Huge parties can be a major inconvenience to your neighbors in normal times. But right now, it's downright dangerous to be throwing them — not just for those who attend but for anyone else the attendees come in contact with afterward. Still, not everyone is paying attention to mandates about social distancing. Some people are carrying on as if we weren't smack dab in the middle of a global pandemic. New Jersey police just witnessed that kind of carelessness firsthand when they were called to a house to break up a 300-person party. The party thrower was arrested.
The party, which took place on Saturday, August 1, wasn't just irresponsible. It also went against the state's mandates on indoor gatherings. Videos posted by party-goers show a very large gathering. There was no social distancing taking place, either. Aside from that, the party appeared out of control. Howell Township Police said party-goers were seen "urinating on people's property and vehicles." Yikes.
By all accounts, this party was reckless. And it definitely wasn't something that started off small and then got out of control. The party thrower, Tashay Knight, had been advertising it on Instagram. Party-goers told NBC News that the party was billed as "The Lavish Experience" and said to be held at a "secret location" that would be revealed the day of.
That led to a massive event.
Reports said it was so big that township authorities needed the help of police from neighboring areas, including the Ocean County Sheriff's Office and New Jersey State Police, in order to break it up. Knight turned himself in on Friday. He was charged with "recklessly creating a risk of widespread injury or damage," Alpine police said in a press release.
Knight was issued multiple summonses, including one for violating the governor's executive order that mandates hosts to require that their guests wear face coverings and practice social distancing. It was clear from the footage, and police observations, that no precautions were being taken.
Knight is scheduled to appear in court on August 26.
There is so much wrong with this situation already. But the party host was also profiting off the event. NJ.com reported that he charged entry fees — $30 for women and $40 for men. While it's incredibly dangerous, there were obviously a lot of people who took the advertising bait. It seems like the host was capitalizing on "quarantine fatigue."
This also wasn't the first time police received complaints about a large gathering at the same property. Last month, they were called about another event. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy addressed the house party during a press briefing on Monday, saying, "I am aware only generally of the party in Alpine, and I've not liked what I've heard. I understand it was more outside than inside, but based on the description, there was close congregation and not a lot of face covering."
State officials have a huge job to do right now. But the fact is, all the mandates in the world aren't going to help slow the spread of the virus if people don't listen to them. Huge events like this pose such a big health risk merely because of the number of people present. But it seems like consequences are definitely going to be given in this case.
"In order to protect public health, we are retightening the restriction on indoor gatherings due to uptick of COVID-19 cases in New Jersey," Murphy said. "We cannot stress enough that large and crowded indoor gatherings, where social distancing isn't being practiced and face masks aren’t being worn, are not safe. Until there is a significant decrease of COVID-19 cases, these restrictions will continue to be in place."
Staying home and playing it safe for months on end is certainly taking its toll, and that could be causing some people to make poor decisions. But the truth is, there are much safer ways to socialize than heading to a 300-person party. There has to be a balance between catering to both our physical health and our mental health. It's definitely not time to throw caution to the wind.
Still, as time goes on, people are likely to feel the strains of social distancing even more. The longer we're told that we're safer at home and that we can't get together with whomever we want, the harder it seems to feel. We have to keep in mind that public health is the priority, however. Because the sooner we all make efforts to stick to the rules, even if we don't like them, the sooner we can all emerge from our collective lockdown.
Parties like this are incredibly concerning. Last month, about 100 cases of COVID-19 were traced to other house parties in the state. Parties of this size are clearly having a big impact on the increasing numbers. Hopefully, this arrest will be a warning for others who are planning their own gatherings.
