Coachella security staff have claimed that the music festival mistreats its guards, starving them and leaving them to sleep on cardboard boxes in the desert heat.

Antonio Cannady, a screenwriter based in Los Angeles, has written a lengthy expose on his experience as a security guard at the Indio, California festival this year.

Cannady, who spent a month working for Coachella, claims he witnessed the inhumane treatment of black security guards during his duration on the staff.

Coachella security staff have claimed that the music festival mistreats its guards, starving them and having them sleep on cardboard boxes in the desert heat

Antonio Cannady, a screenwriter based in Los Angeles, has written a lengthy expose and shared shocking photos after working as a security guard at the Indio, California festival

The aspiring writer was looking for side gigs and had just recently been granted his guard card when he learned of a local security company hiring guards for Coachella.

Cannady was hired by Staff Pro, one of the main security companies contracted by Goldenvoice, a subsidiary of AEG Live, for the $12/hour gig.

People hid under blankets even though the weather is already 80 degrees out to keep the flies off

'Fast-forward a few weeks later and I'm...loading into a bus with about 35 people, all people of color,' Cannady writes in his account.

'It was upon my arrival at the Coachella camp ground just over two hours later that things became...let's say "interesting."'

Cannady said he was immediately handed a one-page document giving him instructions 'on how not to die from heat stroke'.

Indio is known for its hot climate, where annual temperatures average 90 degrees F but routinely climb to 100 degrees.

Cannady said the group of guards were then all ushered into a 'large, smelly, humid tent floored in grass'.

The humidity would get so bad that a 'dense sea of flies' would smother the guards as they tried to sleep after a 12-hour overnight shift.

'People hid under blankets even though the weather is already 80 degrees out to keep the flies off,' he wrote.

'The result of swapping away at flies while trying to rest leads to sleep deprivation for many, then they head back for another shift.'

The sight was shocking, but Cannady said he learned it was a major upgrade from previous years in which guards had to sleep on the desert's 'clay-like dirt'.

During his orientation in Los Angeles, the group had been told to invest in a tent, air mattress, and blanket.

Cannady said the group of guards were given the option of either bringing their own tent to sleep in or sleeping in the community tent. The temperatures dropped into the low 60s at night, leaving many guards shivering on the wet grass and sleeping on cardboard boxes

During the day the heat would routinely climb up to 100 degrees, but guards would still sleep under blankets to try and avoid the 'dense sea of flies'

But when he arrived at the campground, Cannady realized that most of the guards were 'obviously stricken with poverty and arriving with pretty much nothing'.

'A lot of folks arrived destitute and had no choice but to sleep on a ground that felt like you were sleeping on a slab of concrete,' he wrote.

'I was one of those people that slept on the ground the first couple of nights. The next morning my body felt like I was a lineman for the New England Patriots. It ached just that bad.'

People over here are starving, losing weight because we're not being fed properly . It's just a lot of messed up stuff going on

The temperatures dropped into the low 60s at night, leaving many guards shivering on the wet grass.

'Those of us without an air mattress or blanket were forced to use cardboard boxes and aluminum foil as a barrier between themselves and an insect-infected, cold, moist ground,' Cannady wrote.

'I recall a young man sleeping next to me, shivering like a wet dog in the middle of winter. This was a situation that if you could not afford to bring the needed supplies, then you were screwed and for the most part on your own.'

The same went with food. Outside of the first meal they got on their arrival, Cannady said many of the guards were not regularly fed by the security company in the two weeks before they received their first paycheck.

'You were pretty much s**t out of luck if you didn't bring food with you, which some people didn't,' he wrote.

'It baffled me how a company that boasted $114million in profits would not afford these security guards daily meals that at least carried them to their first paychecks.'

'People over here are starving, losing weight because we're not being fed properly,' Cannady told the Daily Beast during an interview from Coachella. 'It's just a lot of messed up stuff that's going on.'

Cannady recalled one breakfast in which the Staff Pro guards were served a single Twinkie. Another morning, they received a Moon Pie after finishing 12-hour shifts.

Cannady also claims that black security guards who were subcontracted by Goldenvoice were treated far more differently then the Goldenvoice security guards, who were mostly white. Pictured is the camp where he said the subcontracted guards, mostly people of color, worked

Pictured is a photo of the camp where Cannady said the Goldenvoice security guards, who were predominately white, stayed in while working the festival

Another security guard, identified only by his nickname Chowderr, said that staff were given measly 'jail' portions before or after their lengthy shifts.

'If you're not coming stockpiled or prepared, you're going to be hurting for maybe a couple of days at a time,' he said.

'We were told we would be fed but we were not told what minimum we would be,' Cannady added.

'The company I'm with provided a small bowl of pork and beans yesterday. That was it! So if you didn't go to work or had your own food, then that's all you ate.'

'Our company provides bag lunches but sometimes they only consist of a can of tuna and/or a single sandwich. If they feed us, it's a small single serving before we head into the field.'

'This food is gone/burned off halfway through your shift, and then you're stuck.'

Cannady also claims that the black security guards who were subcontracted by Goldenvoice were treated far more differently then the Goldenvoice security guards, who were mostly white.

The writer said the Goldenvoice security guards were not only given better living conditions, but they also constantly harassed the subcontracted guards.

'To be honest, they remind me of the Ku Klux Klan,' he added.

Cannady said that the Goldenvoice security guards would ride around on four-wheelers and 'constantly harass subcontracted security guards over the most minuscule issues'.

He alleges that the guards forced them to walk constantly during their shift, reporting them if they dared to take a five-minute break to rest their feet.

Cannady questioned how a festival that makes $114million in profit and charges $500 for a single ticket could treat its guards so poorly

Cannady said Goldenvoice's security staff is known for making 'frivolous unwarranted complaints' that has caused subcontracted guards to lose their jobs or quit 'because of the constant stress of harassment on a nightly basis'.

'We were brought into support their efforts to keep the grounds and the fans safe. We are not treated like colleagues, but more like second-class citizens by masked hooligans whose only agenda seems to get those brought in to help fired,' he wrote.

'This is a practice that has gone on for years, yet subcontracted security guards are scared to speak up for fear of losing their jobs, so they tolerate it and only complain to each other.'

Cannady said he hopes speaking out will lead to Goldenvoice making some major changes, including providing sensitivity training for its own guards.

He also wants the company to provide blankets and pillows to subcontracted guards, provide air craft hangars with military cots, and allocate food budgets so guards can be fed properly until they receive their first paycheck.

'I hope this declaration of my experience and the realities of what has been going on regarding the treatment of black security guards leads to better working conditions for those who come after me,' he wrote.

'These are people. Treat them humanely, you won’t even miss the money it would cost.'

Allied Universal, the parent company of Staff Pro, said in a statement that its Coachella staff are 'offered the resources needed in order to make sure that we uphold the highest standards in working conditions for each and every employee'.

'Located on a grassy field area at the event, we offer a campground that includes seating, picnic tables, charging stations as well as shower facilities,' it added.

'In addition, each security professional is provided pallets of water and catered food. For those security professionals who work the night shift, we offer a large air-conditioned tent that is blacked out from the sun so they can sleep during the day.'