Missouri water park cancels a birthday party amid safety concerns, some say it’s racism
A Black family is claiming their teens’ birthday park was canceled at a Missouri water park due to racial discrimination, but the park and city officials maintain that more than 500 teens showed up in the parking lot, raising safety concerns about capacity after the event was advertised on social media.
Chris Evans, the father of two teen YouTubers reportedly with an online following of more than 60,000, said that his family paid $2,000 about a month ago to host a large birthday party at Summit Waves, a popular park in Lee’s Summit, Missouri. But when the family arrived Saturday, pool managers reportedly wouldn’t allow them inside the gates.
Video shared on TikTok showed a park official and a police officer standing by a small crowd. Evans asks why the gathering made them uncomfortable.
Someone in the crowd then chimes in, “Because we’re Black!” at least three times. The female park employee shakes her head and says, “no,” in the short clip.
Lee’s Summit Parks and Recreation said Monday that it canceled a teen party rental Saturday because it “became aware of social media posts advertising the event.”
“This raised serious concerns about the safety of party guests and the possibility the event would grow beyond the capacity of staff,” Summit Waves administrator Joe Snook said in a statement. “After multiple attempts to reach the renter in advance of the event to discuss safety concerns, a connection was not made until the hours leading up to the event. At that point, the only recourse was to cancel the event. Despite the cancellation, approximately 500 teens arrived in the Summit Waves parking lot.”
“Lee’s Summit Parks and Recreation is committed to ensuring the safety of all patrons and will continue to work with the renter,” the press release added.
The Evans’ family has since retained a lawyer, attorney Ivan Nugent.
“I was just in disbelief that this was happening,” the teens’ mother, LeyShon Evans said explaining the party was for her 15-year-old son, Noah, and 17-year-old son, Isaiah.
It was reported that the Lee’s Summit Police Department was called to assist with crowd control at about 5:15 that Saturday evening.
The city’s marketing coordinator, Melissa Pfannenstiel, told the outlet that a contract for the party reservation between the Evans’ family and the city agreed that the maximum capacity would be 250 people and that the event would not be advertised on social media.
A small group of protesters also showed up at the park on Monday in support of the Black family.