Key Developments:
- Concertgoer claims security guards and sheriff’s deputies used excessive force, causing him to lose consciousness twice during 2022 incident at Gorge Amphitheatre
- Lawsuit alleges systematic constitutional violations through “suspicionless vehicle searches” and detention policies at Live Nation venues
- Criminal trespassing charge against plaintiff was later dismissed, with attorney arguing client was attempting to leave when detained
By SAMUEL A. LOPEZ
USA HERALD – August 28, 2025
Events giant Live Nation Entertainment Inc. is under fire in federal court after a Washington man claimed he was violently subdued by security guards and sheriff’s deputies at the Gorge Amphitheatre during a 2022 Los Bukis concert. The lawsuit, filed on Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington, paints a disturbing picture of corporate-sponsored brutality, blurred lines between private security and sworn law enforcement, and a ticket-buyer who says he left a concert with permanent scars rather than lasting memories.
The plaintiff, Demecio Valdovinos, alleges that what began as a seemingly routine interaction with security ended with his face bloodied, his tooth cracked, and his body pinned under the weight of guards who cut off his ability to breathe until he lost consciousness. According to his complaint, the violence did not stop when sheriff’s deputies arrived. Instead, he says, they repeated the same treatment, slamming him to the ground and kneeling on his back until he again passed out.
The case, Valdovinos v. Live Nation Entertainment Inc. et al., No. 2:25-cv-00324, seeks damages against Live Nation, crowd-control firm Starplex Corp., Grant County, and individual employees involved. The lawsuit claims violations of his Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights, alongside state-law claims for personal injury, emotional distress, lost wages, and punitive damages.
Court filings allege that the confrontation began after the show had ended, when Valdovinos and his partner were sitting in his truck in the venue’s parking lot. Security approached and ordered him to exit the vehicle. Without explanation, they escorted him to what appeared to be a medical station on site. His attorney, John J. Kannin IV of Kannin Law Firm PS, said that his client “complied with everything they told him to do.”
After leaving that tent, Valdovinos says he encountered a Starplex employee and attempted to film the interaction on his phone. The complaint states that the employee tried to knock the phone away, causing it to hit Valdovinos in the face, splitting his lip and damaging a tooth. Moments later, the employee allegedly grabbed the phone, shoved Valdovinos into a parked car, and with the assistance of other guards, forced him to the ground. Knees pressed into his back restricted his ability to breathe until he passed out.
When he regained consciousness, the complaint alleges, he was surrounded by Grant County sheriff’s deputies who ordered him to stand. As he attempted to comply, deputies threw him down again and repeated the same tactic of kneeling on his back until he blacked out. He was then booked into the Grant County jail on a charge of criminal trespass. Authorities released him the same evening, and the charge was later dismissed.
“Criminal trespass is when you are told to leave and won’t leave,” Kannin said. “Here my client was trying to leave. Concert security and the sheriff detained him and injured him.”
The lawsuit alleges that Valdovinos’ injuries required medical treatment and caused him to miss work. Beyond the physical harm, he says he was “publicly humiliated and shamed” in front of concertgoers and law enforcement alike, leaving him with lasting psychological scars.
Significantly, the complaint argues that the incident was not an aberration but part of a larger pattern tied directly to Live Nation’s corporate practices. “The constitutional violations alleged herein were not isolated incidents, but the direct result of official policies, customs, and procedures adopted and enforced by defendant Live Nation Entertainment and defendant Starplex,” the filing states.
Examples cited include suspicionless vehicle searches at the Gorge, detaining patrons without probable cause, and granting private security quasi-police authority under county-sanctioned agreements.
Live Nation, which owns and operates the Gorge Amphitheatre, and Starplex, which was contracted to provide security, did not respond to requests for comment. A representative for Grant County declined to discuss the case, citing a policy against commenting on active litigation.
The case now heads into federal litigation, where the central question is not only whether Valdovinos was assaulted and wrongfully detained, but whether Live Nation and its partners maintain structural policies that erode civil rights in the name of crowd control. For a company already scrutinized by regulators, lawmakers, and consumer advocates over concert safety and antitrust issues, the outcome here could carry implications well beyond one man’s claim of abuse in a Washington parking lot.
The case is Valdovinos v. Live Nation Entertainment Inc. et al., Case Number 2:25-cv-00324, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington.
🛑 It should be noted that the assertions in this lawsuit are merely allegations and have not been proven in a court of law.
