Hundreds attended an outdoor concert in Wake County. How the sheriff responded.
The Wake County Sheriff’s Office has told the owner of an outdoor arena he must cancel all future events after a weekend concert far exceeded the state’s crowd limits.
The sheriff’s office investigated the Sept. 19 event at Gooch Sports Arena in Wendell after neighbors complained about the noise and size of the crowd. Under Gov. Roy Cooper’s Phase 2.5 executive order, outdoor gatherings are limited to 50 people to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
At least 200 tickets were sold for the concert, and tickets were also sold by promoters and individual stores, venue owner Donal Gooch said in an interview with The News & Observer.
The event was promoted as a fiesta patria celebration for Mexico’s Independence Day, which was Sept. 16.
Before the event, Gooch said on his personal Facebook page that social distancing would be upheld and masks would have to be worn at the open-air venue. But videos on Facebook from a radio station show a crowd of hundreds packed together, mostly without masks, during the concert Saturday night.
Sheriff Gerald Baker visited the venue before the event “to ensure that the instructions were met,” Eric Curry, the sheriff’s department spokesperson, told The N&O in an email.
Baker was photographed holding a plate of food by a person attending the event. The photo was posted — then deleted — from Facebook and provided to The N&O by an attendee. Curry did not say what time Baker visited the venue, but said it was before the event started and there were under 50 people there at the time.
“Prior to the event taking place, the arena’s owner, Donal Gooch, met with Sheriff Gerald Baker to understand what precautions needed to be implemented to avoid violations of Cooper’s executive order,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
“The Sheriff spoke to a small group of attendees to reiterate the importance of wearing face masks and using the handwashing stations provided throughout the grounds.”
But after Baker left, the crowd swelled and attendees flouted both guidelines and the executive order, the sheriff’s office stated.
Gooch, 63, defended his enforcement of COVID-19 safety guidelines and said he did what he could, although “it kind of got out of hand,” he told The N&O.
Gooch justified the event by noting that Gov. Cooper proclaimed Sept. 15 through Oct. 15 as Hispanic Heritage Month. Part of the proclamation, posted on Cooper’s state website page last Thursday, says, “the State of North Carolina is proud of our diverse population, and encourages people to celebrate our Hispanic community by participating in events held to commemorate this special occasion.”
“That’s confusing, because it said to support these activities,” Gooch said. “I interpreted as it was OK to have these events.”
Tickets were sold for $45 each, and he said if the venue could have hosted only 50 people, he would not have held the concert.
‘All hell broke loose’
The arena is about the size of a football field. A cover protects it from rain, and it sits in the middle of about 20 acres of farmland that Gooch owns.
The event was a jaripeo, an outdoor rodeo event with bull and horse riding and other entertainment. It also featured local and touring bands performing Regional Mexican music. Similar events were regularly held in arenas across the state, such as the N.C. State Fairgrounds, before the pandemic.
Though it’s now canceled, the venue was scheduled to have another event like this on Oct. 4, according to a flyer posted on Facebook. The event page on the ticket sales site Ticketón says tickets were priced at $45 each.
Tables at the event had hand sanitizer and sprinklers sprayed a mist with disinfectant from the ceiling, Gooch said. Attendants were asked to sign a waiver acknowledging the risk of COVID-19 and agreeing not to sue for any injuries or COVID-19 diagnoses.
“(Sheriff Baker) stopped by to make sure I was in compliance, and when he was here, I was in compliance,” Gooch said.
Gooch said security removed people for not complying with COVID-19 safety guidelines but ultimately he could not control the crowd.
“When the main band came out all hell broke loose,” he said. “More people came ... they’re dancing, they’re drinking, they’re eating, they’re going to take their mask off to eat and drink.”
Videos of the concert posted by local Latino radio station La Grande on Facebook show large crowds singing and swaying together at night.
COVID-19 risk to Latinos
Despite being roughly 10% of the state’s population, Latinos have 34% of North Carolina’s over 130,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases for which ethnicity is known, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.
For this reason, some Latinos criticized the arena event on Facebook as irresponsible due to its risk to immigrant community members, many of whom work in essential construction and agricultural jobs.
Large Latino concerts have presented a public-health challenge during the pandemic and are being looked at by a Latino COVID-19 task force at the state health department, said Juvencio Rocha Peralta, president of the Association of Mexicans in North Carolina.
La Noticia, a local Spanish-language newspaper has reported that similar concerts with large crowds at a venue in Catawba County.
“What we have heard from the DHHS is that they don’t want to manage this in a controversial manner because they don’t want to bring it to the attention of law enforcement; the only thing they want to do is to warn the community,” Rocha Peralta said.
Rocha Peralta said it is bad for the Latino community to promote safety and caution around the virus and to also attend these events, but that state officials are responsible as well. Members of the Latino COVID-19 task force haven’t reached out to concert promoters yet.
“We understand the cultural aspects and economic reasons for this, but it doesn’t justify these acts, where you’re Mexican or not,” he said. “I think that if there was more Latino representation in the DHHS, maybe what’s happening right now wouldn’t be as big as it is.”
Rocha Peralta said the events should be held to the same standards as large outdoor campaign rallies held by President Donald Trump. While attendees at rallies have been encouraged to wear masks and stay six feet apart, that doesn’t always happen. But the rallies, while exceeding the governor’s crowd limits, are permitted because of the First Amendment, The N&O reported.
State health officials have called on Trump and other leaders to wear masks and serve as role models.
This story was originally published September 24, 2020 at 2:57 PM.
