Mr. -----,
I will again respond to you. You start your E-Mail with another erroneous statement of "fact" that you have taken from those who have lied. The Sheriff's Office, and all other police officers involved in the activity in question did not confiscate any phones or cameras. We have "a phone" and "a camera" that were picked up from off the ground when they were abandoned along with the sack full of ecstacy, mushrooms, methamphetamine, cocaine, and marijuana that were found on the ground. Those two items can be returned to the owners if they will come and ask for them.
Please send me a copy of the video that shows the alleged excessive force actions of the officers. The video I have examined, frame by frame in stop motion, shows the officers handcuffing the woman and taking her into custody, no hitting, no kicking was involved. The officers have a knee on her back to keep her from standing up while they place her hands behind her back to handcuff her. The only reason they took her into custody is that she started to kick (assault) them when she was told to leave the area, unfortunately that part of the "event" is not on the video.
You state that you in no way promote illegal activities, nor do I, this venue was awash in illegal possession and sales of illicit drugs from the very start. Before we shut down the party our undercover officers had made numerous purchases of ecstacy, and were told by the so called "security" that they should be careful with any drugs and hide or take them because the cops were coming. I have taken an oath of office to find and prevent criminal activity in this county, and with the knowledge that there were many violations of law occurring at this event, and that the promoter and land owners did not have all the required permits, I shut down the event to prevent further gross violations of law.
The other issue is that those who promoted and coordinated this event have lied about the permit issue. They had one permit, but never did apply for, or receive, the main permit from the County Commission that is required for a mass gathering. Simply, this was an illegal gathering as soon as the numbers exceeded 250 persons. But the land owners who plead ignorant of this requirement did know they needed the County permit, because it was explained to them when we broke up a large gathering three weeks earlier at the same place, that involved the same land owner.
Again, I feel that this response will be a waste of my time simply from the fact that I am part of the evil government and every thing I say will be considered a lie. For your information, I personally accompanied all of the officers to the event so I could be a first hand witness to the actions of all of the officers. My report of these facts is first hand, not second and third hand from those who have an agenda and were arrested or are upset that they were not allowed to continue to break the law with immunity. I was there, were you?
I believe in the un-infringed right of people to assemble peacefully, but it must also be lawful, and that is where I believe that most of those who are complaining differ from my point of view. I do not have an, as you put it, "I am better than you attitude". I have been in law enforcement for over 27 years and have placed my self at the service of the public, I might add to my detriment, and have always held myself accountable to the public for my actions and decisions. If like minded people want to gather and enjoy an evening of music and dance, what ever their taste in music, I am all for it, there is a legal and proper way to do so in Utah County. The promoter and land owners who put on this event are the ones that owe an apology to those who paid to come to a lawful and peaceful event, that type of event was not provided by the responsible parties.
By the way, what place do guns have at a party of this type? Because when we curtailed the first party three weeks ago, we picked four pistols up off of the ground. That is one reason we were anticipating a possible problem, if we found four pistols just lying on the ground, how many were there being carried by others?
I think your characterization that this event has caused a "worldwide stir" is a bit much, but I have heard from many vocal people who will believe anything with out checking the facts carefully and have a preset mind when it comes to the police, choosing to believe that there is no reason that officers might need to subdue some one, or that someone might just physically attack them (as was the case of this woman on the video) for doing their job.
Unlike you, I wish you no ill and hope that you might actually take the time to educate yourself on police matters, and this event in particular, and stop trying to "Monday morning quarterback" this situation.
Respectfully,
Sheriff Tracy
