San Francisco Clamps Down On Gay Halloween Violence

[davidinalameda]

http://www.365gay.com/newscontent/101703sfHalloween.htm

Organizers of this year's annual Halloween street party in the Castro are taking extraordinary measures to ensure there is not a repeat of last year's violence and drunkenness. Five people were stabbed and dozens of other partiers went to the emergency rooms with everything from injuries to drug overdoses.

This year the Castro will be gated off and police will be posted at the entrances to the party. Uniformed officers, the gang task force and drug and liquor enforcement officers will roam through the crowds. In all more than 250 officers will be on guard.



I'm going to a party in the Mission. You couldn't pay me to be in this mess--it's all these straight people from the East Bay who come over to see the freaks.

[David__77]

1. I'll be there!

First time going there on Halloween this year! Hope they don't "clamp down" on the fun...

[arcane1]

2. the Castro fest was fun the first year I went

but thereafter, it seemed like 75% of the people were not in any kind of costume, and were just drunken revelling spectators.

I mean jeez, it's halloween, at east wear a costume!!!

Going to a rockin' party in SF instead!

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

3. Castro halloween 2002

Man, what a disaster that thing was in 2002. What was it... something like 5 or 6 people stabbed... lots of people injured. I was there for about an hour when there weren't so many people there. All of a sudden I couldn't even move. Took me an hour to get 1.5 blocks to the Muni entrance at Market St. It was a really bad scene - lots of tension in the air. Some little gang-banger kid was pushing me from behind, using me like the cow catcher on a train so he could get through the crowd a bit faster. Managed to get away from him when he started a fight with some other punk :)

I wasn't surprised when I finally got home and found out what had happened.

[phrenzy]

4. Solution =

Simple solution - Don't let the fucking thugs in. Does this article really call it "Gay violence" ? - Unbelievable - the only violence is from all the fucking thugs that stream in.

I went there one year they had metal detectors, etc. It wasn't quite as fun but it was better than the previous year of having bottles thrown into the crowd constantly.

I hate "thugs" - They should stay the hell out of the Castro and go try to look hard somewhere else.

[Robb]

5. I had the best time when I went

...mid 90's. I was the "really bad surgeon" from Kids in the Hall. At the time, everyone knew who I was. Big blast! :)