From our correspondent in the United States,
Ah, Kentucky, its bourbon, its fried chicken and its monster trucks. And then his Redneck Rave, a festival which promised five days of “music, mud and mayhem”, which sounds much less well in French: “music, mud and chaos”. There was chaos: the authorities announced on Tuesday that 14 people had been arrested and 48 indicted. In particular, a man strangled a woman, a festival-goer had his throat partially slit and another impaled himself on a pole. “He hasn’t had a death this year,” philosopher the Edmonton County Sheriff’s Office, joined by 20 Minutes, after a man died last year in an ATV accident.
The first control at a checkpoint set the tone: the authorities seized crystal meth and marijuana, and one of the passengers was under an arrest warrant. While most of the charges relate to drug possessions, the festival was marked by serious incidents. A man has been charged with “strangling a woman until she loses consciousness” apparently over a cover-up dispute. An altercation between two friends ended with a partially cut throat and a suspect still at large. A festival-goer who was driving on a pontoon impaled himself on a protruding pole that crossed the floor of the vehicle, details the Lexigton Herald Leader. Rescuers preferred to leave the foreign body in place, which was later removed at the hospital.
In its press release, the sheriff’s office lists, in addition to the “strangulation and impaling of the abdomen”, multiple “cut or dislocated fingers”. The organizers did not have to apply for a permit, but that will “probably” change next year.
“Disneyworld for the rednecks”
On the phone, the organizer of this Redneck Rave, the “country rapper” who calls himself Justin Time, did not ask so much: “There is no bad publicity, we are talking about the festival all over the world! He smiles. According to him, the “newspaper headlines are a bit exaggerated”. He ensures that the two friends whose altercation ended with a “cut throat” did not leave angry, and that in the end there was only one arrest within the very grounds of the rally. What the authorities confirm: all the other people were arrested at the multiple checkpoints set up. “But it was the only event in the area, most indicated they were going to the festival,” said the sheriff’s office.
What is this “Redneck rave”? “It’s a bit like the Disneyworld of the rednecks”, answers the organizer, proudly claiming this pejorative qualifier which generally designates the “bouseux” of the American South, conservative tendency. borderline racist, immortalized by the reality show Duck Dynasty.
(video of the 2016 edition)
Justin Time swears that, despite the many Confederate flags, this rave is apolitical: “There are Republicans and Democrats, gays and straight people, it’s a big fiesta with music, mud, a contest of wet t-shirt and a demolition derby », A race where cars end up in pieces. A certain idea of America.
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