British cops spotted a Facebook message from a small-town guy who announced an "all-night" party at his house — a BBQ to celebrate his birthday — and so they scrambled an armed, helicopter-borne Delta force in body armor to break up the event under Britain's Draconian anti-rave laws. The party had 15 people at it, eating hamburgers. They hadn't put on any music. The police claim that sending out the chopper and the goon squad saved money, compared to what it would have cost to break it up if it had turned into a full-blown, multi-thousand person rave.
The event was closed down under section 63 of the Criminal justice and Public Order Act 1994.
"We were nowhere near anyone, we weren't even playing any music," he said.
"What effectively the police did was come in and stop 15 people eating burgers…"
A police spokeswoman said the helicopter was deployed for less than 20 minutes at a cost of about £200…
"On this occasion, we were extremely concerned how the event had been advertised on the internet as an all-night party and it was therefore necessary to take the appropriate steps.
"Had it gone ahead, it is likely that far more of our resources would have been used to police the event and there would have been considerable disruption to neighbouring properties.
Police helicopter sent to 'rave'
(via /.)
