The American Peace Flag looks like one I used to have. These days all my flags are standard 50-star Old Glories.
Posted on 09/02/2006 9:11:47 PM PDT by beaversmom
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. -- Two men who took fruit and vegetables out of a garbage can have been sentenced to six months in jail, a punishment they say is harsh and the only choice they had to avoid a felony on their records.
Giles Charle, 24, of Sumersworth, N.H., and David Siller, 27, of Wayne, Pa., were on their way to the Rainbow Family's annual gathering when they were arrested in June and charged with felony burglary and misdemeanor theft.
Authorities said they took five cucumbers, four or five apricots, two bundles of asparagus spears and a handful of cherries from a garbage can at Sweet Pea Produce. The two pleaded guilty to misdemeanor trespassing Wednesday and the felony charge was dropped.
"We didn't have any intention of committing a crime or doing anything wrong," Charle told the Steamboat Pilot & Today newspaper. "We had just come in town and we were prepared to buy groceries from a store but everything was closed."
Thousands of people were in the Steamboat Springs area at the end of June and early July for the Rainbow Family gathering north of town. At times, the relationship between members of the nomadic group and authorities was tense and a number of citations were issued.
Assistant District Attorney Kerry St. James said the men were facing the felony because they trespassed onto property without permission and took something that did not belong to them. He said the plea bargain was the suspects' decision.
"They had a choice between accepting a deferred felony with 90 days in jail or a misdemeanor conviction with six months in jail," he said. "They agreed to spend the six months in jail."
Don Wirtshafter, an attorney in Ohio who represented many Rainbow Family members over the summer, said Charle and Siller were forced to choose between two evils.
"A suspended sentence would have worked for these boys, but when a prosecutor is really going after you, the best thing you can do is plea," he said. "At best, this case is bizarre."
Charle's mother, Shaune McCarthy Charle, called the jail sentence a joke.
"It's really amazing and unbelievable how taking garbage out of a Dumpster became a felony," she said. "(St. James) is completely incorrigible."
What amazes me is that for the most part these people do not have jobs, have no intention of contributing to our society or tax base. They are content to NOT follow the simple laws of getting permits to gather legally and think they are the law upon themselves. The two people involved have probably never held a job, a lot of these people are trust fund babies and look to their parents to get them out of scrapes. If you have never seen them in action, you are lucky. I am telling you, our area was more 'raped' then they will every be sitting in the county jail for 6 months.
You're probably right. From what my husband was telling me, he remembers reading/hearing a couple of months ago Steamboat Springs asked this group not to come back anymore. I'm looking for an article on that.
Just what I thinking.
Here's an enlightening article on the impact of these "gatherings."
Reading the website of one of the "family," it states that there is no organization or leaders in the "family." But they do have "focalizers" (who "focus" others on what they "need" to do) and "councils" in which "decisions" are reached about what, where and when through a process of "concensus." IOW, they have leadership and organization but choose to deny that by assigning other words to these attributes. Considering the number of lawsuits they engage in, they are also well-funded and well-represented by legal counsel. Good thing for them, since they routinely violate federal, state and local law.
Here we go:
Rainbow campers get court hearings today
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_39702080
6/23/2006
Steamboat Springs - Thousands of hippies gathering in a forest near Steamboat Springs won't be able to remain there legally, federal officials declared Thursday as they denied the group's belated application for a land-use permit.
A national task force has been scrambled to watch and cite those who take part in the Rainbow Family gathering, which has consisted of more than 2,000 peace-preachers and is expected to draw tens of thousands more. The Colorado State Patrol and local agencies statewide are set to contribute to the task force's ranks, said U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Kim Vogel.
"We're not picking on innocent people," said Denise Ottaviano, a U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman who came to Steamboat Springs from Washington as part of the task force. "Everyone there is part of an illegal gathering."
Hundreds of those ticketed are set to appear before a federal magistrate in a makeshift courtroom today. The magistrate, manning the bench in a firehouse a few miles from the gathering site, could impose up to a $5,000 fine and six months of jail time on each defendant.
The permit application was declined because of a fire danger concern and the fact that the land on which the hippies are camping has been booked by other businesses or groups, officials said in a statement.
This may make surviving in the forest more difficult for the Rainbow Family, whose members depend on runs to grocery stores several miles away for food and supplies. And family members worry that the hassle and the citations may deter tens of thousands of others from joining them.
But otherwise, Ottaviano said, "it's not feasible for us to try to block out 20,000 people."
If the gathering were to reach that size, as it has in past years, it would match the entire population of Routt County in 2003 census data.
The task force had set up a checkpoint on a remote road near the gathering on Thursday, handing out warnings and citations.
On Tuesday, 15 forestry officials abandoned a checkpoint after more than 200 family members allegedly hurled sticks and rocks at them as officers barred the road. No one was injured or arrested.
Family members deny being violent, saying it would go against the group's message. Several said they told the authorities that they love them and sang the national anthem as they formed a circle around the officers, locking hands. The officers drew their weapons, and the family members eventually stepped aside, they said.
Rainbow Family members were scattered through a stretch of Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest about 30 miles north of Steamboat Springs, bordering a meadow where they hold prayer circles.
The American Peace Flag looks like one I used to have. These days all my flags are standard 50-star Old Glories.
Interesting point. I'd take from it that the Dumpster Two are among the useful idiots of an organization more akin to CPI? They're not interested in justice , per se; but, rather more justice..or injustice... that serves the purpose of the organization? The sharks at the top get a lot more traction from the abuse of their UI's than they will, rationally defending their hides?
I guess those two Freegans will get their free housing with 3 meals a day.
Gathering casts dark cloud for some folks
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_3960887
06/21/2006
Clark - For the first time in its 30 years, the dusty wooden storefront of The Clark Store has a "No shirt, no shoes, no service" sign sitting in the window.
Clark Store manager Susan Saari and many others in and and around Steamboat Springs are bracing for the arrival of thousands of members of the Rainbow Family of Living Light, a group of modern-day hippies who will hold their annual summer gathering in the nearby Routt National Forest.
"I had to put it up," Saari said of the sign. "You can't come in here with no shoes. This is an old country store - my floor couldn't take it."
The Rainbow gathering is scheduled for the first week of July, but hundreds of people already have set up camp at the site, a grassy meadow known as Big Red Park.
Based on past gatherings, Forest Service officials say the event could draw up to 25,000 people.
The group, which bills itself as an alternative society for those who wish to leave the mainstream, has failed to sign a special-use permit required by the Forest Service for groups of 75 or more. As a result, rangers Monday barred people from the site and issued between 60 and 70 citations to some of the early arrivals.
Many residents and business people are worried that the trouble is just beginning.
"When it's over, all that's left is going to be one square mile of feces," said Alicia Spanhake of Steamboat Springs. "I hate hippies."
The Rainbow Family, which held its first gathering outside Granby in 1972, comes together every summer in locations across the country for a weeklong celebration that peaks with a July 4 peace circle and a parade. The group returned to Colorado once before, in 1992, when it camped in the Gunnison National Forest near Paonia.
The group tends to meet where people are scarce and nature is abundant, but family members still need supplies. That means venturing into nearby towns, which are usually not accustomed to Bohemian visitors.
Barefoot youth with dreadlocks have been hitchhiking through Clark and Steamboat for several days.
"They don't enjoy being around us that much, and I think it's the same way the other direction," said Becky Rupnow, 16, who works at The Clark Store, the only retail outlet in a town with a population of less than 1,000. "There's definitely a culture clash."
Business owners say they have seen an increase in loitering and panhandling, and are worried about theft.
Many residents say they are concerned about impacts on the forest.
"It's somebody invading our back yard," said Elmer Balvante, who frequently rides his motorbike in the forest with his son.
Clark has held a community meeting with Forest Service officials to discuss the gathering. A similar meeting is planned for Steamboat Springs on Friday.
Some Rainbows are equally wary of the locals.
They complain of having been denied service at stores in town. One man, who calls himself The Raven, said he ties back his Willie-Nelson style braids and puts on a baseball cap in order to blend in when he leaves his makeshift kitchen at the campsite to go into town.
Problems with the Rainbow Family have been minimal so far, according to Steamboat police, who have issued fewer than 10 citations for panhandling.
The Rainbows have increased business for some merchants. The Clark Store and Healthy Solutions Community Market have taken the group's advice to stock up on items like bulk foods, tarps, rolling papers and garlic - a natural bug repellant, according to Rainbow Family lore.
Workers from the health-food store said they found the Rainbows so nice that they plan on checking out the gathering.
"People don't know us at first, but then they come to know us and see what we're about," said Rainbow member Felipe, who like many in the group goes by a single name.
The fringe elements of Rainbow, such as panhandlers and homeless people, are the ones who tend to arrive first and make the initial impression, said a man named Bodhi.
And, he added, an open mind goes a long way toward easing a culture clash.
"If you come up here expecting to see a bunch of dirty hippies, that is what you will see," he said. "But if you come up here with a pure heart, looking for enlightenment, that is what you will get."
Just found it doing a google search.
Here's the site:
http://www.hearingvoices.com/webwork/golding/rainbow/index.html
Very good point.
Yep, sounds about right.
> Family members deny being violent, saying it would go against the group's message. Several said they told the authorities that they love them and sang the national anthem as they formed a circle around the officers, locking hands. The officers drew their weapons, and the family members eventually stepped aside, they said.
I believe that happened, and I'm willing to believe that the folks joining hands and singing the National Anthem were completely sincere in extending their love to the authorities. I know these people, at least indirectly, and they're capable of being just that goofy.
Those poor cops were probably very freaked out... and I'll bet the altercation with the forestry officials consisted of 200 Rainbowers mostly wandering around and chanting, with perhaps two or three picking up something and throwing it, and a dozen others telling them to cool it, that violence is not the way. The newspaper tells it like 200 people were chucking rocks, and yet no one was injured? Methinks it was a very small altercation.
Thing is, tens of thousands of these folks compries something else -- a huge plague of locusts descending on a town that can't deal with them.
See post #68
See post #68 for an article about some locals reaction to their gatherings.
See posts #64 and #68.
"... 7/4 - Pennsylvania State Police removed sign along main road into gathering stating "Show Me Your Tits" after receiving citizen complaint..."
Must've thought the Gathering was taking place in New Orleans.
But this is significant:
July 28, 1997
Rainbow Family of Living LightDear Rainbow Family Participants,
We are pleased with the cleanup and rehabilitation efforts by the Rainbow Family volunteers following the 1997 Gathering on the Big Summit Ranger District. Your commitment to caring for the land was demonstrated by your thoroughness and attention to detail and the District appreciates your hard work and cooperation in meeting the resource objectives.
....
Cleanup efforts and rehabilitation were thorough and occurred mostly within two weeks following the peak of the gathering. Our post-gathering walk-though inspections showed that the cleanup volunteers were highly committed to completing the job.
Those of us on the Big Summit Ranger District appreciated your excellent cooperation on the resource issues before, during and after your gathering. Thanks again for your commitment to cleanup and restoration of Indian Prairie.
Sincerely,
SUSAN V. SKALSKI
District Ranger
Now that sounds like that Gathering was well done.
As ridiculous as these charges were, I'll answer your actual question, at least partially:
Since people started garbage raiding for identity theft;
Since PIs & "Activists" went on garbage raids, to dig dirt on people;
Since some idjits raided store dumpsters, then sued when they got sick on tainted luchmeats, deli items, etc that the stores had discarded;
People suing the store, when they get hurt while trespassing to dumpster dive;
Since the ACLU was able to win some cases involving cops retrieving incriminating evidence from trash cans without a warrant.
I'm sure there are more reasons, but that said, I still do not agree with the severity charges nor penalties in this case.
Something about penalties fitting the crime, etc.
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