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To: AppyPappy
It seems the SWAT tactics were justified. The hippies made the Forest Service’s case for them.

You may be right.

THE CASPER STAR- TRIBUNE

Rainbow Family members' accounts told a different story.

One member who identified himself only as "Ryan" told Stevens he was with his two children in his tent at the Rainbows' Kid Village north of the main meadow where the major prayer circles and dinners are held. One of the 10 officers pointed a pepper spray gun at him and his children, he said. His girlfriend was using the latrine outside when four officers came to her and asked if she was smoking marijuana.

The officers then ran through the Kid Village and through its kitchen, and chaos erupted, he said.

Other witnesses recounted seeing about 10 officers of the Forest Service's incident command team drag an older man from the woods near the Kid Village, according to interviews by Stevens. A woman in the village told the officers to take their guns out of the Kid Village. An officer threw that woman to the ground and pulled her head back by her hair while she was being handcuffed, one Rainbow named Rick told Stevens.

"I got out and yelled, 'what the f--- are you doing?'" Rick said. "That got it started."

The officers backed up in a defensive position, and some used their Tasers on Rainbows, he said.

Rainbows called for their crisis management team, and Rainbow family elders urged the crowd to remain calm, he said. However, the crowd kept moving, and the Forest Service officers began randomly spraying the crowd with pepper spray bullets.

The officers, with their two suspects in custody, found an exit trail from the main meadow, and the peacekeepers urged the crowd to let them go, he said.

"These people deliberately, for hours, were aggressively working the camp over and working the people over," Ryan said. "They chose the kiddie village -- the one place, the kids, to take their stand and create a riot, and I bought into it. ... They were looking for an excuse to do some damage to us."


9 posted on 07/05/2008 4:44:16 AM PDT by XR7
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To: XR7

Hippies play the victim card. “The children’s village”. Boo freaking hoo.


12 posted on 07/05/2008 4:51:07 AM PDT by AppyPappy (If you aren't part of the solution, there is good money to be made prolonging the problem.)
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To: XR7
The Rainbow's never lie about the confrontations they provoke. Nor do they ever completely trash their camp area. They always obey the law, and behave in a safe and friendly manner.

Also, every statement in the previous paragraph is false. If they enviro-freaks were not utter hypocrites, they would agree that the Rainbow “tribes” are the worst menace to the planet. These are people who say they care, but constantly demonstrate that they do not.

15 posted on 07/05/2008 5:30:15 AM PDT by jimtorr
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To: XR7

Maybe it’s just me, but I’m drawing a blank here...what’s a “pepper spray bullet”?


21 posted on 07/05/2008 6:11:07 AM PDT by Clioman
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To: XR7

The militarization of law enforcement continues...


26 posted on 07/05/2008 6:38:44 AM PDT by BlazingArizona
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