Police clash with Orange Crush Reloaded attendees
From April 17 to April 19, the Tybee Island Police Department, alongside the Georgia State Patrol, conducted a series of arrests at the annual beach gathering, totaling 26. These preliminary statistics were shared with Fox News Digital by law enforcement officials.
The Orange Crush weekend on Tybee Island, often a source of contention, concluded with authorities detaining 26 individuals and confiscating five firearms. Among the seized weapons was one that had been modified into a makeshift machine gun, capable of automatic firing, according to police reports.
During the eventful weekend, Tybee Island police were responsible for 19 of the arrests, while the Georgia State Patrol accounted for the remaining seven. This figure represents an increase compared to the previous year’s 22 arrests over the same period. In contrast, the 2024 Orange Crush event saw 54 arrests, highlighting a significant fluctuation in enforcement activity over the years.
Details surrounding the arrests remain scant at this time.
This year’s gathering, dubbed Crush Reloaded, features a primary event on Saturday, highlighted by a music festival held at the Tybee Island beach pier and pavilion. (Photo credit: Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
Known as Crush Reloaded this year, the main event is scheduled for Saturday with a music festival at the Tybee Island beach pier and pavilion. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
Police also handed out 100 traffic citations over the three-day span, with 49 issued by Tybee Island officers and 51 by state troopers.
During the same period, the island’s 911 center handled 297 calls for service, Randolph said.
The annual event branded this year as “Crush Reloaded,” returned to Tybee Island over the weekend with organizers promoting it online as “THE BIGGEST HBCU BEACH BASH IS BACK” and saying more than 50,000 people were expected.
WATCH: Tybee Island mayor says Orange Crush Reloaded is no longer ‘destructive’
Tybee Island Mayor Brian West told Fox News Digital the city’s security approach closely mirrored what authorities have used in recent years.
“It’s pretty similar to what we did last year. It looks like we might have more people this year, but we put in a safety protocol three years ago that seems to be pretty effective. And it’s pretty much what we’ve seen for the past three years now,” West told Fox News Digital.
West said authorities brought in help from agencies across the region and the state, including the Georgia State Patrol, Department of Natural Resources, Motor Carrier Division, Liberty County Sheriff’s Office, Chatham County Sheriff’s Office, Chatham County Police Department and Tybee Island’s own police force.
Law enforcement officers watch from the pavilion as DNR rides through the crowd on ATVs during Crush Reloaded, formerly known as Orange Crush at Tybee Island, Ga on Saturday, April 18, 2026. (Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
West said the stepped-up safety measures followed problems in 2023, when he said people who were not college students came to the event and brought “drugs and guns.”
“We had a really bad situation in 2023. And what happened was we had a lot of people that came to this event that weren’t college students. They were older people that were trying to take advantage of the group, and they were bringing drugs and guns,” West said. “And with the security that we put in place, we’ve been able to filter those people out. And so now we have college students that are here, and it’s more of a spring break type group than it is a destructive type group.”
Spring breakers pose for a photo during Crush Reloaded, formerly known as Orange Crush at Tybee Island, Ga on Saturday, April 18, 2026. (Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
He also said city leaders have found the event runs more smoothly when students have organized entertainment.
“It really works much better when we work together and have some type of activity for the students to do. In the past, when they just showed up, they kinda had to make their own fun. And sometimes that fun really wasn’t the best thing to be doing,” West said. “So when there’s an activity, when there is a band, when there are things to keep their attention, it works much better.”
WATCH: CEO of Orange Crush says event is ‘rebranded’ with collaboration with police, city
Orange Crush Reloaded CEO Steven Smalls similarly told Fox News Digital the event is intended to give college students a place to celebrate safely.
“It’s about the college students more than anything to come out and have a good time and focus on the graduation that’s coming up in May. It’s a college-based thing and hopefully in the future I’m able to give back to some student debt relief and hopefully one day help one of SSU (Savannah State University) students. Give one of these kids a scholarship if I do good out here, you know, just put back towards the college community,” Smalls said.
Smalls said the rebranded event and cooperation with city officials helped create a better environment for attendees.
Law enforcement officers keep a watchful eye as partyers gather during Crush Reloaded, formerly known as Orange Crush at Tybee Island, Ga on Saturday, April 18, 2026. (© Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
“This is the rebrand. I think that’s probably the best thing that happened. I love the way the relationship is built, and I understand what they got going on, and they understand what I have going on. And working together, it became just right here what you see today,” Smalls said.
He also argued that the organized festival helps channel the crowds.
“If I wasn’t doing this, then they would just be popping out here. There wouldn’t be no sound, no entertainment. It wouldn’t nothing for them to do, it’d just be them being so pushed out. So me bringing the entertainment and me being here, they come out here to have fun. The police presence, that helps you be safe,” Smalls said.
Performers interact with dancers during Crush Reloaded, formerly known as Orange Crush at Tybee Island, Ga on Saturday, April 18, 2026. (Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
Known for drawing massive crowds to the small Georgia beach town, Orange Crush has long stirred controversy among residents and law enforcement because of past violence, arrests and trash left behind in its wake.
Ahead of this year’s festivities, Tybee Island officials said they were heightening enforcement and preparing for an influx of visitors, as local concerns grew over public safety and so-called “teen takeovers” that have been reported around the country and in the region.
“Rest assured that we have heard you and that public safety will always be our top priority,” Randolph previously told Fox News Digital when asked about residents’ concerns over the event.
Beginning Thursday before the festival weekend, residents and visitors saw an increased law enforcement presence from various local and state agencies across the island. Authorities also launched a road safety checkpoint on Highway 80, carved out emergency lanes on main roads and closed the 14th and 16th Street parking lots in an effort to maintain order.
WATCH: Teen takeover in Georgia caught on camera
On April 4, police said an unpermitted pop-up event near the Tybee Island Pier and Pavilion was interrupted by gunfire after hundreds of teens gathered in the area.
Officers said they heard a single gunshot around 6:30 p.m., sending the crowd running.
Orange Crush dates back decades and earned a reputation in the early 1990s as a rowdy, crime-filled weekend.
The festival later moved to Jacksonville, Florida, in 2021, citing issues including limited parking, lack of resources and alleged civil rights concerns, before returning to Tybee Island in 2023 for the first time since 2020.
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