DED raid targets Midna concert, arrests 7

New Eden News | YC110-04-27

Alachene - The DED conducted a raid during a Midna concert last night, arresting seven people for suspected ties to the Blood Raider Covenant. The raid occurred midway through the sold-out concert, which was being held in a concert hall with a three-thousand person capacity.

According to DED spokesperson Elincia Deschanel, the DED had been monitoring the activities of the Blood Raiders in connection with Midna for several weeks. "Once Midna made the announcement that she was a Sani Sabik follower, the DED thought it would be prudent to investigate her. In the course of the investigation, we discovered that the Blood Raider Covenant was sending recruiters to the concerts in order to bring new members into the fold. We set up an operation to arrest the recruiters at the Alachene concert, which was one of the larger ones on her tour."

Approximatively half way through Midna's set, a fight broke out between one of the accused recruiters and the DED undercover officer who was attempting to arrest him. The officer, whom the DED have declined to identify, called for backup. Twenty armed DED officers then stormed the concert hall, putting a halt to the performance as the lights were brought up and Midna escorted off the stage for her own safety.

The concert goers were initially unsure of what was occurring, but the DED took control of the public address system and informed the crowd that the DED was arresting known criminals. There were a few minor injuries to concert goers, and several were arrested for assaulting DED officers, though all were released and no charges are expected to be pressed.

The raid and arrests took thirty-five minutes to complete, at which point Midna returned to the stage and resumed her concert. The pop star was visibly shaken by the occurrence at first, but regained her composure after a few songs. By that point, around half of the concert goers had left the venue. After Midna completed her set, she retreated backstage and did not do an encore, which is the first time she has not on this tour.

"I wasn't sure what was going on," Midna told reporters after the concert. "All of the sudden the house lights all came on, DED agents were swarming in from the entrances, people were pointing guns, and security rushed me off stage. I didn't even find out what was going on for almost a half hour. For a while, I really was fearing for the safety of my fans, as well as myself."

The DED issued an apology to Midna, stating that the undercover busts had already happened at several of her prior concerts without incident. "We'd like to stress that Midna was in no way connected to these Blood Raider agents, except incidentally. Our investigations have turned up no link between her and the Blood Raider Covenant, much as she says. These recruiters were sent, independently, by the Blood Raider Covenant in an attempt to capitalize on Midna's popularity and influence her fans into joining them."

The DED stated that it would continue monitoring Midna's concerts for the presence of Blood Raider recruiters, though they would now cooperate more closely with the singer and venue security in order to avoid a repeat of the incident.