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Boiler Room festival shut down by police

By | Published on Monday 7 November 2016

Boiler Room

The Boiler Room Weekender festival at the Split Rock Resort in Lake Harmony, Pennsylvania was shut down midway through its second night this weekend. Following an arrest and reports of heavy-handedness with other guests on the part of the police, the 3000 attendees were told to return to their hotel rooms.

The exact circumstances surrounding the shutdown are still somewhat unclear. Two witnesses told Thump that the woman arrested suffered a panic attack while being led away by several police officers – which video footage would appear to confirm. It seems that there was subsequently an altercation with one or more of her friends, which may have resulted in police using pepper spray against them. A person at the event told Billboard that it was on “total lockdown”.

There were also claims that police had been subjecting black attendees to more stringent searches than others.

A Boiler Room spokesperson told Thump: “We don’t have the exact details of what transpired, but for the safety of all our artists and guests we had to shut down”.

The festival was Boiler Room’s first multi-day festival, and was sponsored by Ray Ban.



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