In responsibility for Folly Beach July 4 'riot', two tales told

A screen shot of After Midnight Parties promoting their appearance at Folly Beach.

Update: A more permanent ban may be headed to November's ballot.

You've heard it by now: An emergency alcohol ban has hit Folly Beach following outrage over a rowdy beach party that lead to the arrest of seven and the injuring of several police officers at a non-permitted July Fourth party.

But the case to find fault continues, with Folly Beach Police Chief Dennis Brown saying that they were not notified and that there could be penalties for event organizers AMP (After Midnight Parties) and Good Ole Boys if evidence can be found of their involvement.

However the organizers persist in saying that they behaved responsibly and that the poor behavior by some individuals was done by unaffiliated beach goers.

After Midnight Parties writes, in part:

Some of you have expressed a concern for the recent ordinance at Folly Beach. We are on the same page that alcohol should be continued to be allowed on Folly Beach. If you have any comments on this, you should direct them to your local government official, or be present at the meeting in November.

We did not provide for or arrange any sort of transportation for the people coming to Folly Beach. Everyone that was there organized and provided their own means of transportation. We spoke with several police officers throughout the day and they thanked several people in our group, including myself, for cleaning up our trash and carrying it to 10th street trash cans at the end of the day.

Further, we were only 2 of at least 30 tents near 10th street. There is a "party" at that location every year and we were told to put our tents there since that is typically where everyone has gone in the past. We wanted the most exposure for our brands; therefore wanted to put our tents where people would see them. Our promotions did not make the location any crazier than in years past.

Reports state that 7 people were arrested that day but no one in our group knows any of the guys arrested. The fight that broke out that led to the injury of officers was at least 200-300 feet away from our tent and was closer to several other tents than ours. Also, our music was turned off before the start of that incident; however, several other tents provided music that added to the "party" on 10th street.

But Brown told ABC News 4 that,  AMP is "saying none of their folks were involved and this was not the case. There is a possibility of a financial responsibility being attached to this, if in fact, there are charges that could come out."

Look for a good chance of the police staying on the evidence trail for this one, but either way, alcohol is likely gone from Folly Beach's sand for at least 60 days.

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