Someone is trying to deter Phish concertgoers in Pennsylvania with a fake police document. A hoax internal doc broadcasting a “joint task force enforcement operation” titled “Phish In A Barrel” caused some alarm as it made its way through the Phish community earlier this week in advance of the jam band’s performance at The Pavilion At Star Lake outside of Pittsburgh. But officials told CBS News that the document — which detailed a checkpoint plan between local police officials and the FBI and DEA — is not real.

Deputy Sheriff Elizabeth Davidson told CBS News that the department only learned about the document when alerted by a caller. “The sheriff was like, ‘I never ordered anything like that.’ He was very confused,” Davidson said. “There’s nothing listed on this operations plan for targeted enforcement. It’s just a lot of officers going here and there.” Apparently, the Virginia State Police department were the target a similar hoax in 2018, and the perpetrators of that were never found.

Phish fans can seemingly rest easy. The band just began a 2023 summer tour that kicked off in Huntsville, Alabama last Wednesday; it’ll conclude with four nights in Chicago at the beginning of September.

For anyone headed to Star Lake…
by u/manwithappleface in phish