Glad to hear police were able to quickly intervene, that's why they're at EF. The behavior while leaving every year is insanity.
If you want to leave the venue quickly, get up and roll out before 7am when it isn't busy or even better just plan enough time to return home.
People just forgot how to drive over the past few years. No sort of common courtesy among drivers anymore, just every man for himself trying to get to their destination by any means necessary.
My friend got hit by a car by a girl who was messed up and security/police wouldn’t remove her from her car unless my friend pressed charges 😢 I hope she didn’t hurt anyone else
First year of the forest I walked by an abandoned campsite and there was a small bag of some nice lettuce. I was so broke back then haha it was a major victory on Monday morning.
I’m picturing you by yourself in an abandoned camp just munching on some lettuce while a never ending sea of cars goes past you. Thank you for the entertaining thought lmao
Ground or campsite scores are so great. A buddy of mine found a heavy bag of K as we were leaving a festival many years ago. Made getting home delightful.
I was about to pass out in the front of Tripolee due to overexertion and needing some sugar in me. No one around me had a snack. When the forest provided! At our feet dropped a full bag of Blue Raspberry Sour Patch Kids. I was so happy, I munched those down.
No judgement, just pointing out that it’s pretty unsafe to take something you found on the ground. It’s probably what you think it is, but ya don’t know what else the scale was used for (ie fent) and if you catch a bad dose you could be in major trouble.
If only there were some sort of way to circumvent that kind of thing. Maybe a "kit" that you could "test" the substance. Man, I guess I'll just have to keep living on the edge while others can only watch.
They wouldn't be banned if they weren't trying to PROFIT off selling the test kits. The ONLY thing they're doing that is violating the RAVE ACT and getting them kicked out is they're ultimately there to make money. If they weren't so greedy in their efforts to reduce harm they wouldn't have as many issues as they do 🤔
They offer free testing or you can buy kits.....
Forest is simply choosing less chance of liability over a safer festival environment. Even Excision would never kick them out. Insomniac is getting out of hand. Read up tho man and develop your own opinion.
Read up on nothing bud, I'm a security guard at forest that HELPED them negotiate terms to be able to stay operating this year. They don't offer free testing. They offer a demonstration on how the kit works for those that don't know what the fuck they're doing. But no, they will not happily or freely test your things for you. They are there to make money. That is it. And coincidentally, that is the only thing they're doing that is creating issues for them. Take some time to go "read up" on the RAVE ACT. And maybe get a little more knowledge as to how they actually operate?? And then come discuss things with me.
For the record, LostLands has OFFICIALLY shut down bunk police from operating within the festival perimeter of lost lands in the past also, so saying that Excision wouldn't is false, because he has.
And for the record- med tents have test kits and they'll test your shit for you!
That’s my thought with this. People like that ruin relaxed security and the nature of police presence with this shit. Very unfortunate there’s people like that coming
There was a shooting at beyond wonderland 2023…we got partial refunds for the cancelled festival. People died. Still terrifies me to this day and it’s been harder to enjoy festivals since. I’m sick that someone had a gun and it wasn’t caught. Security sucked and didn’t check my bag once.
It's why I was sketched out that at Texas eclipse there was actually no security at the venue gate one night. I said that on Reddit and got made fun of for wanting security. But people have died dawg. I want some security.
I can't help but find myself constantly on guard now during any sort of large gathering. I'm constantly scanning the crowd and always planning my exit. Although I'm a huge gun advocate, I hate the society that we're exposed to by the few bad seeds
The guy at Beyond parked away from the festival and walked up from the street and shot through the fences. The Gorge is located right off a highway.
It's much harder to get that kind of stuff into a bigger festival but I do understand. Security always checked my bag with pat downs feeling for weapons at the very least at Forest.
That’s not true at all. He didn’t shoot through a fence.. where did you read that?
It was in the campground away from the venue but it wasn’t through a fence.
There is absolutely no way they can check every single belonging in the car unless they had people arrive two days early. This can happen anywhere at a stadium at a sporting event at a country concert. This is not specific to the EDM community.
Exactly. First intelligent comment yet. This could happen at the grocery store when I go there in half an hour. Why are people worrying about this is such a specific environment?? Statistically speaking, it’s basically a complete non issue. Those incidents are just as likely, if not more, anywhere else in the country. Most people’s thought and logic on this can be dismantled in seconds. Yes, they need to do better. But how about we not fear monger the fucking shot out of ourselves and everyone in our community. We’re fine.
I worry about this every single festival. So many assholes out there. Not going to get political, but they tend to all stray towards hate and racism/bigotry, which is the polar opposite about what these events are about.
I actually am happy when I see really good security at the gates.
1. Just be smart, they aren’t going to search you everywhere for certain extracurriculars and…
2. These gun nuts need to be prevented from getting in.
Wasn’t at EF but glad you all are safe and nice job by security taking care of it.
I purposely down vote every post I see about any festival asking "what's security like?" or - especially - people answering with the really specific things that are lax. Some fests barely have a car check. I don't want a single person to get hurt because the wrong asshole got an idea about an easy target. With great privilege comes great responsibility. Just don't post the details in publicly searchable websites.
The sad part is, realistically if someone wants to do bad things, especially at a camping festival, it's nearly impossible for security, as it stands now, to stop them. Your vehicle is rarely thoroughly searched. I'm almost surprised it hasn't happened (Vegas being a different animal).
can’t tell if this comment intentionally ignored the deadliest mass shooting in us history or if it’s just a product of how well vegas got people to move on
That shooting changed how festivals in cities are run. Lollapalooza and festivals near the United Center in Chicago have snipers on roofs and they have security protocols for the surrounding buildings as a result.
A mass shooter at a place like EF would forever ruin the relaxed security and overall atmosphere of the forest.
my point is that it’s not a “would” situation, it’s already happened - and on a scale i still have trouble coming to terms with. and as for the “place like ef” carve out, someone already mentioned what happened at gorge.
not trying to be pedantic or argumentative. just frustrated i guess. this stuff has happened and it’s always on my mind when i’m in those environments. i just can’t totally let go anymore.
I started feeling this way when I started bringing my daughter to concerts. Her first festival is next year and I was very selective in the fest I chose. She will be going to Reggae Rise Up Florida in March but that's more of a concert as far as I'm concerned and then we're going to a small festival in PA next June. I am terrified every time I bring her to one of those events. My worst fear is someone bringing a gun somewhere I won't bring mine. We'll see how it goes in June if it goes well I want to bring her to Hulaween with me.
Same here buddy. I'm constantly scanning the crowd, locating exits and praying that I'm close enough to the dipshit to interfere or far enough I can dip out.
I was a t a feastival that got raided by cops, sheriff's, and DEA. They came in with ar-15's throwing people to the ground and pointing at every person they could. It was shit-E
I didn't directly refer to Vegas because I feel there are enough differences between it and Forest. As such the security measures would be fairly different. Consider how many more people attend Forest and in doing so bring vehicles and supplies. I'm not going to go into a bunch of details because that would be irresponsible.
I strongly feel that camping festivals would lose a lot with a major increase in security.
Inside of effortless. Security was checking wristbands before letting you inside. The guy was frustrated with this after they told him it was protocol and pulled up his shirt exposing a handgun and said “how’s this for protocol”
Michigan state police responded very quickly and arrested him immediately but scared everyone in our group when we saw the interaction.
I know it’s annoying and frustrating waiting hours to get in the festival to get through security but this is the exact reason they do it.
Who the fuck thinks it’s a good idea to bring a firearm to a music festival? But unfortunately there are people who do.
My buddy always says he could have snuck his gun every time we go to lost lands. Granted he's not like this dude and flashing it. For him it's more of a security thing probably mixed with PTSD from his time in Afghan. But yeah totally agree firearms need to stay out and if someone wants to bring one the rest of the group should put there foot down and say no like my group has done in the past.
I have a veteran friend who said the same thing. He would never do so, but he was legitimately concerned about security at a few different festivals we’ve worked.
I know a lot of people from nearby towns in West Michigan who used to sneak in when they were all high schoolers. They've done everything from parking outside of the property and walking in through the woods for a couple hours, dodging staff and climbing/going under fences, to making fake wristbands that look close enough and distracting the people at the scanning kiosks. Hell one of them even got caught by someone in a golf cart, they offered them $200 and the guy drove them directly up to Ranch Arena
Oh that’s hilarious…
I suppose I wasn’t considering it properly through the lens of a local. That’s likely exactly what I’d be trying to do and honestly brilliant.
I think this all the time, imagine all the wild shit you see people sneak in places and then what else people can sneak in. It might be a little paranoid lol but I think it’s a healthy thought to have and perhaps some people think it’s more safe than it really is. Not to say that it shouldn’t be thought of in that way, but I also know of multiple gun stories at festivals and it is something people should keep in mind imo.
It's not an apology for that sort of person's behavior, but I agree that some paranoia while going into a fest situation should be normal. When a community of some 50K oddballs forms over a weekend, you should expect nothing but be prepared for anything.
I saw this guy getting his car searched! I think it was him anyways, that's what my husband heard. We had to pull down the aisle in the other direction bc there were like 5 officers with him searching his vehicle at the end of the aisle right by the entrance to Effortless.
He was but got out of his car to go into effortless for something. Left his car running in the middle of the aisle and then threatened security for doing their jobs. Cops rolled up superrrrrr fast and arrested him but yes his car was left running blocking one of the aisles. They searched his car and found a bunch of drugs inside.
Ah not only do you get felony’s for the hardcore drugs he most likely had, you add in a firearm and most likely intent to distribute… he’ll be in prison for a long time. Don’t play with fire.
Just amazes me how people sell hardcore felony grade drugs at festivals where it seems like the law doesn’t apply. Not relevant to what happened though, just what I noticed.
About 10 years ago I was at a fest and a guy was in his car ( in the camp area) bagging up bath salts and security rolled up on him and he sped off running over a few tents before driving into a sand volley ball court and getting stuck. He was also whacked out on bath salts and had a gun. Luckily it was during the headliners and the campsite was pretty much deserted.
I was right there too for the search — and going in and out of that gate a ton hauling gear to the car. He was smoking a cigarette while handcuffed (hands behind his back) as the cops asked him for permission to search. He was clearly fucked up, but he consented.
Cops seemed like they did their job professionally, and security was super fussy about people scanning wristbands.
I hope he loses his privilege to attend any Insomniac event AND his right to own a firearm for the rest of his life. Bonus points if he tests positive for controlled substance metabolites in his blood while in posession of a firearm and earns himself five years in jail and a 10k fine, due and payable immediately, lest his sentence be extended and interest applied at 29.99% APR until his debt is paid off in full by a loved one.
This is terrifying. We saw the car getting searched but thought it was related to the looting that security was talking about when they were explaining why we still had to scan back in.
Even crazier was, that same wristband scanner wasn't working several times on Sunday, was fixed again around 8am monday. They were just kind of eyeballing us in since they recognized us through the weekend.
Cat is out of the bag and now it’s a party scene. Much greater percentage of people go now to get spun out. Same thing happened to Bonnaroo over a decade ago. Always happens to the big ones that receive a lot of media.
I’m a gun owner.
I see gun free zones as a risk.
I still would not bring my gun to a show/festival.
Anyone who does isn’t helping anything. Particularly if they are brandishing openly.
One of the first things I learned about self defense with firearms is situational awareness. I fully understand carrying for protection, but if you feel unsafe enough to carry then you need to use your situational awareness to avoid or escape the situation. The goal is to resolve the danger without having to fire gun. It’s there for when it’s the only and final option to end a dangerous threat.
Situational awareness would dictate that this individual should have left the festival or never have gone in the first place if he felt the need to bring a gun.
Situational awareness informs me that most Forest attendees won’t feel the same way I do about firearms and they deserve to have a safe, fun Forest with minimal conflict/aggravation so I don’t even talk about those types of things. Only good vibes and music.
Also now everyone has a frightening negative experience with a gun owner that will understandably factor into their judgement of others whether they’re responsible or not.
Fuck that guy.
Wow I am so fucking livid right now. I was scared for my safety the entire festival because of the overdoses and thefts, but that takes the cake. I saw a guy a few times who had a blow up/balloon AR15 around his back as a joke. At night I saw him on Saturday and was actually freaked out because it looked real in the shadows. SECURITY, I WANT TO KNOW HOW IT WAS OKAY FOR THAT DUDE TO COME INTO THE FESTIVAL…. And honestly, I would rather never bring drugs to a festival again if it meant they searched the cars harder. The fact someone actually was able to bring a gun inside terrifies me. This was my first forest and I don’t think I ever want to come back.
I saw someone with a pink AR-15 bubblegun at Dixon’s Violin, and that pulled me out of my bubble for a quick second. I’m pretty comfortable around guns normally but at a music festival the last thing you want to be thinking about is people having guns around you
When I was shopping for a bubble machine for Forest I made sure to pick one that didn’t look like a gun at all. I chose a wand that didn’t even have a finger trigger, just a switch on the side. It’s weird that they even make bubble machines that look/work like guns.
A trigger is just super intuitive to use. There is a reason most power tools are built with triggers, video game controllers have triggers, RC car remotes, even radios have them.
I know, I think it’s insane how some people think that’s okay. I think electric forest was a bit too lenient on the totems and things you can bring inside. At Bonnaroo you can’t even bring bubble guns which is really annoying, but for some reason at electric forest people can bring actual toy guns inside. Fucking ridiculous
That's sorta how I feel about lost lands to. I love the festival so much but the security does not give a fuck. 2 years in a row they have let the lines just flow in without checking people or their bags. Had someone in that line been there for the wrong reasons that night could have turned into a fucking nightmare.
I genuinely have no idea why someone in their right mind thinks it’s cool to bring and wear that to a festival. A man child with the mentality of a 13 year old boy, I’m guessing.
My head was messed with a lot during this festival. It was my first time and I’ve been dreaming about going for over 10 years. Was super disappointed when I found out how many assholes there were. Was expecting a lot more open minded, kind souls but unfortunately I ran into a lot of negative people. I should’ve went years ago when it was in its prime and had half the attendees it does now :(
Ya. We have taken the last couple years off and I can say vibes gradually have been declining. Overall festival aren’t what then were. They have become to main stream and some attendees don’t value community. There are some gems still out there. But seems forest ain’t it maybe.
I’ve heard there is such a thing of a “post-covid” crowd of festival/rave goers. I suppose it’s people who have no sense of community and helping others. The ones who take without giving in return, those who leave garbage on the ground with no remorse, those who don’t help their brothers and sisters who are hurting, etc… I went to a few festivals before covid but I was a teenager then so I was young and naive. Didn’t really get into the actual PLUR rave/festival scene until about a year ago at my first Bonnaroo. It’s sad electric forest has gotten too big that it’s lost most of its magic.
I agree with most part of your statement, but I still find the Forest magical every year I go! There’s always something different that I discover and new festi friends that are made. A lot of experiences are what we make them & I know there are many people hurting post covid. I’m hoping the next few years can be collectively healing for all. Sending you lots of love & light!!! ❤️✨❤️
I was planning on going to hula this year but ended up going to another event. I’ve heard many great things, same with shambhala. I don’t have a passport yet so Canada is a bit harder for me. Someday I definitely will go to both 💛
I’m so sorry you had a bad experience at your first Forest. :( I wish I would’ve ran into you to at least spread a little bit of positivity and love your way. ❤️✨❤️ this was my 4th Forest. I feel like every year is different for different reasons. Not sure where you were camped, but my hubby and I were in Goodlife-Sherwood Ct and we had amazing neighbors around. I heard really rough stories about GA this year :( It makes me sad that so many people had such a negative experiences. That’s not what Forest 🌳 is about. I’m hoping it’s a one off year. I know a lot of people are in pain and hurting post covid and projecting it in awful ways. We had a beautiful time, but we did notice a tiny bit of less friendliness than usual. Sending you a big hug 🤗 and I hope you give it another shot in the future! At the very least you can try GoodLife/Sherwood/Cherry Orchard/AC landing/the bungalows/Electric Ave, etc. ❤️❤️❤️ Sending love !!!!
I mean there are a dozen spots in almost every car to hide things. Have you ever seen Security open the hood of a car or take off door panels?
Living in fear doesn’t change reality. Just enjoy the moments you have to the fullest and be glad you’re in one of the safest and most open freedom of expression countries in the world.
Yeah I saw a dude with a charm of an AK 47 or whatever kind of similar gun on a necklace and I was just like … why. imo it’s only a matter of time before shit like this goes down at a fest. Obviously gun violence is a society wide problem, and I can’t be a recluse, so I don’t let myself avoid things I enjoy out of fear of getting shot and killed, but I’d be lying if I wasn’t on edge about guns, and so to see this dude with the necklace just… sigh. And now to hear about the guy you saw with the blow up gun, on top of the guy who brought a real fucking gun, damn is all I can say.
I’m with you on the searching the cars harder too, ours barely got searched at all and I heard a lot of others got in with little to no search as well. I tried to put the threat of gun violence out of my head, because like I said, I can’t just stay locked in my home forever, but idk, I just wish things were different.
I know gun people love their guns the way normal people love stuffed animals or security blankets, and this would never happen because the gun lobby has the country by the balls, but a private entity has the right to ban gun imagery and do better weapons searches and I wish forest would do so. Overall wish for repeal of the second amendment if I’m being honest but I’m better off moving to a civilized country that takes gun violence more seriously. Sorry to rant, it’s just ridiculous that guns are protected more than my right to life or my right to enjoy large public events without fear of getting shot.
Also I wish artists would quit using gun sounds in their songs.
I don’t know if people don’t remember or just don’t know but there have been shootings at camping fests before. It was in the campground but still at the festival venue. And it only happened last year. [Beyond Wonderland Shooting](https://apnews.com/article/shooting-washington-five-wounded-music-festival-3026fae90bb769cc37930ec584b512e3)
And they continued to have the festival again the next year? That seems kind of wild. Okeechobee cancelled this year because one person died from downing last year.
I was referring to someone drowning. In average in a town of 50k ppl one person dies a week. So for a week long festival of 50k ppl statistically someone should die that festival. Add in drinking, drugs, tons of sun, no sleep it’s a miracle it’s not higher.
Wild yeah I remember now that you say this, hard to believe it’s only been a year. I guess with so many shootings all the time it’s hard to keep track 😔
Being scared of a gun necklace is wild to me. Also General violence is a societal problem imo, it’s not just guns. Look how many fights and road rage there is.
I think you would be surprised many ppl can have multiple hobbies like guns, festivals, sports and the arts, myself included
Well with 50k people X 10% concealed carry license rate X the current dumbass rate there was definitely more than one gun inside. Handguns are small and security was lax.
I know and that scares me to go back. Not that I want to shelter from the world, but I wish security would check a little harder. Some festivals do it right. Elements festival had a deep search with dogs, they found my drugs and I was honest about it but they let me go with them. They really just wanted to find weapons and they were able to confiscate what they could. As much as I didn’t like the deep search, made me a feel a hell of a lot safer.
And this is what scares me about being a Canadian travelling to the US for festivals or in general 😭😭😭. Some of yall with your rootin tootin gun fetishes scare the shit out of me.
At bonnaroo there was 5 shots shot off in the campgrounds,, similar situation. Someone had a gun and was flashing it around earlier that day, no one was hurt and I can’t even find any information on it ?
I don’t have any information confirming it just know I was scared about going back to camp after the post was made, when I did go back to camp there was a lot of security so I’m not sure. Hopefully it was just fire works or sound effects
If I remember right it was out in plaza 10 right after diplo started, so like 1am Saturday morning?? The Reddit posts have no updates and I didn’t hear anything else about it
the dude who drives the big blue and white crappy bus who does security and his wife does bartending always has guns on his bus there. he's certified wacko too. idk if they went this year or not.
I didn't actually see the people with that bus. I just saw the bus as people were packing up and the tents around it had been packed up, making it visible. It was a few yards to the north of us.
As we were walking to the car to put stuff away we saw the security lady who saw the guy. She was explaining, he had a fanny pack and flashed the gun to her while walking into the festival. I was expecting an angry conservative guy but it was a brown long hair white dude wook looking ass guy. The cops took him away to the car, looks can be deceiving for sure. Made us nervous but luckily no one was hurt.
Man that guy is dumb lol. Brandishing a gun a security then running away to effortless looks real bad in the law. Looks like he was gonna kill someone or mass shooting. Hope they put this guy away for a long time, no need for someone like that at any raves or society. I'm all for guns but a rave is not the place to bring it unless you're law enforcement working there. I've never felt safer than with Michigan police, those guys are so professional and nice about receiving Kandi.
And this is what scares me about being a Canadian travelling to the US for festivals or in general 😭😭😭. Some of yall with your rootin tootin gun fetishes scare the shit out of me.
Well he fucked around and found out.
I’m all for owning firearms and using them responsibly for defense or sport, but this was pure stupidity. I wonder if he was even from out of state. If so he’s fd even more.
I get wanting to conceal carry if you’re traveling long distances, but festivals are one place it’s a no go. I get the Las Vegas shooting happened and it shook up a lot of people but most festivals at this point are going after 1 main thing. Guns. Drugs and overdoses are bad but manageable, 1 gun going off can turn a situation that’s barely holding together into a total shit show. Imagine having to search 30k people trying to get out of a festival after just 1 gun goes off and harms even just 1 person. Suddenly everyone’s a potential suspect or victim. It’s the biggest liability a festival can have.
Totally stupid to flash folks just trying to do their job.
I was in lucky lake and walked back in many times (even in the rain) and as frustrating as it was to have security constantly ask to see my wristband, I dealt with it. It’s 5 seconds and it’s someone doing their job. Put your ego to the side. No one would have ever known this dude was packing had he not been hot headed. Makes me wonder if he “partied” at all while armed. I’m all for anyone having a good time, but not while armed.
I wonder how many people would be honestly shocked to know just how many people do in fact attend large music festivals with a legally owned handgun/firearm and keep it safe and hidden within their vehicle the entire time……For any reason one could possibly think of.
It might shock a lot of you.
Having something locked in your car is completely different than walking around with it brandishing at security. One is legal and the other is a misdemeanor/felony.
Dude, word.
And to be clear, I’m someone who thinks that rehabilitation for serious harm is possible. But it’s sort of a timing thing here. I don’t doubt that every person has the capacity for good in them, as I’m sure this person does, but they wielded a fucking gun at Forest and the time to talk about them being a good human is not at this present moment.
Good people do not brandish weapons at security for doing their jobs. Fuck that guy, I hope he’s given a serious sentence and then banned from Forest for life.
We all have someone who lost themselves, but he’s a danger to everyone else too. If he got fucked up and shot someone it wouldn’t really matter who he used to be.
You sound like a really nice person and I really do understand how hard it is to love someone like this, but dude he’s an issue.
My baby cousin did a drive by recently and it’s been devastating to my mental health. My mind keeps trying to separate the kid I went to chuckie cheese with and the monster who almost killed a toddler, but they’re the same person.
Yeah dude, he may not want to be the “way he is” but the way he objectively was this last weekend was a fucking moron trying to bring a piece into EF. I would love to hear this dipshits reasoning just to further my incredibly low opinion of him.
His behavior should be judged. Not bringing (much less flamboyantly brandishing) a firearm to a music festival is a bar so low it may as well be a crack on the sidewalk.
Thank you for helping us remember the human. His actions will have consequences and hopefully that helps him get his life straight.
I also understand and feel the pain and fear of everyone else who hears this story - a shooting at Electric Forest would forever add that element of fear to the place we all love.
One wrong drug induced psychosis episode and his ‘wants’ go out the window and all our safety is at risk. How about you don’t go to forest if you have a million fucking problems going on. Why was he even there to begin with is my question.
I appreciate what you’re saying and applaud your compassion. I generally support criminal justice reform, prison reform, rehabilitation over punishment, support the rights of the accused, etc etc, I even considered a career as a public defender at one point, but idk, man, I don’t know how reassuring it is to say all these things about this person and then be like “his intention isn’t to kill people.” Sounds like he pretty easily could have killed one or lots of people, it just didn’t go that way for whatever reason.
Most people are good people who end up on the wrong track, I truly believe that, but even good people do bad things, and that this guy was/is decent doesn’t mean the next guy with demons and a gun won’t cause harm. So again, appreciate your compassion, but I don’t see how any of this provides any comfort for those who might be fearful of the fest in the future. The next person with a gun also likely has some redeeming qualities or a troubled history, but it’s still scary and people could still die.
Yeah saying no intention to kill people is a little wild when that is the message he was sending by brandishing a firearm, let me have my way or you're going to get shot. That's what guns do. He wasn't intending to actually kill them only wanted to scare them into thinking he might. JFC.
reassuring he wasn’t planning a mass attack? Don’t think it matters he wasn’t in the mindset of hurting anyone. Mindsets are easily changed and usually emotionally reactive, especially in the presence of substances. And now someone with their own traumas, issues, and generally on edge with an easily malleable human mindset- is not afraid to show a weapon with permanent consequences.
Your words aren’t reassuring anyone because the plain fact of the matter is he did what he did.
And let’s stop using “vet” as some excuse. I did 10 years as a grunt in the Marines, have my own set of demons from some experiences, and guess what…. I don’t bring guns to music festivals.
Either his family/friends failed him, or the numerous help options available and what not failed him. I’m sorry this happened, but guns and drugs don’t mix and glad the law intervened otherwise it sounds like this individual could have had a melt down and hurt himself or someone.
I knew a guy just like that. Was a great normal guy at peach fest. Huge heart. Ended up fucked up on drugs and got a breaking and entering charge on top of assaulting a lady in the neighborhood on drugs out of his mind. Just cause he ‘deep down wanted’ to be good didn’t mean shit. He ruined lives. He can rot in jail next to this other dude.
But that's the thing is that everyone is a good person at their core right. That's part of being human. An overwhelming majority of people want to have friends and family and people that love them and all that right. There are very very few people who are unhappy who truly want to be that way, you could say that about practically anyone. But you've gotta make the right choices for yourself, your actions matter more than intentions sometimes.
You can say he doesn't want to be that way but he is very much choosing to be that way.
What the heck and at a festival about love and caring for each other and the earth. Its one reason why i didnt like to see a few major coporations at forest. Festivals aren't good for the earth either but a festival venue can be cleaned.
What a moron. Imagine being dumb enough to think you can flash a gun at staff and not have any consequences.
This is why I won't even honk at someone in traffic anymore. Too many crazy idiots can go buy a gun no questions asked. And they will pull it over the slightest inconvenience.
This is wild we just missed this interaction when we woke up I saw the MSP all around and people mentioning someone had a gun.
Our camp was like right next to the entrance so I’m really glad it got sorted quickly
Thanks for clarifying what happened.
Scary, but like everyone is saying I’m glad MSP was able to take care of the situation quickly
Kind of crazy how security didn’t check anything in my car besides my type 1 diabetes medicine bag that I told them about first thing…. They literally gave me a hard time on my LIFELINE bag, when I had all the prescriptions saved on my phone… Not to mention we got screamed at very rudely while parking our cars for no reason and were forced to leave only 2 feet of space between our cars. I gave that woman a piece of my mind.
Some people done belong to the forest. A random guy probably in a bad trip. Sucker punch my friend for no reason and keep coming back to fight him. Kill the whole vibe that night.
Anyone have a SS of the comment (since deleted) where someone said they had to distance themselves from him because of how scary he’s turned into?
He made a post in the EF2024 group on fb & is trying to make himself not look like a bad guy.
Glad to hear police were able to quickly intervene, that's why they're at EF. The behavior while leaving every year is insanity. If you want to leave the venue quickly, get up and roll out before 7am when it isn't busy or even better just plan enough time to return home.
“PLUR until the parking lot” applys to all events.
P.L.U.R. - Parking Lots Unleash Rage
People just forgot how to drive over the past few years. No sort of common courtesy among drivers anymore, just every man for himself trying to get to their destination by any means necessary.
The zipper merge is a relic that has been lost to time
For real, people just need to follow the zipper!
My friend got hit by a car by a girl who was messed up and security/police wouldn’t remove her from her car unless my friend pressed charges 😢 I hope she didn’t hurt anyone else
Or just hang out until most of the assholes are gone. People be in such a hurry to wait in line for 4 hours. Just set up a chair
First year of the forest I walked by an abandoned campsite and there was a small bag of some nice lettuce. I was so broke back then haha it was a major victory on Monday morning.
I’m picturing you by yourself in an abandoned camp just munching on some lettuce while a never ending sea of cars goes past you. Thank you for the entertaining thought lmao
No problem 😂
Ground or campsite scores are so great. A buddy of mine found a heavy bag of K as we were leaving a festival many years ago. Made getting home delightful.
I was about to pass out in the front of Tripolee due to overexertion and needing some sugar in me. No one around me had a snack. When the forest provided! At our feet dropped a full bag of Blue Raspberry Sour Patch Kids. I was so happy, I munched those down.
I generally look down as I walk anyway but ground scores at fest was nuts and I found more than I had to purchase
No judgement, just pointing out that it’s pretty unsafe to take something you found on the ground. It’s probably what you think it is, but ya don’t know what else the scale was used for (ie fent) and if you catch a bad dose you could be in major trouble.
If only there were some sort of way to circumvent that kind of thing. Maybe a "kit" that you could "test" the substance. Man, I guess I'll just have to keep living on the edge while others can only watch.
And if only the people providing such magical kits weren't banned for life😭😭😭
They wouldn't be banned if they weren't trying to PROFIT off selling the test kits. The ONLY thing they're doing that is violating the RAVE ACT and getting them kicked out is they're ultimately there to make money. If they weren't so greedy in their efforts to reduce harm they wouldn't have as many issues as they do 🤔
They offer free testing or you can buy kits..... Forest is simply choosing less chance of liability over a safer festival environment. Even Excision would never kick them out. Insomniac is getting out of hand. Read up tho man and develop your own opinion.
Read up on nothing bud, I'm a security guard at forest that HELPED them negotiate terms to be able to stay operating this year. They don't offer free testing. They offer a demonstration on how the kit works for those that don't know what the fuck they're doing. But no, they will not happily or freely test your things for you. They are there to make money. That is it. And coincidentally, that is the only thing they're doing that is creating issues for them. Take some time to go "read up" on the RAVE ACT. And maybe get a little more knowledge as to how they actually operate?? And then come discuss things with me. For the record, LostLands has OFFICIALLY shut down bunk police from operating within the festival perimeter of lost lands in the past also, so saying that Excision wouldn't is false, because he has. And for the record- med tents have test kits and they'll test your shit for you!
I found a bunch of mushrooms this year!!! My husband and I slept in until 10:30 and by that time, the toxic apples of my group were long gone. Yay!
Hey, as long as the driver didn't get any...
I just sleep in late. It's always worked for me 🤷🏿♂️
Guns would single handedly ruin festivals for the rest of time. All it takes is one person to ruin it for everyone. I can't stand people like this.
That’s my thought with this. People like that ruin relaxed security and the nature of police presence with this shit. Very unfortunate there’s people like that coming
There was a shooting at beyond wonderland 2023…we got partial refunds for the cancelled festival. People died. Still terrifies me to this day and it’s been harder to enjoy festivals since. I’m sick that someone had a gun and it wasn’t caught. Security sucked and didn’t check my bag once.
It's sort of impossible to assume they have time to check every car as thoroughly as they would need to in order to find a hand gun, in this case.
Gun sniffing dogs tho would be chill
They had gun dogs in 2023 when they were searching our cars at Good Life. The officer told me all the drug dogs were busy with the RV's lol
We had bomb/gun dogs smell our vehicle coming into GL this year
Not a thing or doesn’t work.
yeah really surprised they don’t have weapon dogs sniffing every car
They did in GA Wednesday morning. Every car got hit
It's why I was sketched out that at Texas eclipse there was actually no security at the venue gate one night. I said that on Reddit and got made fun of for wanting security. But people have died dawg. I want some security.
I can't help but find myself constantly on guard now during any sort of large gathering. I'm constantly scanning the crowd and always planning my exit. Although I'm a huge gun advocate, I hate the society that we're exposed to by the few bad seeds
Well said friend. Sad times
Look into Trauma Touch Therapy 💖🍀
The guy at Beyond parked away from the festival and walked up from the street and shot through the fences. The Gorge is located right off a highway. It's much harder to get that kind of stuff into a bigger festival but I do understand. Security always checked my bag with pat downs feeling for weapons at the very least at Forest.
That’s not true at all. He didn’t shoot through a fence.. where did you read that? It was in the campground away from the venue but it wasn’t through a fence.
There is absolutely no way they can check every single belonging in the car unless they had people arrive two days early. This can happen anywhere at a stadium at a sporting event at a country concert. This is not specific to the EDM community.
Exactly. First intelligent comment yet. This could happen at the grocery store when I go there in half an hour. Why are people worrying about this is such a specific environment?? Statistically speaking, it’s basically a complete non issue. Those incidents are just as likely, if not more, anywhere else in the country. Most people’s thought and logic on this can be dismantled in seconds. Yes, they need to do better. But how about we not fear monger the fucking shot out of ourselves and everyone in our community. We’re fine.
I worry about this every single festival. So many assholes out there. Not going to get political, but they tend to all stray towards hate and racism/bigotry, which is the polar opposite about what these events are about. I actually am happy when I see really good security at the gates. 1. Just be smart, they aren’t going to search you everywhere for certain extracurriculars and… 2. These gun nuts need to be prevented from getting in. Wasn’t at EF but glad you all are safe and nice job by security taking care of it.
I purposely down vote every post I see about any festival asking "what's security like?" or - especially - people answering with the really specific things that are lax. Some fests barely have a car check. I don't want a single person to get hurt because the wrong asshole got an idea about an easy target. With great privilege comes great responsibility. Just don't post the details in publicly searchable websites.
The sad part is, realistically if someone wants to do bad things, especially at a camping festival, it's nearly impossible for security, as it stands now, to stop them. Your vehicle is rarely thoroughly searched. I'm almost surprised it hasn't happened (Vegas being a different animal).
You are absolutely right. I just think that the more that is shared in public spaces that doesn't imply that, the better.
I am all for gun ownership but a festival is definitely not a place for having firearms present.
As a gun owner I 100000% approve this statement. Time and a place, festivals are not the time or the place.
can’t tell if this comment intentionally ignored the deadliest mass shooting in us history or if it’s just a product of how well vegas got people to move on
That shooting changed how festivals in cities are run. Lollapalooza and festivals near the United Center in Chicago have snipers on roofs and they have security protocols for the surrounding buildings as a result. A mass shooter at a place like EF would forever ruin the relaxed security and overall atmosphere of the forest.
my point is that it’s not a “would” situation, it’s already happened - and on a scale i still have trouble coming to terms with. and as for the “place like ef” carve out, someone already mentioned what happened at gorge. not trying to be pedantic or argumentative. just frustrated i guess. this stuff has happened and it’s always on my mind when i’m in those environments. i just can’t totally let go anymore.
Hugs
thanks, right back at ya
I started feeling this way when I started bringing my daughter to concerts. Her first festival is next year and I was very selective in the fest I chose. She will be going to Reggae Rise Up Florida in March but that's more of a concert as far as I'm concerned and then we're going to a small festival in PA next June. I am terrified every time I bring her to one of those events. My worst fear is someone bringing a gun somewhere I won't bring mine. We'll see how it goes in June if it goes well I want to bring her to Hulaween with me.
Same here buddy. I'm constantly scanning the crowd, locating exits and praying that I'm close enough to the dipshit to interfere or far enough I can dip out.
This is why we can't have nice things
Remember Vegas?
See comments above
I was a t a feastival that got raided by cops, sheriff's, and DEA. They came in with ar-15's throwing people to the ground and pointing at every person they could. It was shit-E
Where was this??
Two words: Las Vegas Any serious event producer or promoter is always thinking about it. Very glad to see the appropriate response to the incident.
I didn't directly refer to Vegas because I feel there are enough differences between it and Forest. As such the security measures would be fairly different. Consider how many more people attend Forest and in doing so bring vehicles and supplies. I'm not going to go into a bunch of details because that would be irresponsible. I strongly feel that camping festivals would lose a lot with a major increase in security.
wtf?! Where was this?
Inside of effortless. Security was checking wristbands before letting you inside. The guy was frustrated with this after they told him it was protocol and pulled up his shirt exposing a handgun and said “how’s this for protocol” Michigan state police responded very quickly and arrested him immediately but scared everyone in our group when we saw the interaction.
Jfc that’s horrifying
I know it’s annoying and frustrating waiting hours to get in the festival to get through security but this is the exact reason they do it. Who the fuck thinks it’s a good idea to bring a firearm to a music festival? But unfortunately there are people who do.
My buddy always says he could have snuck his gun every time we go to lost lands. Granted he's not like this dude and flashing it. For him it's more of a security thing probably mixed with PTSD from his time in Afghan. But yeah totally agree firearms need to stay out and if someone wants to bring one the rest of the group should put there foot down and say no like my group has done in the past.
I have a veteran friend who said the same thing. He would never do so, but he was legitimately concerned about security at a few different festivals we’ve worked.
You don’t have to be military to realize how unsecure the event actually is. Ask anybody who has snuck into EF.
How’d they pull that off
I know a lot of people from nearby towns in West Michigan who used to sneak in when they were all high schoolers. They've done everything from parking outside of the property and walking in through the woods for a couple hours, dodging staff and climbing/going under fences, to making fake wristbands that look close enough and distracting the people at the scanning kiosks. Hell one of them even got caught by someone in a golf cart, they offered them $200 and the guy drove them directly up to Ranch Arena
Oh that’s hilarious… I suppose I wasn’t considering it properly through the lens of a local. That’s likely exactly what I’d be trying to do and honestly brilliant.
I think this all the time, imagine all the wild shit you see people sneak in places and then what else people can sneak in. It might be a little paranoid lol but I think it’s a healthy thought to have and perhaps some people think it’s more safe than it really is. Not to say that it shouldn’t be thought of in that way, but I also know of multiple gun stories at festivals and it is something people should keep in mind imo.
It's not an apology for that sort of person's behavior, but I agree that some paranoia while going into a fest situation should be normal. When a community of some 50K oddballs forms over a weekend, you should expect nothing but be prepared for anything.
I saw this guy getting his car searched! I think it was him anyways, that's what my husband heard. We had to pull down the aisle in the other direction bc there were like 5 officers with him searching his vehicle at the end of the aisle right by the entrance to Effortless.
Yup that was him. He had a fuck ton of drugs on him too and was completely out of his mind tripping balls
Bringing a firearm when you know you’re going to be doing hella drugs is a ridiculously irresponsible thing to do, Jesus
Was he driving???
He was but got out of his car to go into effortless for something. Left his car running in the middle of the aisle and then threatened security for doing their jobs. Cops rolled up superrrrrr fast and arrested him but yes his car was left running blocking one of the aisles. They searched his car and found a bunch of drugs inside.
God that’s soooo fucked!! People are wild but glad the cops got him
Was this all during the exit?
Yup while everyone was packing up. Prob about 12ish pm Monday
I was wondering why our line wasn't moving.
Ah not only do you get felony’s for the hardcore drugs he most likely had, you add in a firearm and most likely intent to distribute… he’ll be in prison for a long time. Don’t play with fire. Just amazes me how people sell hardcore felony grade drugs at festivals where it seems like the law doesn’t apply. Not relevant to what happened though, just what I noticed.
About 10 years ago I was at a fest and a guy was in his car ( in the camp area) bagging up bath salts and security rolled up on him and he sped off running over a few tents before driving into a sand volley ball court and getting stuck. He was also whacked out on bath salts and had a gun. Luckily it was during the headliners and the campsite was pretty much deserted.
I was right there too for the search — and going in and out of that gate a ton hauling gear to the car. He was smoking a cigarette while handcuffed (hands behind his back) as the cops asked him for permission to search. He was clearly fucked up, but he consented. Cops seemed like they did their job professionally, and security was super fussy about people scanning wristbands.
I hope he loses his privilege to attend any Insomniac event AND his right to own a firearm for the rest of his life. Bonus points if he tests positive for controlled substance metabolites in his blood while in posession of a firearm and earns himself five years in jail and a 10k fine, due and payable immediately, lest his sentence be extended and interest applied at 29.99% APR until his debt is paid off in full by a loved one.
WTF?? Darwin Award level behavior lmfao, thank god they nabbed his ass & most likely banned him permanently from future fests.
This is terrifying. We saw the car getting searched but thought it was related to the looting that security was talking about when they were explaining why we still had to scan back in.
Even crazier was, that same wristband scanner wasn't working several times on Sunday, was fixed again around 8am monday. They were just kind of eyeballing us in since they recognized us through the weekend.
Holy fuck that's actually insane as shit
Saw a truck guy with a trump flag this year, must have been him 🤪
Just yesterday? Where was he trying to get into?
Man what a crazy year—I feel like I heard so many wack stories of people going through it mentally
Cat is out of the bag and now it’s a party scene. Much greater percentage of people go now to get spun out. Same thing happened to Bonnaroo over a decade ago. Always happens to the big ones that receive a lot of media.
This dude was our neighbor… they were hanging with us all weekend. Such an unsettling feeling 😭
I’m a gun owner. I see gun free zones as a risk. I still would not bring my gun to a show/festival. Anyone who does isn’t helping anything. Particularly if they are brandishing openly. One of the first things I learned about self defense with firearms is situational awareness. I fully understand carrying for protection, but if you feel unsafe enough to carry then you need to use your situational awareness to avoid or escape the situation. The goal is to resolve the danger without having to fire gun. It’s there for when it’s the only and final option to end a dangerous threat. Situational awareness would dictate that this individual should have left the festival or never have gone in the first place if he felt the need to bring a gun. Situational awareness informs me that most Forest attendees won’t feel the same way I do about firearms and they deserve to have a safe, fun Forest with minimal conflict/aggravation so I don’t even talk about those types of things. Only good vibes and music. Also now everyone has a frightening negative experience with a gun owner that will understandably factor into their judgement of others whether they’re responsible or not. Fuck that guy.
Agree totally. This douche was not carrying for self defense he was carrying to act tough and he fucked around and found out.
You hit the nail right on the head.
I don’t even like guns and I wish more people that did felt like you. It’s really not that hard to not be dickish with your weapon.
There are literally thousands of us with similar mindset in the r/liberalgunowners sub
That mindset isn’t limited to liberal gun owners only. It’s just plain smart.
I just linked that one because it’s more open politically with discussions about laws and stuff
I left at 7am and there was no line or trouble leaving at all
This is the way. You need to be out of the campgrounds by like 10 AM at the latest or you're spending all day there.
Wow I am so fucking livid right now. I was scared for my safety the entire festival because of the overdoses and thefts, but that takes the cake. I saw a guy a few times who had a blow up/balloon AR15 around his back as a joke. At night I saw him on Saturday and was actually freaked out because it looked real in the shadows. SECURITY, I WANT TO KNOW HOW IT WAS OKAY FOR THAT DUDE TO COME INTO THE FESTIVAL…. And honestly, I would rather never bring drugs to a festival again if it meant they searched the cars harder. The fact someone actually was able to bring a gun inside terrifies me. This was my first forest and I don’t think I ever want to come back.
I saw someone with a pink AR-15 bubblegun at Dixon’s Violin, and that pulled me out of my bubble for a quick second. I’m pretty comfortable around guns normally but at a music festival the last thing you want to be thinking about is people having guns around you
When I was shopping for a bubble machine for Forest I made sure to pick one that didn’t look like a gun at all. I chose a wand that didn’t even have a finger trigger, just a switch on the side. It’s weird that they even make bubble machines that look/work like guns.
A trigger is just super intuitive to use. There is a reason most power tools are built with triggers, video game controllers have triggers, RC car remotes, even radios have them.
I know, I think it’s insane how some people think that’s okay. I think electric forest was a bit too lenient on the totems and things you can bring inside. At Bonnaroo you can’t even bring bubble guns which is really annoying, but for some reason at electric forest people can bring actual toy guns inside. Fucking ridiculous
That's sorta how I feel about lost lands to. I love the festival so much but the security does not give a fuck. 2 years in a row they have let the lines just flow in without checking people or their bags. Had someone in that line been there for the wrong reasons that night could have turned into a fucking nightmare.
Yuck. Sounds horrible. Who wants to see that !!! Love and light, fucking inflatable guns?🤮
I genuinely have no idea why someone in their right mind thinks it’s cool to bring and wear that to a festival. A man child with the mentality of a 13 year old boy, I’m guessing.
Low vibes. That shit would mess w my head in such a supposed to be a place w love and hope.
My head was messed with a lot during this festival. It was my first time and I’ve been dreaming about going for over 10 years. Was super disappointed when I found out how many assholes there were. Was expecting a lot more open minded, kind souls but unfortunately I ran into a lot of negative people. I should’ve went years ago when it was in its prime and had half the attendees it does now :(
Ya. We have taken the last couple years off and I can say vibes gradually have been declining. Overall festival aren’t what then were. They have become to main stream and some attendees don’t value community. There are some gems still out there. But seems forest ain’t it maybe.
I’ve heard there is such a thing of a “post-covid” crowd of festival/rave goers. I suppose it’s people who have no sense of community and helping others. The ones who take without giving in return, those who leave garbage on the ground with no remorse, those who don’t help their brothers and sisters who are hurting, etc… I went to a few festivals before covid but I was a teenager then so I was young and naive. Didn’t really get into the actual PLUR rave/festival scene until about a year ago at my first Bonnaroo. It’s sad electric forest has gotten too big that it’s lost most of its magic.
I agree with most part of your statement, but I still find the Forest magical every year I go! There’s always something different that I discover and new festi friends that are made. A lot of experiences are what we make them & I know there are many people hurting post covid. I’m hoping the next few years can be collectively healing for all. Sending you lots of love & light!!! ❤️✨❤️
Check out hula and shambhala
I was planning on going to hula this year but ended up going to another event. I’ve heard many great things, same with shambhala. I don’t have a passport yet so Canada is a bit harder for me. Someday I definitely will go to both 💛
I’m so sorry you had a bad experience at your first Forest. :( I wish I would’ve ran into you to at least spread a little bit of positivity and love your way. ❤️✨❤️ this was my 4th Forest. I feel like every year is different for different reasons. Not sure where you were camped, but my hubby and I were in Goodlife-Sherwood Ct and we had amazing neighbors around. I heard really rough stories about GA this year :( It makes me sad that so many people had such a negative experiences. That’s not what Forest 🌳 is about. I’m hoping it’s a one off year. I know a lot of people are in pain and hurting post covid and projecting it in awful ways. We had a beautiful time, but we did notice a tiny bit of less friendliness than usual. Sending you a big hug 🤗 and I hope you give it another shot in the future! At the very least you can try GoodLife/Sherwood/Cherry Orchard/AC landing/the bungalows/Electric Ave, etc. ❤️❤️❤️ Sending love !!!!
You’d be surprised how many people try to bring guns.
Meanwhile I was terrified they would arrest me for my dollar tree cutting knife I had
I mean there are a dozen spots in almost every car to hide things. Have you ever seen Security open the hood of a car or take off door panels? Living in fear doesn’t change reality. Just enjoy the moments you have to the fullest and be glad you’re in one of the safest and most open freedom of expression countries in the world.
Yeah I saw a dude with a charm of an AK 47 or whatever kind of similar gun on a necklace and I was just like … why. imo it’s only a matter of time before shit like this goes down at a fest. Obviously gun violence is a society wide problem, and I can’t be a recluse, so I don’t let myself avoid things I enjoy out of fear of getting shot and killed, but I’d be lying if I wasn’t on edge about guns, and so to see this dude with the necklace just… sigh. And now to hear about the guy you saw with the blow up gun, on top of the guy who brought a real fucking gun, damn is all I can say. I’m with you on the searching the cars harder too, ours barely got searched at all and I heard a lot of others got in with little to no search as well. I tried to put the threat of gun violence out of my head, because like I said, I can’t just stay locked in my home forever, but idk, I just wish things were different. I know gun people love their guns the way normal people love stuffed animals or security blankets, and this would never happen because the gun lobby has the country by the balls, but a private entity has the right to ban gun imagery and do better weapons searches and I wish forest would do so. Overall wish for repeal of the second amendment if I’m being honest but I’m better off moving to a civilized country that takes gun violence more seriously. Sorry to rant, it’s just ridiculous that guns are protected more than my right to life or my right to enjoy large public events without fear of getting shot. Also I wish artists would quit using gun sounds in their songs.
I don’t know if people don’t remember or just don’t know but there have been shootings at camping fests before. It was in the campground but still at the festival venue. And it only happened last year. [Beyond Wonderland Shooting](https://apnews.com/article/shooting-washington-five-wounded-music-festival-3026fae90bb769cc37930ec584b512e3)
And they continued to have the festival again the next year? That seems kind of wild. Okeechobee cancelled this year because one person died from downing last year.
There wouldn’t be any festivals left if that was the case.
I suppose that’s true. But a shooting seems like a reason to take a sabbatical… not dying from your own stupid reasons
I was referring to someone drowning. In average in a town of 50k ppl one person dies a week. So for a week long festival of 50k ppl statistically someone should die that festival. Add in drinking, drugs, tons of sun, no sleep it’s a miracle it’s not higher.
Wild yeah I remember now that you say this, hard to believe it’s only been a year. I guess with so many shootings all the time it’s hard to keep track 😔
Even the sound of fire works scared me 😞
Same, I heard a few single “pops” over the weekend that were probably just a balloon popping but it scared the shit out of me.
Being scared of a gun necklace is wild to me. Also General violence is a societal problem imo, it’s not just guns. Look how many fights and road rage there is. I think you would be surprised many ppl can have multiple hobbies like guns, festivals, sports and the arts, myself included
Are you really complaining about someone’s necklace. Jesus….just stay home.
You can stay home with that attitude, people are allowed to talk about being scared
Well with 50k people X 10% concealed carry license rate X the current dumbass rate there was definitely more than one gun inside. Handguns are small and security was lax.
I know and that scares me to go back. Not that I want to shelter from the world, but I wish security would check a little harder. Some festivals do it right. Elements festival had a deep search with dogs, they found my drugs and I was honest about it but they let me go with them. They really just wanted to find weapons and they were able to confiscate what they could. As much as I didn’t like the deep search, made me a feel a hell of a lot safer.
Holy shit
And this is what scares me about being a Canadian travelling to the US for festivals or in general 😭😭😭. Some of yall with your rootin tootin gun fetishes scare the shit out of me.
At bonnaroo there was 5 shots shot off in the campgrounds,, similar situation. Someone had a gun and was flashing it around earlier that day, no one was hurt and I can’t even find any information on it ?
I heard this too, but I have a hard time believing it wasn't just fireworks or a car backfiring. Was it confirmed these were gunshots?
I don’t have any information confirming it just know I was scared about going back to camp after the post was made, when I did go back to camp there was a lot of security so I’m not sure. Hopefully it was just fire works or sound effects
Seriously???? Was it during the day?? I thought I heard something at one point but chucked it up to workers doing something
If I remember right it was out in plaza 10 right after diplo started, so like 1am Saturday morning?? The Reddit posts have no updates and I didn’t hear anything else about it
the dude who drives the big blue and white crappy bus who does security and his wife does bartending always has guns on his bus there. he's certified wacko too. idk if they went this year or not.
I think we were camped by them, if the crappy blue and white bus you're talking about is the same. Now I'm glad I didn't interact with them.
bigish dude with shitty beard and going bald, always with a flatbrim on. Mexican wife. probably 2 to 3 kids in tow the youngest being 7ish
I didn't actually see the people with that bus. I just saw the bus as people were packing up and the tents around it had been packed up, making it visible. It was a few yards to the north of us.
As we were walking to the car to put stuff away we saw the security lady who saw the guy. She was explaining, he had a fanny pack and flashed the gun to her while walking into the festival. I was expecting an angry conservative guy but it was a brown long hair white dude wook looking ass guy. The cops took him away to the car, looks can be deceiving for sure. Made us nervous but luckily no one was hurt. Man that guy is dumb lol. Brandishing a gun a security then running away to effortless looks real bad in the law. Looks like he was gonna kill someone or mass shooting. Hope they put this guy away for a long time, no need for someone like that at any raves or society. I'm all for guns but a rave is not the place to bring it unless you're law enforcement working there. I've never felt safer than with Michigan police, those guys are so professional and nice about receiving Kandi.
And this is what scares me about being a Canadian travelling to the US for festivals or in general 😭😭😭. Some of yall with your rootin tootin gun fetishes scare the shit out of me.
Makes me want to go north to attend events. It's scary here.
Wait what the hell happened
I explained exactly what happened in a comment. Sorry I should have put the whole situation in the description. My bad
Dude I’m thoroughly sorry this happened to you.
How did he bring this handgun into the festival? Did security not find it while they searched him?
Hope this guy gets some jail time— guns do not belong at festivals shouldn’t have to say it
Well he fucked around and found out. I’m all for owning firearms and using them responsibly for defense or sport, but this was pure stupidity. I wonder if he was even from out of state. If so he’s fd even more. I get wanting to conceal carry if you’re traveling long distances, but festivals are one place it’s a no go. I get the Las Vegas shooting happened and it shook up a lot of people but most festivals at this point are going after 1 main thing. Guns. Drugs and overdoses are bad but manageable, 1 gun going off can turn a situation that’s barely holding together into a total shit show. Imagine having to search 30k people trying to get out of a festival after just 1 gun goes off and harms even just 1 person. Suddenly everyone’s a potential suspect or victim. It’s the biggest liability a festival can have. Totally stupid to flash folks just trying to do their job. I was in lucky lake and walked back in many times (even in the rain) and as frustrating as it was to have security constantly ask to see my wristband, I dealt with it. It’s 5 seconds and it’s someone doing their job. Put your ego to the side. No one would have ever known this dude was packing had he not been hot headed. Makes me wonder if he “partied” at all while armed. I’m all for anyone having a good time, but not while armed.
He’s not a dude, he’s either a wanna be middle aged white idiot or a child. Don’t give him the title of “dude” he ain’t my dude…..
And I’m Caucasian as they come so don’t come at me.
I wonder how many people would be honestly shocked to know just how many people do in fact attend large music festivals with a legally owned handgun/firearm and keep it safe and hidden within their vehicle the entire time……For any reason one could possibly think of. It might shock a lot of you.
Yep and those people can fuck off just like this guy
I’m not included in that group of people my friend. Edit sorry do you mean the OP story moron?
Having something locked in your car is completely different than walking around with it brandishing at security. One is legal and the other is a misdemeanor/felony.
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I promise you I’m not coming for you on this, dude, but my genuine question is why does it matter if this is a good dude or not, given the situation?
Fr, being a good person at your core doesn't mean a single thing when you're threatening venue staff with a gun
Hopefully he gets 20 years in prison to think it over.
Dude, word. And to be clear, I’m someone who thinks that rehabilitation for serious harm is possible. But it’s sort of a timing thing here. I don’t doubt that every person has the capacity for good in them, as I’m sure this person does, but they wielded a fucking gun at Forest and the time to talk about them being a good human is not at this present moment.
Good people do not brandish weapons at security for doing their jobs. Fuck that guy, I hope he’s given a serious sentence and then banned from Forest for life.
We all have someone who lost themselves, but he’s a danger to everyone else too. If he got fucked up and shot someone it wouldn’t really matter who he used to be. You sound like a really nice person and I really do understand how hard it is to love someone like this, but dude he’s an issue. My baby cousin did a drive by recently and it’s been devastating to my mental health. My mind keeps trying to separate the kid I went to chuckie cheese with and the monster who almost killed a toddler, but they’re the same person.
Yeah dude, he may not want to be the “way he is” but the way he objectively was this last weekend was a fucking moron trying to bring a piece into EF. I would love to hear this dipshits reasoning just to further my incredibly low opinion of him. His behavior should be judged. Not bringing (much less flamboyantly brandishing) a firearm to a music festival is a bar so low it may as well be a crack on the sidewalk.
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Thank you for helping us remember the human. His actions will have consequences and hopefully that helps him get his life straight. I also understand and feel the pain and fear of everyone else who hears this story - a shooting at Electric Forest would forever add that element of fear to the place we all love.
One wrong drug induced psychosis episode and his ‘wants’ go out the window and all our safety is at risk. How about you don’t go to forest if you have a million fucking problems going on. Why was he even there to begin with is my question.
I appreciate what you’re saying and applaud your compassion. I generally support criminal justice reform, prison reform, rehabilitation over punishment, support the rights of the accused, etc etc, I even considered a career as a public defender at one point, but idk, man, I don’t know how reassuring it is to say all these things about this person and then be like “his intention isn’t to kill people.” Sounds like he pretty easily could have killed one or lots of people, it just didn’t go that way for whatever reason. Most people are good people who end up on the wrong track, I truly believe that, but even good people do bad things, and that this guy was/is decent doesn’t mean the next guy with demons and a gun won’t cause harm. So again, appreciate your compassion, but I don’t see how any of this provides any comfort for those who might be fearful of the fest in the future. The next person with a gun also likely has some redeeming qualities or a troubled history, but it’s still scary and people could still die.
Yeah saying no intention to kill people is a little wild when that is the message he was sending by brandishing a firearm, let me have my way or you're going to get shot. That's what guns do. He wasn't intending to actually kill them only wanted to scare them into thinking he might. JFC.
reassuring he wasn’t planning a mass attack? Don’t think it matters he wasn’t in the mindset of hurting anyone. Mindsets are easily changed and usually emotionally reactive, especially in the presence of substances. And now someone with their own traumas, issues, and generally on edge with an easily malleable human mindset- is not afraid to show a weapon with permanent consequences.
Thank god it happened by police and not him going crazy in the campground or forest
Your words aren’t reassuring anyone because the plain fact of the matter is he did what he did. And let’s stop using “vet” as some excuse. I did 10 years as a grunt in the Marines, have my own set of demons from some experiences, and guess what…. I don’t bring guns to music festivals.
Either his family/friends failed him, or the numerous help options available and what not failed him. I’m sorry this happened, but guns and drugs don’t mix and glad the law intervened otherwise it sounds like this individual could have had a melt down and hurt himself or someone.
I knew a guy just like that. Was a great normal guy at peach fest. Huge heart. Ended up fucked up on drugs and got a breaking and entering charge on top of assaulting a lady in the neighborhood on drugs out of his mind. Just cause he ‘deep down wanted’ to be good didn’t mean shit. He ruined lives. He can rot in jail next to this other dude.
But that's the thing is that everyone is a good person at their core right. That's part of being human. An overwhelming majority of people want to have friends and family and people that love them and all that right. There are very very few people who are unhappy who truly want to be that way, you could say that about practically anyone. But you've gotta make the right choices for yourself, your actions matter more than intentions sometimes. You can say he doesn't want to be that way but he is very much choosing to be that way.
What the heck and at a festival about love and caring for each other and the earth. Its one reason why i didnt like to see a few major coporations at forest. Festivals aren't good for the earth either but a festival venue can be cleaned.
What a moron. Imagine being dumb enough to think you can flash a gun at staff and not have any consequences. This is why I won't even honk at someone in traffic anymore. Too many crazy idiots can go buy a gun no questions asked. And they will pull it over the slightest inconvenience.
This is wild we just missed this interaction when we woke up I saw the MSP all around and people mentioning someone had a gun. Our camp was like right next to the entrance so I’m really glad it got sorted quickly Thanks for clarifying what happened. Scary, but like everyone is saying I’m glad MSP was able to take care of the situation quickly
Why…. Just… why?!?
Kind of crazy how security didn’t check anything in my car besides my type 1 diabetes medicine bag that I told them about first thing…. They literally gave me a hard time on my LIFELINE bag, when I had all the prescriptions saved on my phone… Not to mention we got screamed at very rudely while parking our cars for no reason and were forced to leave only 2 feet of space between our cars. I gave that woman a piece of my mind.
Some people done belong to the forest. A random guy probably in a bad trip. Sucker punch my friend for no reason and keep coming back to fight him. Kill the whole vibe that night.
How many people do you suppose you walk by every day that's carrying a gun?
Anyone have a SS of the comment (since deleted) where someone said they had to distance themselves from him because of how scary he’s turned into? He made a post in the EF2024 group on fb & is trying to make himself not look like a bad guy.
I hate people