Posted by Ryan on July 27, 1999 at 21:01:41:
In Reply to: Here's what happened posted by Donna on July 27, 1999 at 14:00:27:
I definitely agree with all of what was said but i think that a huge contibuting factor to what caused the riots was the cancelation of the rave. It was the last night of woodstock and everyone wanted the biggest party possible and when the rave was canceled we were all left with nothing to do. Not only were several people pissed about the conditions/prices of the fastival but the fact that the cops showed up made people even more outraged and in need of something to do for the next six hours so why not start more fires. (since thats why they canceled the rave) Things escalated and perhaps some people got bored with the fires and drum banging (plus they were on heavy amounts of drug) so they broke into atm's, vendors, and Ace's hardware. Then when that got boring, lets burn down a truck and throw glow stix around, or steal a lawn mower and drive around. I know the reason i participated in this was because i needed something fun to do in place of the rave (plus i did it for the free stuff) But i was looking for a good time and I had the best time of my life. There was not one moment that i was ever scared of getting hurt. We all looked out for each other. I think its kind of funny how there were thousands of vacant tents but no body was stealing from them, it was only the vendors and companies we robbed (most likely cuz of the high prices) But everything was awesome, and it did not ruin woodstock it only made it better. If anything the cops ruined it.