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Gate crashing, gatecrashing or party crashing is the act of attending an invitation-only event when not invited. The person doing the gate crashing is known as a gate crasher.
Contents
Reasons for gate crashing include but are not limited to:
And more serious crimes like:
Various techniques that involve blending in with the crowd can be used to gain access to some events. Various measures can be taken to prevent gate crashers from gaining access such as collecting invitations at the door and employing staff to identify potential uninvited guests, but such measures can still be thwarted by a skilled gate crasher.
The first "how to" gate-crashing book, Meet the Stars, was written by Charlotte Laws in 1988. She went by the name Missy Laws at the time and details how she crashed dozens of celebrity-filled events, major award shows and even got past Secret Service to interview the president. Her story about Elvis was reprinted in Uncle John's Bathroom Reader.
2009 White House gatecrash incident
On November 24, 2009, Michaele and Tareq Salahi, from Virginia, and Carlos Allen, from Washington D.C., independently gate-crashed the state dinner between President Barack Obama and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Australia
On 7 September 2013, after media reported the results of the 2013 Australian federal elections which saw the Liberal Party of Australia and National Party of Australia Coalition, a gatecrasher and anti-coal activist gatecrashed Coalition leader and Prime Minister-designate Tony Abbott's victory speech on stage.