ACLU Report on July 3rd Incident gets picked up by AP

There's a longer version of the ACLU report about the July 3rd incident but this is the AP version. Sounds like the LEOs might be a little more discriminating on who they decide to harrass next year...at least I hope they will or (hope of all hopes) maybe they'll just decide to put down the weapons & join us!!!!


~~~~~~~~~~forwarded message from Karin Zirk~~~~~~~~~~

For the NY Times article, visit http://wyominggathering.blogspot.com/2008/10/ny-times-report-says-forest-service-has.html

Here's the AP version.


ACLU Blasts Forest Service Over Rainbow Gathering

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: October 3, 2008

Filed at 8:04 p.m. ET

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) -- The <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/refer...ns/f/forest_service/index.html?inline=nyt-org>U.S. Forest Service systematically harasses people who attend Rainbow Family gatherings on public lands, the Wyoming chapter of the <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/refer...vil_liberties_union/index.html?inline=nyt-org>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.''

 

Where do you get that idea out of this article?

no law suit filed(tells me not enough evidence to file one),the report only going to wyoming representatives(will be a LONG time before family goes back to wyoming) and john twiss making no apologies and calling the accusations "nonsense" and "strongly disagreed with the report".

i really think its a stretch to even "hope of all hopes" that they will show more tact next year much less put down there arms..

 

A token gesture if any

 

To me, the fact that the big media is paying attention is a step in the right direction. I'm not sure if they still do it but CNN used to pop into the Gatherings on the 4th of July....let me tell ya, the LEOs are completely different when the big media cameras are rolling.

 

This is the report:


Subject: Rainbow Family Gathering Report
> From: acluwy@aol.com
> Date: Fri, October 3, 2008 10:51 am
> To: acluwy@aol.com
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
>
> 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
> despite 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.
>
>
>
> ??
>
>
>
>>From the beginning of the gathering all respondents
>> reported
> a massive law enforcement presence.?? At
> the Welcome Gate law enforcement massed and stopped and
> searched car
> after car.
> Individuals were stopped for hundreds of insignificant
> violations ??? dirty
> license plates, obstructed vision (rear view mirrors with
> items hanging on
> them), tail light out, not using turn signal for turn, the
> list goes on and
> on.?? These individuals were forced to
> drive 68 miles to court to pay a $15 dollar fine and $25
> dollars in court
> costs. Many of the tickets were dismissed by prosecutors
> or judges. Out
> of 142
> violations heard in a special magistrates court 90 were
> fined no
> thing or
> dismissed, 32 individuals were fined under $100.00 and 20
> were issued
> fines of
> over 100, the largest fine being one issued for $525.00.
> Once stopped,
> individuals were asked what kind of drugs they had, if
> they denied having
> drugs
> they were often searched, drug dogs were used. Individuals
> were told that
> drug
> dogs had ???hit??? on their vehicle and they better just
> tell them where
> the drugs
> were.?? This procedure of continual mass
> stops and searches of vehicles went on during the entire
> gathering.??
>
>
>
> ??
>
>
>
> Armed officers walked through gathering asking people what
> they were doing or what kind of drugs they had on them.??
> People in tents
> were woken up and their tents
> were searched; individuals also reported seeing officers
> searching tents
> when
> people were not at their campsites.?? One
> woman reported being at the latrine site using the
> latrine, she had her hand
> behind her back when an officer walked up and asked her
> what she was
> doing and
> what she had behind her back ??? he asked her if she was
> smoking pot ???
> she showed
> him the toilet paper and he then walked away.
>
>
>
> ??
>
>
>
> Several individuals said they either left the gathering or
> made a decision not to attend after seeing the numbers of
> law enforcement
> officers present.?? Many people said there
> was an atmosphere of continual threat from law
> enforcement.
>
>
>
> ??
>
>
>
> This type of harassment and general over zealous
> enforcement
> appear to have been the pattern in the USFS relations
> hip with the Rainbow
> Family. The USFS has set up roadblocks, safety
> checkpoints, rolling
> gauntlets,
> and have searched and ticketed people on the narrowest of
> pretexts. Law
> enforcement are often in full riot gear armed with
> sidearm, tasers and
> shotguns. In 2006 in Colorado
> the agency issued the same kind of petty offenses tickets
> ??? over 100 of
> them.
> The USFS also issued more than 500 citations for
> ???illegal use and
> occupancy???.
> Another apparent conflict between USFS and participants in
> Colorado
> gathering resulted in the statement
> that participants had thrown ???sticks and rocks???.?? One
> online video
> shows no sticks or rocks
> thrown during the confrontation.?? During
> the 2003 gathering there were reports of 8-10 mounted
> officers circling the
> gathering flying the American Flag immediately preceding
> the main days
> prayer.
> Individuals at this years gathering reported officers
> taking pictures of
> participants ??? this type of surveillance has been
> reported at previous
> gatherings. None of this behavior has been conducive to a
> good relationship;
> but often seems motivated to cause clashes between
> participants and law
> enforcement.
>
>
>
> ??
>
>
>
> The participants that reported on the 2008 ???kiddy
> village???
> conflict were unanimous in their version of the events:??
> The officers
> came into ???kiddy village???
> following a man that was later charged with a marijuana
> complaint (this
> is the
> best of my information). The officers were armed with
> pepper ball guns
> and side
> arms.?? When the in
> dividual was arrested a
> woman went up to one of the officers and asked a question
> ??? there is no
> indication of what was said. This woman was then thrown to
> the ground,
> handcuffed and surrounded by several officers.??
> At this time the crowd became upset and people were asking
> what was
> going on ??? individuals came into the area ??? at no time
> was it
> apparent that
> there were 400 individuals in the area.??
> Additionally, at no time are there any rocks or sticks
> seen being thrown
> at the officers. One reporter states he may have seen
> ???one stick???
> thrown.?? This is not evident in any of the
> videos.?? Rainbow member???s state that,
> according to their training and belief in non-violence,
> they began to police
> themselves some of them going down on their knees and
> chanting and others
> trying to calm the crowd and back them off. Many of the
> participants report
> being shot by pepper balls in the back or when they were
> kneeling. One of
> the
> medical crew, a nurse, reported treating several people
> for multiple
> welts and
> many individuals for contact with pepper spray.??
> The Sublette Examiner reported that one officer was
> injured but I have
> not been able to verify that injury.
>
>
>
> ??
>
>
>
> After the incident people reported being stopped by
> officers
> and told to take off their shirts so that officers could
> identify them to
> charge them with ???inciting???.??????
>
>
>
> ??
>
>
>
> John Twiss, Director of Forest
> Services Law Enforcement and Investiga
> tions in Washington, D. C.?? Stated, ??? I think we have
> to have that
> discussion within the agency.??? (regarding banning the
> Rainbow Family from
> Forest Services lands) ???We spend an awful lot of time
> and effort on these
> people and frankly, the taxpayers deserve better.??? He
> also gave his clear
> opinion saying that Rainbow Family Members are
> ???non-compromising???
> ???arrogant???
> and ???anti-authority???.
>
>
>
> ??
>
>
>
> Statements such as this lead us to believe that agency
> personal
> have no intention of working with the Rainbow Family to
> provide a reasonable
> compromise for both the Family and the USFS. The pattern
> of antagonistic
> harassment that has occurred over the years makes this
> clear. There
> should be a
> discussion in the USFS and the US Congress regarding this
> history of
> abuse of
> process and individuals by the USFS.?? The
> taxpayers and the Rainbow Family deserve better. The
> continual harassment
> and
> heavy-handed enforcement methods are not necessary and
> only serve to
> cause more
> problems and more bad feelings. There is no reason to pay
> USFS personnel to
> issue frivolous tickets, conduct illegal searches and
> overburden the Federal
> Courts and Prosecutors.?? These situations
> should be handled in a professional, best practices
> manner. The USFS seem
> to be
> more intent on provoking confrontation.
>
>
>
> ??
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Sincerely,
>
>
>
>
> Linda Burt, Executive Director
>
>
>
> Wyoming
> Chapter, ACLU
>
>

 

I'm happy with their report. And I appreciate their effort.

 

i certainly hope the aclu makes headway with this issue. i'd love to gather with out being shot by pepper balls for trying to stop the escalation to riot, or like in colorado gettin maced three times for telling the feds you can't arrest our family for a non-violent protest (road block circle), remember when they we're just writing illegle gathering tix, before the "operating plan" thing,... now they just set up unconstitutional road blocks and stop traffic for hours. compliance checks the call it, how'd the locals feel if they came into your house and tore out your walls to make sure your electric was up to code. iv'e an idea...... lets look out side their juristiction for gathering sites after a year or two their funding would be brought into question if they could do NOTHING,.... either way we'll always have some law enforcement there, hope fully it'll evolve into something more sane......
huffin' glue

 

Why would the locals want to come into my house and tear out the walls? And how does this relate to the ACLU report?

 

I believe what he was making a comparison... the feds "coming into our house" and doing "compliance checks" to how the locals would feel if the feds came into *their* houses to make sure everything was up to code....