Comments on Two Shot at Folklife Festival

Hippy on hippy violence! When will it all end!?

During FOLKLIFE? Really? Bizarre.

The P-I says "neither person suffered life-threatening injuries."

Meanwhile, the Times maintains with its lead headline: "Good vibes at folk festival."

!

SPD is too busy bothering pot smoking teenagers to notice agitated people waving guns around, apparently.

From the PI

"Seattle firefighters arrived to treat the wounded and officers handcuffed the suspected gunman, marching him through the crowd. His face bloodied, the man was taunted by many in the crowd, some of them throwing trash at him.

One man got into the suspect's face, screaming, "This is a peaceful event!""

What a sorry excuse for a human being. Who the fuck would bring a gun to Folklife?

@6: At about 5:00 this afternoon I was walking down Pike Street between 4th and 3rd. Six police officers--I counted--four of whom were on horseback, surrounded a very stoned and confused looking kid in his early 20s sitting on the sidewalk who kept repeating "I didn't do anything!" I have no idea what was going on, nor did I stay to find out, but it seemed a bit like overkill to me.

While I do not condone drum circle violence, I certainly understand it.

great photo at the PI, if only because the guy on the right side is in the image:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/dayart/20080524/450flolklife_shooting_12.JPG

Sure, we all hate folk life, but this is just taking it a bit too far.

What?
It is supposed to be a place with crappy bongs, food on a stick and way too many banjos.
Though I could see getting violent after way too much banjo music.

It's guys like that give a bad rap to all the pathetic losers who try to inflate their self-image by owning a gun responsibly.

@10: What drugs have to be involved to make that outfit a good idea?

Oh, this is... He pistol whipped someone at a drum circle. That just pleases me on so many levels. I think I've got a woody.

Oh, this is... He pistol whipped someone at a drum circle. That just pleases me on so many levels. I think I've got a woody.

Yes, I must admit that I've often felt compelled to assault someone upon encountering a drum circle. Never with a deadly weapon, though.

Folk life
Everybody needs a thrill
Folk life
Somebody's in a space 2 kill
Folk life
Everybody saw the running cop
A shooting, it aint real funky
Unless its got that pop
Dig it

Shootings? Some people just don't get it.
Folklife really calls for the Wickerman treatment.

These punks (as well as some of you) make me sick! The hippies (friends of mine) got shot just sitting with a puppy in their lap and a jay being rolled. The wannabe gangbanger punkass pistol-whipped another wannabe gangbanger punkass and the gun went off. My friends had nothing to do with the punkasses' problems.

Expect the hippies to start retaking our city from wannabe gangbanger punkasses.

The bullets, my friends, are blowing in the wind, and it's a hard, hard rain gonna fall.

hippies arent know for doing anything much of anything.

why did the suspect shoot the people? i was there the whole day and didnt notice anything. so many people were doing drugs, the police didnt seem to care.

So the guy had a permit to carry a concealed weapon, huh? But he pulled out his gun and pistol whipped someone after a heated argument, and inadvertently shot 2 innocent bystanders... Fuck that shit. I hope his permit gets revoked, and he gets hit heavily with criminal charges, as well as civil judgments. Thanks to him, security at Folklife is only going to get a whole lot more strict. =(

If The Stranger staff had any heart at all, they would be setting up a benefit to help the victims cover their medical expenses and their rent, since the woman shot in the leg won't be a work for while.

Do you get it yet?

@21

Expect the hippies to start retaking our city from wannabe gangbanger punkasses.

I'm trying to picture a mob of hippies kicking out all the wannabe gangbanger punkasses, and I'm having a tough time.

Also, would the REAL gangsters get a free pass? Maybe the hippies and real gangsters could form an alliance against the wannabes. That would be cool.

I love how they have to call him the "suspected" gunman, despite the kajillion witnesses and photographic evidence. Eh, that's the law, I guess.

After looking at the PI gallery, it's clear hippies are just as wasteful as anyone else. The ground looked like it was coated in garbage.

#29: ohhh, you really just figured that out, people in crowds are wasteful pig asses, great for you, thats never been observed after any party.

oh wait, you expected hippies to be better, 'cause you have a one dimensional and unrealistic view of what they are - or were- in this case...

people make waste. it happens. the point is when it is finally cleaned up what happens.

right?

Just to be clear, this did not start as a "drum circle" per se. Manimou Camara from Guinea, West Africa and a group of musicians were playing folklorique percussion music from Guinea. Other uninformed people with random and inappropriate instruments joined in, and formed a shape of..... well, you get the picture.

Drum circles are an American abomination, and they don't come from any country, don't come from where bongos or djembes or congas or any other ethno-specific traditional instrument or music comes from. Drum circle = lack of understanding/respect for all the beautiful drumming traditions this world has to offer. Pseudo-melting pot abomination. But it makes white people feel good about themselves! Hooray white people! We ought to praise their multicultural misappropriation!

This incident wasn't in a drum circle, but nearby where people happened to be playing drums. It happened in a massive throng of kids smoking pot in the grass... about 40 yards from where people were playing music.

The ground looked dirty because 500 people got up and ran like it was a soccer riot, leaving all of their shit on the ground at the same exact moment. Many were unable to retrieve their shit due to the police taping off the area.

Were there middle-aged people doing that spinning dancing that people do at Grateful Dead concerts? That might have set the shooter off....

hey mr. "bongodrums" you are not helping at all, but thanks for the ethnomusicology of djembes of western Africa, sheesh it's not anyones fault except for the assholes that fought and, the fact that one of 'em had a gun(legally, as if that makes it better)..and still, even hippies are at times wasteful pricks. I clean up after 'em, no big whoop.

white people are an abomination for african music.

Innocent people being shot = not funny.

Sarcastic idiots posting trash on the Internet about innocent people being shot = assholes.

Questions?

bongodrums...you are a scary person indeed. Usually racists are unintelligent lambs following their shepard. Your racism plus your finely choosen and orderly narration makes me sad for my generation and my childens generation. I guess i'll have to work a bit harder.

Oh, and bongodrums:

I've been participating in the DRUM CIRCLE on the lawn northeast of the International Fountain for twenty-five years. There is ALWAYS a drum circle there during Folklife. This is a place where percussionists and their fans gather and where ALL SKILL LEVELS ARE WELCOME to join in and participate. Get it? FOLKlife, as in all us "folks" making music and art.

If highly skilled percussionists want to perform on one of the stages, then they need to submit demos and go through the normal process of applying to perform. If they want to perform as buskers and not be joined by "icky white people", then they need to do so SOMEPLACE ELSE besides the lawn northeast of the International Fountain. Of course, any and all levels will be warmly accepted by long-time Folklife drummers at the usual spot next year and every year.

Oh, and drumming is part of EVERY human tradition, dating back to prehistory. My Native American ancestors and family were/are drummers. So were the ancestors of the Germans, the English, the Incas, the Spanish, the...well, you get the idea. Many of the participants at the drum circle "looked white" to your discerning eye, but were from Latin American performing groups visiting for Folklife. I know because I spoke with several of them. Great drummers, too.

Get over yourself. Please.