Utah Rave
Joe has covered the drug bust in Utah, where cops used dogs, helicopters, assault rifles, and ninja outfits to arrest a bunch of kids who were at a rave for drugs. Malkin says that people are overreacting.
Phelps has video and notes:
Listen to the last bit of audio on the video that was being taken. “Put the camera down. You’re under arrest.” What was his crime? As near as I can tell, it was the audacity of videotaping the police.
Sorry Michelle, but criticizing that is far from hysterical.
Pete rounds up the local media accounts of the incident:
To be sure, there were a number of drug- and alcohol-related arrests and citations arising from the rave. These are fair game by any measure. Once a crime is committed, a permit may be considered null and void. But of the 43 citations reported by the Utah County Sheriff’s Office, about half appear directly related to the raid itself — disorderly conduct, failure to disperse and related acts. Most of the others could have been dealt with on a case-by-case basis, without shutting down a concert at which the majority were not breaking the law.
A massive police assault on virtually any public gathering (a BYU football game, for example) would uncover similar illegalities, from drugs to weapons to expired driver’s licenses. But if a crime is committed during a BYU football game, the game is not stopped. Offenders are trundled off individually. A general suspicion that something illegal might happen at a public gathering, even a rave, may not be the best basis from which to launch a major law enforcement action.
