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UT: Party crashed by SWAT cops

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Ian

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http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_2964938

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.
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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.
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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.
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You can read a firsthand account of the incident from one of the DJs here (note: offensive language): http://www.404audio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14814

Many other accounts from attendees are here: http://www.music-versus-guns.org/

Video clips available here: http://www.music-versus-guns.org/media.html
 
Had a debate about this on another board.

It is amazing how many people think that weed and MDMA cause brain damage and violent crime. Even more amazing is how many that support the actions of the police to "protect the ravers from their own stupidity."

It's hilarious that they arrested security guards for confiscating drugs and alcohol. They twisted responsible, law-abiding behavior into a violation of the law.
 
Evil

"It is characteristic of those who are evil to judge others as evil. Unable to acknowledge their own imperfections, they must explain away their flaws by blaming others. And, if necessary, they will even destory others in the name of righteousness."
 
The San Luis Obispo PD overreacted like that a couple years ago during the Mardi Gras here. It was over the top and completely unnecessary. Look for more of it in the future coming to a neighborhood near you.
 
Many of those who may have blamed lawyers for so many of society's ills may now be seeking (and rightly so, it sounds) the assistance of a lawyer to petition their government for redress of grievances. Lawyer up, y'all. :evil:
 
It is amazing how many people think that weed and MDMA cause brain damage and violent crime.
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RE: MDMA, the studies that I've seen indicate that MDMA has some risks involved in its recreational use. http://neurotransmitter.net/mdmatoxicity.html While it may not be a "One dose = fried brain" situation, neither is it totally benign.

With regards to the actions by the "cops" in Utah,...well I don't wanna have to visit with Art's Grandma behind the wood shed.
 
At first it bothered me that there was a site called "music-versus-gun.org" as if they are somehow opposed or mutually exclusive. Then I see from a whois search that the site was created just for this incident.


This thread won't be complete until Standing Wolf says it.
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It appears that this was in Utah, not Califonia (which has those sunny beaches and temperate climate that Standing Wolf so misses).
 
I will make this quicker than I would prefer. MDMA is not only harmless unless massive overdoses are taken, but it has many therapeutic uses as well. The DEA went against the recommendation of its own Administrative judge in Scheduling it as 1(verboten) intead of 3 (prescriptions allowed) in 1987. Since the early 70s it had been in use as an aid to psychotherapy and found to be highly useful in curing PTSD in soldiers.

The diet pill fen-phen has been withdrawn from the market because it occaisionally causes heart valve problems. However, it was studied for 40 years and found to NOT cause brain damage, even when taken daily for years at a time in high dosage levels. Why is this important? Because fen-phen is almost identical to MDMA from both a chemical and physiological standpoint. Additionally, there is consensus amongst researchers that the heart valve damage rarely found in fen-phen users could only theoretically occur in MDMA users if they took several times the recreational dosage daily over several months time.

Furthermore, a study was done by UCLA medical center that discovered:
The boldest of the brain blood flow experiments was done by researchers from UCLA's Neurology, Radiology, and Psychiatry departments. They studied the amount of blood flow in current and former 'ecstasy' user's brains and found that recent users (within the past few weeks) had slightly lower blood flow to parts of the brain, but people who hadn't used for four weeks had perfectly normal levels of total and regional blood flow within their brains.[8] That wasn't the bold part, however: Not content simply to test volunteers who had used 'ecstasy' on their own, they gave recreational doses of MDMA to a number of the volunteers after their initial scan, then re-scanned their brains afterwards. As expected, there was a decrease in blood flow immediately after MDMA use, but it returned to normal within 3-4 weeks. In their final report, the researchers concluded that "Low-dose recreational MDMA use does not cause detectable persistent rCBF (regional cerebral blood flow) changes in humans."
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Really? Just my assumption on my part, seeing how it makes those youngsters act in those TV commercials (and the fact that I consume much more than a case a week :D ). Never spent much time in the land of salty lakes.


Flyboy -- Again my incorrect assumption. :eek:
 
M-Rex must not be of the Libertarian mindset. Yes, a bunch of us advocate doing whatever the hell you want as long as it doesn't affect me. Not that I use drugs but if someone else wants to, turn to...

Greg
 
:confused:

M-Rex, all he said was that the substance isn't harmful. That's a far cry from suggesting that people ought to go shooting while impaired.
 
Well...consider me in the 'I don't buy that crap' camp. Being a former LEO and Corrections officer, I have a different experience and point of view.

However...getting back to the subject. A full SWAT team (or multiples) descending on a Rave party and performing all the actions that were described is blatant overkill and rather gestapo-like. It sounds like a total fubar situation where the authorities were a little too full of themselves and probably stood around and told each other how cool they looked in their black BDU's before busting up the party.

Trust me. There are two different types of cops. The regular, decent, honest folks who become cops, and the guys/gals who got their asses kicked in high school a lot and becoming a cop is how they get back at the world.

We now return you to your normally scheduled flame war. ;)
 
MDMA is not only harmless unless massive overdoses are taken, but it has many therapeutic uses as well.
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Citations of corroborating studies? I never said that MDMA did not have therapeutic uses, I merely stated (and gave literature citations) that there are some risks involved with its use. Same goes for EtOH, aspirin and sucrose.
Why is this important? Because fen-phen is almost identical to MDMA from both a chemical and physiological standpoint.
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Uh, I don't think so. Fen-phen is a combination of two different drugs, fenfluramine & phentermine. If you compare the chemical structure of each (at the links provided) with that of MDMA , you'll note that while each does have a benzene ring structure, the "dangly bits" are different. Structure is VERY important in biochemistry, and even a small change can yield different activity. Example: Hemoglobin contains four iron ions each with a +2 charge (lacking two elections), the lose of just one electron on the iron ion trashes the heme group for carrying oxygen. Also, compare saturated and unsaturated fats and their impact on health.

To argue that one compound is with out harm simply because it is almost identical to another that is harmless is specious.

My apologies for the thread hijack, fallacy about drugs is a pet peeve of mine. Consume what you will, but do with all the information available.
 
I wonder who was responsible for this stupidity. Who ordered and coordinated this strike, particularly since it was based on faulty information?

The bit about the security guards being charged with possession is just another example of how stupid the war on drugs has become. If the manager doesn't do something about drugs in his rave, he's charged for it. If he does do something, then he's charged for possession!
 
Maybe they were committing some horrific offense like drinking coffee.
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Or grilling animal flesh over an open fire without a permit....

Damned hooligans.....see what that rave music does to the kids?

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.
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They sent only a company of stormtroopers to contain this dangerous situation?
 
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