The Tybee Island Police Department had arrested the promoter of Orange Crush on felony charges along with city ordinance violations pertaining to promoting an unpermitted event. As a result, all events… https://t.co/k6rbMQ2lmJ
— Tybee Island Police (@Tybee_PD) April 27, 2019
On its surface, the Orange Crush altercation is a he-said-she-said scenario. Essentially, the local government says reaching out to festival organizers was fruitless. NBC News outlet WSAV in Georgia is reporting that the city’s March contact attempts via written correspondence got no response either. In response to that, festival organizers expressed their willingness to cooperate with local authorities. However, reports coming out of Tybee Island seem to reflect a total breakdown in cooperation. Furthermore, actions by the local police show a reactionary halt of all the Orange Crush activities. Maybe, they didn’t want people to get, “Fyre Fest-ed.”
What’s unusual here is that the announcement of the cancellation of Orange Crush came from the government and not the event organizers. Typically, those types of statements are the responsibility of the entity hosting the event. Regardless of the reasons for a cancellation, the government rarely boasts about its interference with the private sector. Additionally, the local community hadn’t expressed a desire for the festival’s cessation but merely desired more communication and enforcement. WSAV’s report on Orange Crush seems to back this up. Not to mention they reported the police department ramping up safety precaution efforts as recently as Friday, April 26th. Check out the video for yourself:
Fyre Festival-ish
On the outside looking in, it may appear that this Orange Crush situation is one big misunderstanding. Although events experience some hiccups each year, permits usually aren’t of issue. Besides, an event that’s been going on since the ’90s should have all of these details worked out. On top of that, rumors were swirling of MTV being in town to document the festivities. There’s no possible way this could all be a hoax, right? Wrong.
In Fyre Festival fashion, the organizers of Orange Crush were gassing up the attendees the entire time. The event promoter, Mikey Turner was into some felonious activity too. According to the Chatham County Sherriff’s Office, he’d been unlawfully selling tickets (we’ve heard that before) to a house party promoting the event. Comically, he was arrested at the party after a noise and parking ordinance complaint. Fox News reached out to the Tybee Island Mayor’s office in response to the promoter’s arrest and got this statement:
“Upon Police arrival, over 200 people vacated the home. The owner of the home had previously asked that the home be vacated. Police inspected the property afterward and found substantial damage done to the property,” the statement read. “Mr. Turner provided a fictitious name to the officers on scene, was properly identified by Tybee Police and was arrested. He was actively promoting a party that took place at the home without the homeowner’s permission and charging admission for the party.”
