Melbourne police reject Brevard Hemp Fest park permit on late notice, stirring complaints
Since January, Kendra Thompson worked behind the scenes organizing last weekend's inaugural Brevard Hemp Fest in Melbourne, featuring live entertainment, yoga sessions, craft workshops, a farmers market and educational seminars.
But 48 hours before the festival was scheduled to begin, Thompson said she was shocked to receive an email from a city recreation supervisor. Melbourne police had determined the event would not be permitted at Riverview Park “due to concerns about public safety” — and police had “reviewed advertising materials about the event and found issues there,” the April 20 email said.
The Brevard Hemp Fest musical lineup was initially scheduled to feature five DJs, including DJ Songui. He was performing at Off The Traxx in March 2022 in downtown Melbourne when a man was fatally shot on the dance floor. Per request, Thompson had submitted a list of the festival's DJs to city officials on April 19, the day before police rejected the permit.
In a recorded phone call, a city employee told two festival organizers that "DJs were bringing up some red flags for the PD." Asked for specifics during the call, the employee said he did not know further details. No other cancellation reasons were cited.
Songui's wife, Kim Dimech-Songui, joined a small group of supporters wearing white "Free DJ Songui" T-shirts to Tuesday's Melbourne City Council meeting. She said city police have tried to "blackball" her husband from playing events since the highly publicized Off The Traxx murder.
She told council members police have called establishments one to three days before his events and encouraged them to cancel her husband’s performances — "most recently Brevard Hemp Fest."
More: Brightline station in Brevard? Cocoa, Melbourne leaders want one, but no decisions made
More: Former Florida Tech faculty member charged with lewd and lascivious behavior at Walmart
Hemp festival supporters scrambled on two days' notice and moved the April 22 event to nearby American Legion Post 191, and DJ Songui dropped out of the musical lineup. The event went off with neither violence nor safety issues, Thompson said, and the festival drew hundreds of people, though attendance was reduced. She said she lost thousands of dollars because vendors and ticket holders pulled out because of the late venue change.
"To wait until the 11th hour to pull the plug? I just felt it was an indication of robust bad faith to do something like that," said Thompson's attorney, Luke Lirot, who specializes in constitutional law.
"Not only was it simply a First Amendment violation, it was wrong for any number of reasons. They had food trucks. They had vendors. They put in a lot of time of effort," Lirot said.
"To let somebody work on something from the middle of January, and then tell them literally a couple of days before the event that, 'We're pulling your permit because of some unjustifiable fear?' It's wrong on every level," he said.
Mayor wants festival to return next year
During the City Council meeting, city officials said Brevard Hemp Fest had made late changes to its park-rental application regarding alcohol sales, increased attendance and other details that exceeded the scope described in January.
Mayor Paul Alfrey later discussed the recorded call with Interim City Manager Jenni Lamb. He said the comment about DJs bringing up red flags may have been taken out of context, and he has directed City Hall staffers to work with festival organizers so their next event is successful.
"I absolutely believe in the First Amendment and the right to assemble," he said.
Alfrey said problems had emerged with the Riverview Park application, including a plan for a downtown restaurant to provide alcohol that exceeded the establishment's permitted restrictions. Regarding DJ Songui, Alfrey said, "he has a right to earn a living and you know what? I'm going to protect that."
"Remember, it was supposed to just be a little park rental. And then it morphed into having multiple DJs. And the minute you have multiple DJs, they do attract more people," Alfrey said.
"DJs do attract a lot of people. And when you do that, you know there needs to be security just in general for public safety," he said.
In a Thursday statement, Lamb said she looked forward to working with Brevard Hemp Fest organizers on a 2024 event.
"If the applicant had presented the full scope of their event in January when they submitted, we would have had adequate time to work through the details so that the event could have happened at Riverview Park," Lamb said.
"If they want to host the event next year at a city facility, we would welcome the opportunity to hold a preapplication meeting with them to work through all of the details," she said.
Police: Scope of event exceeded application
Melbourne police did not address questions asked by FLORIDA TODAY about what role DJs played in the decision to reject the permit, nor about Dimech-Songui's statements about her husband being blackballed.
Police Sgt. Benjamin Slover said the Brevard Hemp Fest rental request for Riverview Park was denied because the scope of the event exceeded the application.
On March 6, 2022, Palm Bay resident Alain Noel, 34, was fatally shot inside Off The Traxx when the bar was reportedly near capacity at about 350 patrons, a Melbourne police news release said.
The Melbourne Code Enforcement Board later fined Off The Traxx $5,000 for failing to provide a required, trained five-person security team the night of the fatal shooting — constituting "an irreparable or irreversible violation" of the sports bar's conditional-use permit, agenda documents show.
Off The Traxx closed without warning in September. Afterward, Lumber Jack's Axe House moved into the former New Haven Avenue nightspot's floor space.
Speaking of the Off The Traxx shooting, DJ Songui told the City Council, “I really didn’t have nothing to do with that. I’m just a DJ. I’m not a security guard. I can’t stop what I’m doing and DJing and go pat people down at the door."
“The way that Melbourne police (are) painting me out to be — as a monster — and stopping me from trying to bring food in for my family and entertain the people that love to hear me play, it’s not right," he said.
Application filed in mid-January
Thompson applied for the Riverview Park rental on Jan. 15, and she said was not contacted by city officials voicing concerns about Brevard Hemp Fest until the week of the event. On April 18, an email conversation was initiated among recreation officials regarding the event's alcohol, proof of liability insurance, a $500 refundable damage deposit, food trucks and other details after a police officer called the department.
Thompson said she attended an April 19 meeting at the Eau Gallie Civic Center recreation office to discuss the park-rental application, and she left thinking all was well with the upcoming festival.
She received the cancellation email the next afternoon. City officials refunded her $508 facility reservation fee.
Lirot, who is based in Clearwater, said the 11th-hour nature of the Brevard Hemp Fest park permit cancellation made it impossible for him to fight it in court.
"It was such a success, and people were so well-behaved. And obviously, the facts didn't bear out any of the concerns that the police had," Lirot said.
"The effort to try to squelch this event for an entirely unconstitutional fear was not successful," he said.
The City Council agenda also included DJ-related restrictions that were proposed for alcohol-consumption permits for the future Dr. Joe's tavern and Salty Fox in downtown Eau Gallie. During the April 6 Melbourne Planning and Zoning Board, city planners said police had requested this condition, citing potential of attracting large crowds:
"Music: No person who introduces or plays recorded popular music (disc jockey or DJ) shall be permitted to operate on site except in conjunction with a Special Activity Permit approved by the City of Melbourne."
But after representatives of Dr. Joe's and Salty Fox objected, the Planning and Zoning Board unanimously recommended that the DJ restriction be eliminated. The condition was removed during Tuesday's meeting, and the City Council unanimously approved both establishments' alcohol conditional-use permits.
Thompson owns The Honeycomb FL CBD store in Palm Bay. She said she plans to give a Brevard Hemp Fest presentation during the May 9 City Council meeting, and she wants the event to make its official home in Melbourne.
“The Brevard Hemp Fest is not just a celebration of hemp, but a platform for education, community, and an opportunity for economic growth within the city of Melbourne," Thompson told council members.
"And it unites people of all races, genders and economic status in a safe environment. Moreover, it provides a great opportunity for small businesses, like myself, and vendors to showcase their products while generating tourism revenue,” she said.
Rick Neale is the South Brevard Watchdog Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY (for more of his stories, click here.) Contact Neale at 321-242-3638 or rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @RickNeale1
Support local journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Melbourne police reject Brevard Hemp Fest park permit on late notice
