Thousands Of People Attended A Halloween Rave To Protest COVID Restrictions

Authorities in Utah shut down a massive rave on Halloween, where thousands of people gathered in protest of the coronavirus regulations put in place by state officials. The party featured a large stage, professional lights and sound equipment, and DJ.

The police learned about the event after receiving a call about an unconscious woman who was injured while crowd surfing.

"Crowd tossing would probably be a better way to describe it," Sgt. Spencer Cannon with the Utah County Sheriff's Office told KSTU. "And the tossing side hadn't communicated well with the receiving side, and she ended up landing on her head and received a pretty serious laceration and was unconscious for at least a period of time."

Cannon estimated that anywhere between 2,000 and 10,000 people were partying in an area known as "The Knolls," which is on the western shore of Utah Lake. Officers ordered everybody to leave, and the crowd dispersed without any issues around 10 p.m. There were reports of a few car accidents in the area as people left.

While nobody was arrested at the rave, officials have not ruled out bringing criminal charges against the organizers.

"We must decide, and show by our actions, that the lives of everyone around us matter more to us than parties. If we do not, we will have a difficult time beating COVID-19 as a society," a spokesperson for Utah Governor Gary Herbert said.

The event was advertised by two groups, Utah Tonight and the Tribe Utah, which have both blasted the state for banning large gatherings and applying the rules inconsistently. While both groups promoted the event, they have since distanced themselves, claiming it was organized by volunteers who were not directly associated with them.

"We technically didn't have anything to do with the gathering that took place last night. It was organized by a bunch of individuals who came together and made it happen. No money was exchanged. We aren't taking interviews at the moment. The Protest on Halloween was indeed canceled in its entirety," a spokesperson for Utah Tonight told the news station.

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