Dancing Children In Utah

Last week a few hundred kids in Utah attended a "rave party" up in a canyon outside Salt Lake City. The well-publicized event took place on private property, and the organizers acquired a permit from the county Health Department, which meant complying with regulations regarding portable toilets, food and other health concerns.

However, the organizers did not obtain another, security-related, permit which is required for any "anticipated assembly of 250 or more people which continues or can reasonably be expected to continue for 12 or more consecutive hours." The event was scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. and continue until 6:30 a.m. That's nine and a half hours. The police now argue that kids could reasonably be expected to hang around for the full twelve hours. Maybe. It appears that whether or not the additional permit was required is open to some reasonable disagreement.

In any event, the Utah authorities learned where this dance party would be at about noon on the day of the rave. I don't know what they were up to between noon and 11 p.m.

But, at 11 p.m., after the party had been going on for two hours, the Utah authorities showed up at the party with ... get this ... a CHOPPER! And a SWAT team dressed like paramilitary ninjas with assault rifles! They shut it down then they hit the crowd with tear gas!

Check out this first hand testimonial from a DJ, and this video.

2GL reached one of the city elders for comment:

Even if this was not a law, which it is, I'm afraid I would have a lot of difficulty endorsing an enterprise which is as fraught with genuine peril as I believe this one to be. Besides the liquor and the drugs which always seem to accompany such an event the thing that distresses me even more, Ren, is the spiritual corruption that can be involved. These dances and this kind of music can be destructive, and, uh, Ren, I'm afraid you're going to find most of the people in our community are gonna agree with me on this.

Everybody cut, everybody cut...