Tensions grow at Rainbow camp as melee erupts

BLACK FORK RIVER, North Slope of the Uinta Mountains -- To get to the Rainbow Family gathering, revelers will have to put on their walking shoes. Make that boots -- it's awfully muddy at 9,000 feet.

A special incident team for the U.S. Forest Service closed a spur off the North Slope Road here Thursday morning after a melee in which Forest Service officers and Rainbow members suffered minor injuries.

Early on Thursday afternoon, Forest Service incident Commander Malcolm Jowers said the 2.5-mile road would be closed until further notice. That left Rainbow Family members hoofing it in to various campsites scattered around 4,000 picturesque acres near the Utah-Wyoming border.

For decades, Forest Service law enforcement officers and the Rainbow Family have danced around each other at this annual gathering. But the waltzing turned ugly Wednesday evening when officials decided to tow a car that was in a restricted parking area, said Jowers.

Versions of the story vary, but both sides agree a group of young Rainbow members encircled the car, preventing the towing. A special mounted police unit was dispatched to disperse the crowd.

Snowballs and rocks were hurled at the mounted police, who then rode into the crowd.

Two Forest Service riders suffered minor injuries, said Jowers. And two Rainbow members were kicked or stepped on and taken to an Evanston, Wyo., hospital, where they were treated and released.

Jowers met with Rainbow leaders Thursday afternoon, but said for now the road would remain closed.

Garrick Beck, a Rainbow follower who signed the Forest Service's special use permit, said the events were unfortunate.

"Some young people made a peaceful blockade," he explained. "The Forest Service called for horses . . . Then in an unbelievable move of stupidity, some people threw rocks at the officers . . . It's regrettable that a few young fools would take it into their heads to commit those aggravated acts."

In the coming days as the Rainbow gathering grows, people will see the celebration as a peaceful one, Beck said. "People will see this as a very good scene, a very cooperative scene -- learning community values, learning respect for nature and making the gathering an example of peaceful cooperation."

Nonetheless, many Rainbows were rankled at the incident, including a man known by the handle Free Rainbow Hugs, who was kicked in the hip by a horse and taken to the hospital where an x-ray revealed no broken bones.

"We circled up in the middle of the road," said Hugs, still limping. "They told us to get out of the way, and then charged in."

Some of Hugs' family members described it as the action of a police state. The Rainbows will pray for peace on July 4.

Picture twenty thousand people in a sunlit meadow, standing silent in prayer, holding hands in one huge, unbroken circle. Picture a parade of children approaching, singing songs, their countenances bright with enthusiasm and face paint, baloons and banners waving in the breeze.

Yeah, right. Picture a bunch of unwashed slimebags at a B.O. festival who use this as an excuse to go find a new place to go on a drinking & drug binge.

the right of the people peaceably to assemble....

Nobody from what I can see is saying they can't meet, we are merely making light of their hypocrisy. I didn't realize we weren't allowed to voice our opinions on these fools. I guess the founders forgot to exclude us from the First Amendment.

Anyway, the operative word is peaceably.

"Then in an unbelievable move of stupidity, some people threw rocks at the officers . . . It's regrettable that a few young fools would take it into their heads to commit those aggravated acts."

Drinking is strongly discouraged at their gatherings.

Get drunk and fall asleep with a beer in your hand while you're there, and you'll wake up with it ducktaped to your hand.

The tagalong drunks, whom the rainbows despise, stay in the parking lot near the beer and far from the gathering in the forest.

I know most freepers don't like hippies and believe me they don't care for much of society, but I figured you'd encourage them to stay as far away from you as possible, and miles into a national forest is about as far away as they can get in this country.

Please leave these people alone. They're mostly harmless and just wish to be left alone. Besides, they are on the cutting edge of defending forest use from the feds increasingly restrictive laws. Everyone around here complained and moans when Clinton kept people out of the forest, and these people are doing something about it. The legal battles they fight ensure your rights as well.

Nobody from what I can see is saying they can't meet

Forest Service incident Commander Malcolm Jowers makes a career out of it. It's what he does. It's all he does. He's an unelected fed that doesn't respect the Constitution especially the Bill of Rights (that's usually unpopular around FR), and despises hippies, and is on a personal vendetta against them.

I didn't realize we weren't allowed to voice our opinions on these fools.

I'm a big defender of free speech. Voice away.

"Then in an unbelievable move of stupidity, some people threw rocks at the officers . . . It's regrettable that a few young fools would take it into their heads to commit those aggravated acts."

Please note those are the words of other rainbows condemning the attack. These people in general are far less violent than your average sports arena crowd.

I like the fact that the throw rocks at the Forest Service who has no business closing these roads.I also agree with you that they have a right to assemble, especially on Federal land.

That said these people are nasty disgusting pigs, I'd probably be tempted to trot my horse over them just for fun.

If they want to assemble fine, then they need to either clean up after themselves or pay to have it done.

Sounds to me like the "melee" was caused by the Forest Service, who wants increasingly tight restrictions on public access to public land. Pretty soon no access will be allowed without a permit from the UN.

It was stupid to resist the towing of the car. It was also stupid not to give the car owner some time to move it.

The closing of the road - affecting many folks - for what a few did is nothing more than a harassment tactic.

Forest Service incident Commander Malcolm Jowers makes a career out of it.

Since they are meeting in Forest Service land, and have for years, it isn't a very successful career, is it?

Anyway, since you addressed this thread, I assumed you were talking to us.

Please note those are the words of other rainbows condemning the attack. These people in general are far less violent than your average sports arena crowd.

I realise that. Please note that the Amendment you quote only applies to peaceable gatherings, when idiots start throwing stones at people, it stops being peaceable.

Well I agree that the Constitution clearly states that the gubmint has no right to deny their gathering, however oddball to mainstream America it seems. And I can well believe that the USFS would like to make them jump through increasingly ridiculous and meaningless hoops in their quest to kick all humans off what used to be public lands. So I suppose that I should (and do actually) feel some satisfaction that they just do what they do and pretty much ignore the USFS bureaufascists, but really, the resulting dysentary can't be blamed on the gubmint, but on the fact that 20,000 people camping in the woods creates a lot of human waste, which will cause disease if not properly attended to. They can build a trench latrine, but you can't make people go there. People downstream from them (I'm refering to the gathering in Hotchkiss,CO a few years back)used that water for irrigating food crops and drinking. There was human waste all over the place.It was gross. With every freedom comes a responsibility, and IMO, they don't clean up after themselves very well.

the Forest Service...wants increasingly tight restrictions on public access to public land. Pretty soon no access will be allowed without a permit from the UN.

Exactly. Freepers are always complaining about restricted public land use. These rainbows do a lot of work to fight that. But to many here, finding them personally dislikable narrows their vision.

I guess to them its all about who you are, and what you look like, and principles be damned.

these people are nasty disgusting pigs, I'd probably be tempted to trot my horse over them just for fun.

Well, I'll be kind and say there's good and bad in every crowd. Rainbows are dirty and smelly and kind of annoying, bu they do respect freedom more than most people and they live it. And they are proficient at living outdoors as opposed to getting fat in front of the tv or loafing at a mall.

They're not afraid of doing something 'different'. I find that refreshing.

Please note that the Amendment you quote only applies to peaceable gatherings, when idiots start throwing stones at people, it stops being peaceable.

I agree, those who did it should be arrested.

Then again, I'm not much for guilt by association so I wouldn't roust the other thousands of rainbows for something a couple of dummies did.

That said these people are nasty disgusting pigs, I'd probably be tempted to trot my horse over them just for fun. If they want to assemble fine, then they need to either clean up after themselves or pay to have it done.

One might observe that shower facilities way out in the National Forests are far and few between. Besides, I kinda like the idea that a bunch of hairy, smelly types are giving a hard time to the Feds who want to kick the people (including the hairy smellies) off of our land to make it a nice private preserve for the Clintonista ecobureaucraps. In case you haven't noticed, the Feds have been closing roads, putting HUGE metal gates across access roads, using dozers to put big boulders on the roads, and generally making the National lands unaccessible to the people. I wonder why? Let's speculate.

1st, the big time marijuana growers can make big bribes (and by big I mean BIG) to the federal types to block access to the National forests. Then they can grow their pot in peace, no hikers get killed by growers, etc. That's bad for business.

2nd, this way the wealthy types can go hunt illegally. No witnesses. Nicely private hunting preserves for the politically connected.

3rd, the bureaucrats don't have to deal with lost hikers or spend time out on the trails dealing with real people. Instead they can stay in their comfortable offices and drink their coffee on the taxpayer dollar.

I'm sure there are more reasons than these....

the USFS would like to make them jump through increasingly ridiculous and meaningless hoops in their quest to kick all humans off what used to be public lands. So I suppose that I should (and do actually) feel some satisfaction that they just do what they do and pretty much ignore the USFS bureaufascists

Thank you, that in my opinion is the biggest issue here.

but really, the resulting dysentary can't be blamed on the gubmint

They try real hard to maintain sanitation. I believe you in that it hasn't always worked, but believe me, Macolm Jowers does everything he can to cause disintery outbreak by threatening to arrest trech diggers. That's just one of his antics from his bag of dirty tricks. I find such wanton disrespect for people's health by a public official to be a disgusting and repugnant abuse of power. The man is a pig and a thug.

Hippy-hating has been a time-honored tradition. It made the Baby Boomers what they are today. Hippies are usually unwilling to fight back, so they are easy to defeat. If you don't like someone, you can treat him however you want, right? That's an operative principle for all intents and purposes, in every society, by my lights. Show up at the Rainbow Gathering with something that they don't like -- say a haircut, clothes, a beer, store-bought tofu, or a gun -- and they'll enforce their own sensibilities.

This is not sarcasm, but only mere irony, freeeee.

If you don't like someone, you can treat him however you want, right?

Sure you can, but it's a sign of low character.

Show up at the Rainbow Gathering with something that they don't like -- say a haircut, clothes, a beer, store-bought tofu, or a gun -- and they'll enforce their own sensibilities.

You got me there. They aren't perfect, heck, they're light years from perfect. But I will say a positive attitude and a smile go a long way when you're a stranger in a strange land.

I agree. My best friend and his wife are part of this movement (not specifically Rainbow warriors), generally thought of as modern "hippies". I hang around with them quite often, and also with many of their friends. I was best man at their wedding. They are both prolife, and religious. But they are very environmentalist and pro freedom. I enjoy hanging out with these folks. They are unpretentious, fun, freedom-loving free spirits. Granted there are some far left socialist kooks in their midst, but most of them are anti-big government, and my friend is downright conservative, or at least libertarian on many issues (gun rights for example, even though he doesn't own a gun).

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.