Here's video of a SWAT team breaking up a Utah rave.

[LoZoccolo]

http://homepage.mac.com/apexgrin/.Public/fascism.wmv

Accounts of it on message boards:

http://www.404audio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14814

http://www.seattlednb.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2840

http://forums.utrave.org/showthread.php?t=19971

On edit: I've since learned it's a SWAT team, not the National Guard.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

1. How the hell is a RAVE a threat requiring troops to break it up?

:shrug:

[LoZoccolo]

2. I would think their right to assemble was violated.

It's not like they were in a warehouse or something, where you might have safety concerns with the amount of people vs. fire exits or something.

[Cleita]

3. It's Utah. Anything that threatens the status quo of

of the Mormon religion and it's dominance isn't acceptable.

[BlueEyedSon]

4. The army crashing a party? I hope they sue the living sh*t out of them.

If it was a freaking bible meeting, would they have done it?

[HawkerHurricane]

5. Wait a second...

we can't get California National Guard for fire fighting work, but UTAH can use them for police work? Why aren't they in Iraq?

[i miss america]

6. They weren't playing the right music, those knuckleheads.

They should've been singing "Tomorrow belongs to me."

:wtf:

[ronnykmarshall]

45. or Toby Keith.

[Seeker30]

7. Heres an account from Nick from Evol Intent who was there

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!!!

[helderheid]

65. more accounts here

http://www.music-versus-guns.org/

[bpilgrim]

8. holly shit, they got assault rifles and look like military to me

mirrored here...
http://news.globalfreepress.com/movs/police/utah/rave/fascism.wmv

peace

[anarch]

68. that, my friend, is the new face of our police n/t

[hexola]

9. Could someone get this story out on FreeRepublic...?

I know SOMEONE must still have an active account there...(I got about 4 posts off before they zotted me)

I would like to hear their take on the Soldiers in the video...

With all their outcry about the Mexican Border...here's what Bush is doing with the troops instead...

[FightingIrish]

10. If you had any doubt that the lunatics are running the asylum

watch this video. It is a declaration of war on freedom.

[Whoa_Nelly]

11. I understand, from what I've read

that there were all compliant permits for this gathering, that there were car and "bringing-into" (backpack/purses) searches done, and a $2m insurance by the promoters. This looks to be facsist...freaking scary!

How close are we to Martial Law?

[anarch]

69. how close, indeed...

I'd say this is probably just 'practice'. Wake the fuck up, America, THIS is how it is now. And this isn't even the army or the national gaurd...it's just that the 'security state' demands this kind of fascist display of force out of all our armed overseers.

[usregimechange]

12. Cop, "Put the camera down." Is this Soviet Russia?

[Tyranny_R_US]

77. If you meet some cops they are the nicest guys you ever want to meet....

BUT! seems like whenever they put on their *riot gear* they are the biggest, meanest assholes you ever want to talk to.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

13. HOLY FUCKING SHIT! this is it folkes

[Conservativesux]

31. You think it's bad now? Give it some time, it will get much worse.

This is NOT America !!

[HeeBGBz]

38. That made me sick to watch

Total police state tactics.

If this property has been raided before, as was stated in one of the comments, what is the government hiding in that area? What don't they want people to stumble across? That was my first impression, anyway. Well, after "Holy shit, it's a police state!"

[XOKCowboy]

14. Supposedly not NG but SWAT...

Who believes anything that comes out of the gubment's mouthpieces anymore though?

[XOKCowboy]

15. Here is a link to the County Sheriff's Statement

Fuggin Nazis.

http://www.utahcountyonline.org/News/DeptNewsDetails.asp?ID=17759&WN_System=SHERIFF

[Redstone]

17. What a fucking illiterate. He wrote "crowd was ordered to disburse,"

the word is disperse, you ignorant fuckwit!

Redstone

[the_spectator]

81. Don't jump to that conclusion -

Maybe "disburse" WAS the word he intended to use. He was just trying to solicit some bribes from the crowd? :shrug:

[Lochloosa]

40. Any other link...you have to sign up for this one and that ain't

goint to happen

[baldguy]

59. They look like military to me.

Police and SWAT teams have "POLICE" and "SWAT" spelled out in big white letters on their uniforms. Hell, these days anyone can wear camo.

[FightingIrish]

16. What you have just witnessed is a...

martial law readiness drill. The next one will not be a drill.

[cascadiance]

54. I was thinking the same thing...

or a "coup readiness" drill... A dry run for domestic military ops...

They picked a "convenient target" (ravers) that they could write off as deserving such action by the "owned press" without too much consternation.

The next target could be:
1) Crawford, Texas
2) Washington DC (and perhaps other locations) on September 24th
3) Middle of October in front of the Supreme Court when they don't hear Sibel Edmonds' case.
4) places in California in November when the election gets stolen there.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

18. Posse Comitatus Act of 1878...they looked like fucking military to me.....

20 Stat. L., 145

June 18, 1878

CHAP. 263 - An act making appropriations for the support of the Army for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and seventy-nine, and for other purposes.

SEC. 15. From and after the passage of this act it shall not be lawful to employ any part of the Army of the United States, as a posse comitatus, or otherwise, for the purpose of executing the laws, except in such cases and under such circumstances as such employment of said force may be expressly authorized by the Constitution or by act of Congress; and no money appropriated by this act shall be used to pay any of the expenses incurred in the employment of any troops in violation of this section And any person willfully violating the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction thereof shall be punished by fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars or imprisonment not exceeding two years or by both such fine and imprisonment.

10 U.S.C. (United States Code) 375

Sec. 375. Restriction on direct participation by military personnel:

The Secretary of Defense shall prescribe such regulations as may be necessary to ensure that any activity (including the provision of any equipment or facility or the assignment or detail of any personnel) under this chapter does not include or permit direct participation by a member of the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps in a search, seizure, arrest, or other similar activity unless participation in such activity by such member is otherwise authorized by law.

18 U.S.C. 1385

Sec. 1385. Use of Army and Air Force as posse comitatus

Whoever, except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of
Congress, willfully uses any part of the Army or the Air Force as a posse comitatus or otherwise to
execute the laws shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.

[Conservativesux]

28. Gestapo!

[Oilwellian]

19. Glad to see this posted

Just read about it on Atrios' site.

Why is there no mention of this by the liberal media?

Can you imagine your child coming home and describing this:

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?

[tuckessee]

20. Since the goons were carrying firearms...

...they were prepared (maybe even psyched up) to use them.

One little incident and this "raid" could've turned into a one-sided bloody massacre.

[Conservativesux]

30. Guns are selling like hotcakes all over the country. I wonder why?

[shadowknows69]

21. This is not America

this is the nightmare they used to tell us about what would happen if we lived in the soviet union.

[Conservativesux]

27. You said it!

[cascadiance]

58. Yeah that Bowie/Metheny tune from "Falcon and the Snowman"...

is spinning in my brain now too...

[texanwitch]

22. I had a Houston police officer try to slam me into a wall with his horse

when I was recording the Halliburton protest in May in Houston, the cops used their horses has weapons. The cops have become rightwing nazi bastards.

[dogday]

56. I have gotten slammed by the "I like the Police" squad

but I have been saying, they are not dealing with the public anymore. The order is to taser until down and not moving. I watched this video where they tasered the hell out of some poor woman, she was screaming her head off and everyone else was screaming for the cop to stop. They are ready for Martial Law. The swat team looks like soldiers, that is to acclimate you for when the soldiers do start taking over.... Doing it in Baghdad, can they do it here? We are going to see, are we not...

[cascadiance]

57. I think it's important to understand the mindset of these soldiers...

who are doing these ops. What are they thinking? Does anyone know any of them that are involved in this? Are they all extreme right wingnuts? Are there some who are questioning what they are going to be used for next?

I just cannot believe that this cabal of a crime family can enlist that many others to carry out such criminal acts and not have some internal dissension from within. We're already starting to see a big rebellion amongst many troops that are returning from Iraq. And that was after things they were doing to people in other countries.

I just cannot believe that you won't have second thoughts from these people going against other people from their own country that might be their own friends, neighbors, or families.

I think that is the way you prevent this attempted coup if this is what it comes to. Most Americans won't follow through with such insanity. I still can't believe that they would.

[dogday]

60. When a cop tasers you over and over

and you are screaming bloody murder and he just stands there and continues to do it with no feeling whatsoever. It is like Nazi Germany, a lot of the soldiers knew it was wrong but went along with it anyway.

[cascadiance]

61. No doubt there's a lot of bastards involved beyond any hope...

But I have to believe that there are a few there that are questioning what they are doing with this sort of thing. I cannot believe that they are all bastards. They might not be public about their feelings, but I have to believe some of them are there. It is important I think to find out what the real agenda to this sort of raid is. Loose lips will sink these bastards ships I hope!

[BlueJac]

23. What the Fuck???

That is bullshit!! :wow:

[Goblyn]

24. BUmp

Needs to be sent to Current tv and MSM try Keith

[Name removed]

25. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ProudDad]

26. Why?

[ronnykmarshall]

47. I guess it's

something in the water he drinks.

[Conservativesux]

29. What goes around comes around....

Next time that might be _you_ the Gestapo is attacking.

[Name removed]

35. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[sysoprock]

49. eeeesh, it was A JOKE!

chill people.

I was taking a jab at ravers, not endorsing the SWAT team.

[burythehatchet]

36. its kind of you to expose your ass

thank you for the heads up

[Lochloosa]

41. Did you also like seeing the Dead Heads herded down

police lines w/ dogs in PA in the '80's...oh you missed that one...

[shadowknows69]

52. I didn't miss that one but this is a whole different more evil animal

and to be fair in the late 80's a lot of dead shows got out of hand not because of excessive policing but because the heads who didn't have tickets wouldn't stay away, like the band itself was asking them to, they'd still come by the tens of thousands and camp out, illegally sell their wares and they'd try to rush the gates by the thousands.also I saw many who were very confrontational with the police. I stopped going to the shows when the fans started acting like idiors.

[Name removed]

43. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[RandomKoolzip]

48. No flames here.....

Ravers are fucking idiots who like shitty music and dumb drugs. Their "culture" is pure numbskullism.

Still, NOBODY should have to be attacked like that for no reason. There's a bigger bunch of assholes here, and it ain't the Ravers.

[sysoprock]

50. Agreed.

[NoSheep]

70. Why is that?

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

76. I intensely dislike raves.

However, I like your comments even less.

[T Town Jake]

32. Watched it. Three words:

UN

FUCKING

BELIEVABLE

Words simply escape me. This is not the country I grew up in.

[gatorboy]

33. How could that be illegal?

I mean look at the set-up for that thing. It's huge! It's not like some group put together a rave away from prying eyes in some warehouse. It must've taken awhile to set that stage up out in the open. Why didn't it get shut down earlier in the building stages if it was illegal?

Seems fishy that this happened on the eve of the protests in Utah.

[arcos]

34. Joe Biden must be very, very proud... nt

[hexola]

37. Welcome to Palestine, Utah...(nt)

[TexasLady]

39. This is scary! My son is supposed to play in something

very similiar, on private property, with about as many people. They too will have security, etc...Its a bunch of live bands playing. WTF, if this happened in Utah, I can only imagine what could happen here in TX!

[Junkdrawer]

42. Local paper (Daily Herald) account here:

Firsthand accounts conflict so starkly that one might wonder whether law enforcement busted two separate events last weekend in Spanish Fork Canyon. Yet the Diamond Fork-area location is among few details confirmed by both the roughly 300 partygoers and about 90 law enforcement personnel who dispelled them at 11:30 p.m. Saturday.

Uprock Records of Salt Lake City promoted the event as an "album-release party" on fliers and Internet sites like www.utrave.org. In addition to live performances by DJ Craze of Miami and Spor from the United Kingdom, the party featured typical highlights like a laser light show, barbecue, oxygen bar and glow sticks.

Undercover deputies and SWAT members depict a rave with rampant illegal activity. Beyond the anticipated drugs -- ecstasy, cocaine, marijuana, mushrooms -- they discovered counterfeit money, guns and an overdosed 17-year-old girl.

But where the stories drastically diverge is the raid.

The Utah County Sheriff's Office reported 18 citations for disorderly conduct, failure to disperse or related charges; 21 alcohol- or drug-related offenses; two for assaulting a peace officer; and two related to firearms. Sheriff Jim Tracy said most of the crowd left peacefully, and deputies exercised a "takedown method" only to arrest those who actively resisted.

Witnesses, however, allege "soldiers" and SWAT members held "AK-47s" to partygoers' heads, punched girls in the face and unleashed an arsenal of everything from attack dogs to tear gas.

"At about 11:30 a helicopter began circling the party," said one partygoer in an e-mail to the Daily Herald. "Out of nowhere huge semis filled with 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 Tasers. They proceeded to attack random people and push their might around on people who had done nothing."

...

http://www.harktheherald.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=62786

[SouthernDem2004]

44. Er AK-47s.... I think he is mistaken.

[Moocows]

72. That's it?

I'm supprised that's the extent of your comments on this article.

[SouthernDem2004]

82. What else should I say? I am not a me too poster, sorry.

I generally do not comment when I agree or if there is little reason. <shrug> We do not have anti-rave laws in my state or in any state I have worked. The story itself will unfold over the next week or so. Maybe when there is more information I may comment but not at this time. Sorry...

[porphyrian]

46. I fucking hate fascist behavior control technicians.

What, they couldn't find any murderers that day? Not enough hostages being taken in Utah to justify the spending on law enforcement? Maybe someone at the rave had brown skin, that would explain everything.

[shadowknows69]

51. showed my wife the vid last night and for the first time she seemed scared

She asked: "are you sure you want to go to washington?"
I told her this is exactly why iI have to go to washington with a video camera.

[Theres-a]

53. Please make sure you have a backup battery.

[shadowknows69]

78. several

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

79. Shit, make sure you have a backup CAMERA

And maybe even a backup you if at all possible.

[shadowknows69]

80. lol, i'm looking into a backup me

but they haven't got the cloning down that well. my camera is also my livelihood so if an angry cop destroys it they might as well kill me too because i can't go home to the wife jobless. :hippie:

[beetbox]

55. Yes this is the National Security State- "They Thought They Were Free"

"To live in this process is absolutely not to be able to notice it - please try to believe me - unless one has a much greater degree of political awareness, acuity, than most of us had ever had occasion to develop.  Each step was so small, so inconsequential, so well explained or, on occasion, "regretted," that, unless one were detached from the whole process from the beginning, unless one understood what the whole thing was in principle, what all these "little measures" that no "patriotic German" could resent must some day lead to, one no more saw it developing from day to day than a farmer in his field sees the corn growing.  One day it is over his head.

But Then It Was Too Late

"What no one seemed to notice," said a colleague of mine, a philologist, "was the ever widening gap, after1933,between the government and the people. Just think how very wide this gap was to begin with, here in Germany. And it became always wider. You know it doesn't make people close to their government to be told that this is a people's government, a true democracy, or to be enrolled in civilian defense, or even to vote.  All this has little, really nothing to do with knowing one is governing.

What happened here was the gradual habituation of the people, little by little, to being governed by surprise; to receiving decisions deliberated in secret; to believing that the situation was so complicated that the government had to act on information which the people could not understand, or so dangerous that, even if he people could understand it, it could not be released because of national security.  And their sense of identification with Hitler, their trust in him, made it easier to widen this gap and reassured those who would otherwise have worried about it.

"This separation of government from people, this widening of the gap, took place so gradually and so insensibly, each step disguised (perhaps not even intentionally) as a temporary emergency measure or associated with true patriotic allegiance or with real social purposes. And all the crises and reforms (real reforms, too) so occupied the people that they did not see the slow motion underneath, of the whole process of government growing remoter and remoter.

http://www.thirdreich.net/Thought_They_Were_Free_nn4.html

[LoZoccolo]

66. That is a good article; thanks for bringing it here.

I remember reading from it a while back during the war.

[helderheid]

62. Jesus Christ...

[helderheid]

63. I found this to be a better version of that video

http://ravesounds.com/fascism.mov

[helderheid]

64. At the SLC rally monday, they were video taping us >>>

[rniel]

67. Same kids at a country western concert

Nobody does anything. Put some techno in there and watch out. That's terrorism music don't you know.

[nothometoday]

71. What is an

Oxygen bar???

[LoZoccolo]

73. A bar where you get to inhale oxygen.

I remember this was big for a while in the late eighties, and they even had them at places like Marshall Field's. I guess it caught on in the late nineties too.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxygen_bar

[ovidsen]

74. Oxygen bar = legal rush.

Suck up some O2 gas and get a little energized. It's generally harmless.

[Technowitch]

75. "First they came for the ravers..."

I'm just saying.

I wouldn't choose their particular lifestyle...but I respect their right to choose it for themselves. What should be deeply concerning to us all was the manner in which our government chose to stop this event.

[dxstone]

83. They must've missed the new "NO FUN" law!

A very scary view into New America...
But not REALLY so much more shocking and scary than any number of other scary things they've been getting away with these last 5 years...
What a fortunate thing, this video; fortunate that they were able to get it out there...
Another wake-up call to a still-sleepy but finally-waking America, and still much-needed for many...
Scary?... yes. But remember, kids, as Jim Morrison stated so simply and eloquently not really all that long ago:

"They've got the guns but we've got the numbers!"

Desperate measures in desperate times by desperate "leaders" who are getting more and more tangled in that sticky, sticky web of lies and deceit and mad dreams of empire that Rove wove...
d