Anjani Ziznewski, January 31, 2003

On November 2 of last year, the Haunted Theater of Southeastern Wisconsin held an electronic music event as a fundraiser for its business. The party turned out a little different than expected. I’d like to share with you my personal account of the evening. I have no doubt that you will find it interesting.

We arrived at the venue at around 11:30 pm. Great music, great people, and an awesome vibe. I hadn’t been to a rave since I moved to the Midwest, and was getting down about it, so I was really excited when I got a hold of the flyer for this specific evening. Everyone was having a good time, and I was so stoked that I had finally stumbled upon the scene I had been missing for three months. It was turning into a really great night, but it was all short-lived.

Not more than an hour later, the music was shut down and the word of cops soon spread amongst the crowds. “No big deal,” I thought, “raves got busted back home in Santa Fe. They’ll just kick us out of the building.” However, my assumptions couldn’t have been more wrong. “Everybody on the ground!” a voice yelled out. Hmmm. The occurrence was already taking a new shape than I was used to. Between ten and twenty cops invaded the area, hands hovering over their gun holsters, ready to “take charge.” Over 400 party kids were there that night, so it was a tight squeeze for us, but we obeyed their orders. From my position I could see up the stairway to one of the exits. There were two officers standing by the doorway, preventing anyone from walking out. The next ten minutes or so were a little chaotic; no one really knew what was going on. A girl next to me asked a female officer if she could use the restroom; she was denied that privilege. A few individuals stood up in the crowd, shouting words of encouragement and support for the large mass. “We all have the right to remain silent!” one older man shouted out. He was immediately handcuffed and taken to jail. Another younger fella was actually slammed against the wall, roughed up by a few cops, then hauled off to the station as well. Needless to say, these actions put a bit of fear into us.

I spent the next hour or so calling my friends back home on my cell, hoping they could give me some kind of advice. I knew the actions the cops were taking were unjust, but I didn’t have any legal knowledge to back me up. Apparently, no one else did either. I made a few attempts to contact ACLU – the American Civil Liberties Union, but with no luck. I also made several calls to the local news broadcasting systems, to see if some media coverage was possible, but once again my attempts were unsuccessful. Here we were, being held against our will, and no one even knew about it. But what were we to do?

As time slowly passed, a few kids started making their way through the crowds of hot, tired and irritable ravers, waving little pink slips in their hands. “900 dollars!” I heard someone exclaim. “We’re each getting fined 900 dollars tonight!!!” We were all very happy to hear that one ... as if anyone has an extra grand just lying about to hand over to some egotistical, power-crazed police officer whose priorities are harassing party kids instead of fighting some of the real crime that goes on in the world. AND SO, for the next few hours, one by one we received our $968.00 tickets. The charge? To quote directly from my citation, “Inmate of Disorderly House – Controlled Substance.”

Needless to say, the proceeding month was filled with much confusion, as the majority of kids who attended the party felt innocent of the charges. I’m glad some of us are still aware of our right to assemble peaceably! I spent a lot of time talking with others through online message boards and email. We had our court dates ahead of us, specifically the 2nd, 9th and 16th of December, and we were unsure of how this little episode would unfold. Many filed a complaint with the Racine Police Department, and filled out a form requesting assistance from the ACLU, who decided to take up the case. Well, this drew some attention from the “crime busters” in the Racine Police Department. Now a respectable organization was standing behind us, acknowledging the police department’s wrong doings that night.

On December 9, I made the two-hour drive to the City Hall Annex Municipal Court, to find out that the Racine city attorney had offered to reduce the fine on the tickets for the alleged violation to $100.00 for those willing to plead no contest. Unfortunately for them, no one bought into it. We knew better than to take the easy way out, and to admit guilt to a crime we didn’t commit. Out of 442 people given a citation, there were roughly 40 people who actually pleaded “no contest.”

Surprise, surprise!

After two months of dealing with mixed feelings of anger, oppression, strength and confidence, our battle was finally over. On January 16, the press announced that the City of Racine had agreed to drop all charges against anyone who was cited while attending the event at the Tradewinds Banquet Hall. The dismissal resulted from a settlement between the City Attorney’s Office and the lawyers from the ACLU of Wisconsin. It was a day of victory for those present at the Haunted House Party, but also a great day for the global community of ravers, and anyone who refuses to be anything other than themselves. My hope is that the events which occurred on November 2 will remind those in authoritative positions that we are in a free country, and that we haven’t forgotten our basic rights. Our minds have not yet been so diluted that we can no longer think for ourselves.