ACLU Report Direct From Linda Burt, Executive Director

Dear Rainbow Family Gathering Participates:

As a result of a number of press articles regarding conflicts at the 2008 Rainbow Family Gathering in Wyoming the Wyoming Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union requested complaints, narratives or reports regarding individuals experiences at The Gathering. We were particularly interested in a conflict that occurred in “kiddy village”. Kiddy village is an area set-aside for those participants that have children and is particularly directed to children’s experience.

There are no official Rainbow Family representatives, documents or incorporations. It is my understanding they have been gathering since the 1970’s and generally believe in non-violence and alternative lifestyles. They gather once a year in national forests to pray for the planet and for peace.

One of the United States Forest Service’s (USFS) press releases regarding the 2008 Rainbow Family Gathering stated that “about 400” Rainbow Family members surrounded a squad of officers trying to leave the “kiddy village” area after an arrest. The press release also stated that Rainbow Family members threw sticks and rocks at federal officers. Both the USFS and the Rainbow family agree the incident started when officers arrested a family member for an alleged drug offense.

The accounts of the experiences of individuals at this years gathering came from a number of sources: many of the reporters were long time Rainbow Family members and participants, some were casual or first time attendees and others Wyoming residents that just wanted to see “what was going on.” Among our reporters were doctors, lawyers, National Guard members, a nurse, and a retired carpenter from Lander. One of the telling items in all of the reporting was how similar the experiences were. The similarities maintained=0 Adespite the date, time, number of people reporting, age, or place of occurrence. These similarities in experiences and allegations provided an added element of validity to the reporting.

The USFS has stated that they are simply at the gatherings to “handle the perimeter” and to deal with “specific problems”. The reality of their presence seems very different however.

*****Report continues - to read the rest and see the email headers, click here***************

NY Times: Report Says Forest Service Has Harassed Gatherings

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A report by the Wyoming chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union contends that the federal Forest Service has engaged in systematic harassment of people who attend Rainbow Family gatherings on public lands.

The A.C.L.U. opened an investigation this summer after a clash on July 3 between members of the Rainbow Family, an informal group of professed hippies and peace activists, and Forest Service law enforcement officers.

About 7,000 members of the group attended its annual gathering this summer, held in the Bridger-Teton National Forest near Big Sandy in western Wyoming.

Forest Service law enforcement officers fired pepper balls — like paint balls but containing a pepper substance — at Rainbow Family members during the incident.

Scores of witnesses told the A.C.L.U. that the officers had lacked justification. The A.C.L.U. did not talk to Forest Service officials for its report. The report also said that officers had taken the smallest violation as an excuse to search participants’ cars and campsites for drugs.

“This type of harassment and general overzealous enforcement appear to have been the pattern in the U.S.F.S. relationship with the Rainbow Family,” the report said. It reported that the Forest Service had set up roadblocks and safety checkpoints and had “searched and ticketed people on the narrowest of pretexts.”

Linda Burt, executive director of the A.C.L.U. in Wyoming, said her office had interviewed about 60 Rainbow Family members who attended this year’s gathering and reviewed court records of charges against members.

In response to the report, the Forest Service said officers had fired only after a crowd threw sticks and rocks at officers and otherwise interfered in the arrest of a man on drug charges.

John Twiss, the national head of law enforcement for the Forest Service, said Friday that he strongly disagreed with the report.

Mr. Twiss was among the officers who responded to the disturbance at this year’s gathering. He described as “nonsense” the notion that Forest Service officers searched people or vehicles for drugs without probable cause.

The agency wrote only 18 citations for traffic and vehicle violations, but wrote 139 citations and arrested eight people for drug offenses, he said.

The Forest Service is discussing whether to allow future Rainbow Family gatherings on Forest Service lands, he said.

“Their behavior is unacceptable, and it’s a tremendous financial burden on the taxpayers to keep the gathering safe,” Mr. Twiss said.

He estimated that it cost the Forest Service $1 million to patrol the gathering in Wyoming this year. He said the group had not paid any of the costs.

During the pepper ball incident, only one of the people the A.C.L.U. spoke with reported that they had possibly seen one person throw a stick at law enforcement. The rest said they had seen nothing thrown, Ms. Burt said.

In an interview on Thursday, Ms. Burt said the A.C.L.U. was not planning to pursue legal action, but she said she hoped Congress would look hard at the issue. The organization sent its report to members of Wyoming’s Congressional delegation.

“Certainly people do have that right to peaceable assembly under the Constitution,” Ms. Burt said. “It doesn’t state anything in the Constitution that only the ‘right kind’ of people can have peaceable assembly, or only the people who dress like we like to dress can have peaceable assembly.”

Garrick Beck, 58, of Santa Fe, N.M., was a participant at the Wyoming gathering. In a telephone interview Friday, Mr. Beck said he had been attending gatherings since 1972 and had seen increasing harassment from Forest Service law enforcement in recent years.

“I would say that the conclusion that there has been a consistent pattern of harassment is absolutely correct, and some of these consistent patterns have been extremely provocative,” Mr. Beck said.

He said confrontations would escalate more were it not for the peaceful nature of the Rainbow participants.

ACLU blasts Forest Service over Rainbow gathering

By BEN NEARY – 1 day ago

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — The U.S. Forest Service systematically harasses people who attend Rainbow Family gatherings on public lands, the Wyoming chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union contends in a report.

The ACLU began investigating this summer after a clash between members of the Rainbow Family — an informal group of self-styled hippies and peace activists — and Forest Service law enforcement officers.

About 7,000 members of the group attended its annual gathering this summer, which was held in the Bridger-Teton National Forest in western Wyoming, about 260 miles northwest of Cheyenne.

Forest Service officers fired pepper balls — similar to paintballs but containing a pepper substance — at Rainbow Family members on July 3.

Scores of witnesses told the ACLU that the officers lacked justification, but the Forest Service said officers fired only after a crowd threw sticks and rocks at them and otherwise interfered in the arrest of a man on drug charges.

The report also said officers used small violations as excuses to search participants' cars and campsites for drugs throughout the gathering.

"This type of harassment and general overzealous enforcement appear to have been the pattern in the USFS relationship with the Rainbow Family," the ACLU report said. "The USFS has set up roadblocks, safety checkpoints, rolling gauntlets, and have searched and ticketed people on the narrowest of pretexts."

John Twiss, national head of law enforcement for the Forest Service, said Friday that he strongly disagreed with the ACLU's report.

"There's a lot of drugs at the gathering, a tremendous amount of drugs," Twiss said. "Which often leads to overdoses, violence and a tremendous amount of problems."

The agency wrote only 18 citations for traffic and vehicle violations but wrote 139 citations and arrested eight people for drug offenses, he said.

Linda Burt, executive director of the ACLU in Wyoming, said her office interviewed about 60 Rainbow Family members who attended this year's gathering and reviewed court records of charges against members. The ACLU did not talk to Forest Service officials.

During the pepper balling, only one person the ACLU spoke with reported that someone might have thrown a stick at law enforcement. The rest said they saw nothing thrown, Burt said.

In an interview Thursday, Burt said that the ACLU is not planning to sue, but that she hopes Congress looks hard at the issue. The ACLU sent its report to members of Wyoming's congressional delegation.

"Certainly people do have that right to peaceable assembly under the Constitution," Burt said. "It doesn't state anything in the Constitution that only the 'right kind' of people can have peaceable assembly, or only the people who dress like we like to dress can have peaceable assembly."

Twiss was among the officers who responded to the disturbance at this year's Rainbow Family gathering. He described the notion that Forest Service officers searched people or vehicles for drugs without probable cause as "nonsense."

Next Year in New Mexico

Vision Council at the Wyoming Gathering On The Land reached a consensus that the 2009 Annual Gathering of the Tribes should take place in New Mexico.

Since this blog on the Wyoming gathering turned out to be a useful tool, I've created a sister blog called the New Mexico Gathering blog. So once you're ready to turn your sights to next year, stop on by.

Peace!

Cleanup is Done!

I received an email from a sister yesterday (July 29) and heard from a friend today, that cleanup is done and everyone is heading out. My friend is going to hang around Pinedale for a day or two and see if he can get a cleanup letter.

Thanks to all who helped out. Cleanup crew rocks!

Electronic Version of Operating Plan

Tom Florich sent me a Word copy of the Operating Plan. I've also created a PDF version for those who have trouble with Word documents. Please download and do as you wish with it.

Clean Up Help Needed!

I pulled this message of usenet/agr today.
Please pass this info on to all your lists and especially to people near the gathering. Salt Lake City/Denver Crews - a big shout out to you to pitch in. Bring fruit and chocolate to share with those who are exhausted.


******BEGIN FORWARDED MESSAGE*******************

I just got a call from the clean-up crew at the gathering site and they asked me to post this message to a.g.r.

Clean-up is going slowly and more folks are needed to help. They request than anyone within a days drive of the site who can help please come back and pitch in for a few days. They could use about 2 dozen more people.

A lot of folks bailed after the FS put out the mandatory fire evacuation call and many more left on July 12. There are only 50 folks doing all this cleanup work since the 12th. If the usual 150 - 200 folks had stayed another week or so then the clean up would be a lot further along. Climbing up and down steep hills over the miles of the gathering site is burning these folks out.

There are no trucks on site to take out the garbage so last week they rented a u-haul to move out a big load and they are going to rent another u-haul tomorrow. The funds for this is coming out of the clean-up crews pockets.

What is left to do is the disappearing and water barring of the trails, getting the remaining garbage out, checking all the campsites to make sure they are disappeared, chopping up the compacted parking areas and reseeding.

Folks, it is important that a site be left without a trace and it takes a lot of work to get a well used gathering site to this point. How a site is left after a gathering is how the gathering will be
remembered. There is more to a gathering than just the party. If you can help in any way please do so now.