Gilroy Shooting: Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival in San Francisco beefs up security in wake of attack at garlic festival

Lyanne Melendez Image
Wednesday, July 31, 2019
Outside Lands beefs up security in wake of Gilroy shooting
Given what happened in Gilroy, security will be beefed up for big events like next weekend's Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival.

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Given what happened at the Gilroy Garlic Festival, security will be beefed up for big events like next weekend's Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival in San Francisco.

When it comes to security, police told us they take into account incidents that occur around the state, country and world, the Gilroy shooting being the most recent example.

In just over a week, people will attend Outside Lands in Golden Gate Park.

RELATED: What we know about the 3 people killed in the Gilroy shooting

Within 24 hours of the Gilroy shooting, people were asking on Reddit, "Will what's going on in Gilroy affect security at Outside Lands?

One person commented, "I hope so. I've seen people hop the fences at night and get right into the park."

Police say the alleged shooter bypassed security by cutting through a fence at the garlic festival.

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We know that for the Outside Lands event, security will include park rangers from San Francisco Recreation & Parks, police officers and private security brought in by organizers.

But when we asked for more details from SF Rec and Park, that department referred us to the San Francisco Police Department, who said they were not giving on camera interviews and instead sent out a statement saying: "Planning is extensive and begins months in advance."

We then turned to Supervisor Sandra Fewer, who represents the district where Golden Gate Park is located. I told Fewer that the public was concerned about security. But the supervisor asked us to make an appointment and referred us to the San Francisco Police Department.

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Even the organizers of the event, Another Planet Entertainment, did not respond to our request for information.

But the organizers of the Hardly Strictly Blue Grass Festival did, only to say that they work with police to ensure protocols are updated and implemented at the event.

Stuart Kesselman is a ticket broker. He says this time last year he had sold several VIP tickets to Outside Lands.

"You get those many people together, it gives a person an easy target," he said. "I don't know if it's the bands or that, or San Francisco, I don't know what it is, but I haven't had any calls for it."

Get the latest on the deadly Gilroy Garlic Festival shooting here.