What the heck is going on in Utah?

Thanks to Mike Doughty's blog, I have been reading about what appears to be police –- including a SWAT team –- acting way out of line in busting up an Aug. 20 outdoor rave party in Utah's Spanish Fork Canyon.

It's hard to say from here if the police acted properly or not. But considering the police knew this was a rave party, I have a hard time believing that there was a need for a fully-armed SWAT team to carry out a raid that looked more organized than the ATF's assault on David Koresh's Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, in 1993.

Yes, I am sure there were illegal activities going on at the rave, but the officers in this video of the raid seem to have more weaponry and body armor than the typical soldier fighting in Iraq.

Although he is clearly on the side of the partygoers and the promoters, this guy has posted his observations of the incident along with links to the police report and local news coverage to provide a little bit of balance.