Your civil liberties in practice in a neoCon state: the Utah rave bust.
The rave in Utah last Saturday:

Video clip: http://spicealley.net/~jizosh/versus.mov or http://spicealley.net/~jizosh/versus.wmv

SWAT team police use force at Utah rave party. This is a detailed account, with still photos from the video clip, including one of the police holding down a rave attendee and possibly kicking him/her. "I saw at least two people being beaten on the ground while barking, snarling dogs are held just a few feet from them. Weapons were being pointed at unarmed, peaceful civilians. A friend of mine was forced at gunpoint to put his hands on his head and turn around, because he asked if he could get his things from the tent."

Salt Lake Tribune (first story): In this story, it looks like just another case of law enforcement... but it's not.

About 60 people were arrested Saturday night when police officers busted an illegal rave in Spanish Fork Canyon.

Those arrested were cited on a variety of charges including the possession of illegal narcotics, weapons violations, DUI, illegal consumption of alcohol by a minor, disorderly conduct, assaulting a police officer and drug distribution.

The youngest of those cited was 15 years old, said Utah County Sheriff's Sgt. Dan Gilbert.

Police in Utah County have monitored several raves this summer and have grown increasingly concerned about their legality and safety, Gilbert said. When detectives got word that another party was planned for Saturday, they set to work to make sure they got their point across that such activity was not welcome in their area.

"The Sheriff's Office will investigate and look into and find an illegal mass gathering going on, we will take the appropriate action to stop the party at that time," Gilbert said.

Investigators learned that no permit had been requested for a mass gathering which requires a bond and Utah County Commission approval for groups larger than 250, said Gilbert. Police learned around noon Saturday that the rave would be held in the Diamond Fork area of Spanish Fork Canyon and assembled about 90 officers from several agencies to enforce crowd control.

Undercover officers filtered into the party when the doors opened about 9 p.m. By 11:30 p.m. police confirmed that more than 250 people were in attendance and stormed the party. During their two hours at the DJ-driven dance party, undercover officers had observed a multitude of illegal activities including the sale and consumption of drugs such as cocaine, ecstacy, alcohol, methamphetamine and marijuana.

"The sale of drugs at these parties is so prevalent that at this particular rave party, drugs were offered to local off-duty emergency medical service personnel who were contracted to be there," Gilbert said....

Salt Lake Tribune (second story): Partygoers at a rave in Spanish Fork Canyon that was busted by police Saturday night say officers used brutal and excessive force to clear the crowd.

...As many as 90 police officers from several agencies, including SWAT members and major crimes investigators, stormed the DJ-driven dance party around 11:30 p.m. dressed in full SWAT gear and holding automatic weapons.

A helicopter announced the police presence as it crested a nearby hill and began shining a spotlight on the outdoor dance area, said 19-year-old Scott Benton of Logan.

"The cops just came in wearing full Army [camouflage]. It was basically brute force," Benton said. "I had a gun put in my face and was told to get out of there."

Standing in a crowd of people near the main stage, Alisha Matagi says she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time when she was thrown to the ground, punched, kicked and handcuffed by police.

"I did absolutely nothing wrong," she said. Matagi was arrested with about 60 other partyers. She was booked into the Utah County Jail on the suspicion of resisting arrest and failing to obey an officer, according to police records.

About 1,000 people were cleared in less than a half-hour from the private ranch owned by the Childs family in the Diamond Fork area of Spanish Fork Canyon, rave promoters said. Several party attendees told The Salt Lake Tribune that officers barked orders fraught with profanity, beat people to the ground and used their weapons to intimidate the crowd.

A video of the opening moments of the bust, taken by Jeffrey Coombs and snatched from the ground by another partier as Coombs was tackled, shows the officers using force on individuals as they took over the crowd.

Utah County Sheriff James Tracy said Monday that he had seen the video and called it an accurate representation of the bust.

"I stand by everything that was done there that night. We did use some force. It was appropriate and necessary to take those who were fighting us into custody," Tracy said.

He also said that no officers used profanity as they conversed with partiers, nor did they punch, kick, Mace or use tear gas on any of the attendees.

"It's all a lie and we refute every word of that," said Tracy.

But the video clearly shows an officer using profanity as he demands the music be turned off.

"Turn that off. Turn that music off or I'll take your ass to jail," the officer can be heard saying to the DJ. In the video, the area where people had been dancing transforms into what looks like a battlefield with groups of officers surrounding ravers on the ground, guns drawn and assault dogs in tow.

"I saw a girl tackled to the ground for no reason because she told them not to touch her. It was vicious," Benton said.

Police said the party Saturday night was the third event held in Utah County during the past month. The all-night parties attract a host of illegal activities including drug use, theft, sexual assault and underage drinking, according to Utah County Sheriff's Sgt. Darren Gilbert.

Saturday's party, named Versus II, had been tracked by police for several weeks, Gilbert said. Police planned the bust when they discovered that the rave's promoters had not filed for a mass gathering permit through the County Commission office. To have more than 250 at an event without that permit is a violation of the law, Gilbert said.

Party promotor Brandon Fullmer said he purchased a mass gathering permit through the Utah County Health Department about three weeks ago. The purchase of that permit, which ensures water, sanitation and medical services, was confirmed by County Health employee Jay Stone.

Fullmer did not know that a similar permit, which requires a security plan and event details, needed to be acquired.

The sheriff had little sympathy for the promoters or those at the rave. "They did nothing more than ensure this was a venue for illegal drug use and consumption," Tracy said. Officers confiscated ecstasy, marijuana, alcohol, cocaine and mushrooms, he said.

Among those arrested for drug possession were several security guards hired by Fullmer to patrol the event. Guards at security check points confiscated alcohol and drugs as ravers filed into the party, Fullmer said.

"[Security guards] have no legal statutory authority to take and hold controlled substances. It's against the law for them to have them," Tracy said.

Daily Herald (Provo, Utah): Accounts of the raid differ.

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."

Partygoers and rave fans worldwide are circulating video footage through the Internet to support such claims -- while Tracy used the same clips to defend law enforcement.

"No excessive force was used," he said emphatically.

The SWAT personnel -- including teams from Utah County, Provo, the state Department of Corrections and the Department of Public Safety -- are always prepared with a wide arsenal of riot-fighting gear, including tear gas and canines, but Tracy said they did not use any such weapons Saturday night. The tactical gear is camouflaged similar to military fatigues, but neither the National Guard nor any other military was present.

Josh Witbeck, one of the security staff hired by organizers for the event, has interacted with police at several similar events during three years as a bouncer in Salt Lake-area nightclubs, but police hostility, like he said he observed Saturday night, is rare.

"I was trying to keep the crowds as calm as possible. I knew better than to interfere with the cops, but we all got treated pretty poorly," he said. "I'm not going to place all the blame on the police, but they treated every person here like a criminal."...

"That's all smoke and mirrors," said County Commissioner Steve White. "They were selling drugs. They were committing illegal acts, and as soon as that happened it doesn't matter what kind of permit they had."

So while Fullmer is consulting his attorney about a possible lawsuit, local law enforcement vow to crack down on the increasingly popular raves.

"There's a legal way to do this, and there's the illegal," Tracy said. "If young folks want to get together and listen to music and dance, we don't care if they go about it the legal way."

Tracy said they are monitoring the Internet, searching for fliers and dispatching helicopters on reconnaissance missions over Utah Valley to locate such gatherings before they expand to thousands of people -- beyond what law enforcement can control.

"If they're going to run one on a Wednesday night, we'll find it," he said. "We will ensure we find them and have them curtailed before they ever get to that point."

Drug Policy Alliance: Salt Lake City detectives wanted to "get their point across that such activity was not welcome in their area." RAVE busts have become infamous for their abuse of civil rights on young people across the country who only want to enjoy music. The most recently publicized of which took place in Flint, Michigan, where eyewitness reports included accounts of patrons being strip searched and cavity searched, some of them in unsanitary or dangerous ways.

Deseret News: Organizers are considering a lawsuit against the police. "We've had shows get shut down, but . . . (police) don't need to come in and beat people up," said Brandon Fullmer, manager of Uprok Records, the music store in Salt Lake City that sponsored the CD-release party. "What they did was wrong."

..."Permit or not, the way they handled it was unjustifiable," he said. "There was no reason for this. People should not have been hurt. They could have come in and been civil with us. We're a business, we're not out there to do anything illegal."

Such a permit should have been obtained through the Utah County Commission. County code says applicants should submit a request — along with a $100 fee — to the commission 30 days prior to the event, said Utah County Commissioner Jerry Grover.

The commission reviews the application and can issue a "large gathering license." Groups must also get another mass-gathering permit through the county health department, which outlines specifics about portable bathrooms, water and trash facilities. Although Uprok had a health department permit and emergency medical personnel, Grover said they never came to the commission for a license.

"The problem is, no one is going to come in and permit it as a rave," Grover said. "So we have to handle everyone equally under the law. If they came in, we'd look at their application, we have criteria — it doesn't mean we condone selling drugs. There's a lot of problems they could face if they are selling drugs."

But Fullmer insists his event was not a front for the illegal sale of drugs. He said he hired a licensed security guard who hired 11 others responsible to search individuals and their cars for illegal substances before they entered the park.

The guards gathered drugs and were holding them to turn in to law enforcement at the end of the night, Fullmer said. However, when police broke up the party, those security guards who had confiscated drugs were arrested for investigation of possession of the controlled substances.

"Once they get the materials, beyond holding it while they wait for law enforcement to come . . . the scope of their ability to be within the bounds of the law is pretty much expired," Cannon said.

If they had called police immediately, he said, there wouldn't have been a problem.

This is the second time landowner Trudy Childs has had to deal with a party fiasco. During a concert in July, Childs said police came in, broke up a concert and roughed up some of the partygoers.

Childs leased out part of her 350 acres for this weekend's party but didn't attend. She was hunting on another part of her land — but went to the site when she saw there was a problem. That's when she was cuffed and taken to jail for allegedly contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

The land has been in Childs' family for almost 80 years, and she said she is continuing her plans for an outdoor amphitheater, for future concerts and shows....

ABC News 4 called the bust "a safety sweep at a rave party."

Daily Kos quotes the dj I linked to yesterday, in a longer quote.

....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....

There's more at utrave.org.

The drug enforcement rationalization for this is the Illicit Drug Anti-Proliferation Act of 2003 (original full text version), which was later rolled in as Sec. 608 of PROTECT Act. (Here's the relevant section and wording. The Drug Policy Alliance is concerned that the law is instead being used to target the electronic music comunity.

My questions: Why be so rough on the crowd? Is brutality a necessary part of drug enforcement? Did the local neoCons not like electronic music? Or was it in preparation for Bush is coming to Utah today?