretty much no way they'd be able to hide that kinda shit.

Now, I'm not saying I have all the facts, I'm saying that it is irresponsible to spread crap like this without first checking for at least some unbiased, non-par... Well, I won't say "non-partisan" but at least Outside sources.

I've gotta imagine Cops + Ravers in Utah = Friction^2 but, likening these Police to Jack Booted Nazis... I dunno.

I dunno what the truth of the situation is any further than the extent of my own investigation, and I hope everyone else accepts same said fact.

~B

[kigeni.livejournal.com]

First, thank you for being level headed and posting a reasonable complaint to my post. I'm afraid I was a bit heated when I made the initial message and did not decide to post a non-bias report.

Then again, this is an LJ post, not a full media report. As such, expect it to have a level of my personal opinion.

That being said, the military presence can be seen from the video which is circulating around the net. Whether it is the army, guard, or simply a couple folks im Camo cannot be determined by it, but it certainly involves a level of military presence.

As for the nature of the permit, the county sheriff stated that it was an unpermited site, where as the promoter is stating that it had all of the proper permits. Until I locate a proper paper trail or the promoter releases a public press release, I'm afraid that fact has fallen into the realm of speculation.

I agree that the tear gas may have fallen privy to the forces of the rumor mill. Alas, I have read two personal accounts stating that tear gas was used. One of which is linked above. Take them with a grain of salt.

The purpose of this post is not to provide an in-depth report; I was not there personally. The purpose of this post is to make people aware of what occured in Utah this weekend.