From: <Amanda.Lockwood@usda.gov>
To: <agr@agr.welcomehome.org>;
<Mark.Rey@usda.gov>
Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2008 2:50 PM
Subject: Letter
Greetings!
Attached you will find the letter with suggested changes from yesterdays conference call. With everyone's agreement, Under Secretary Rey will send the letter out on letterhead this Friday.
If you have any comments or questions, please me at your earliest opportunity.[sic]
Thank you,
--Amanda
As we prepare for the 2008 Annual Rainbow Family Gathering in Wyoming, several Gathers[sic] have suggested that it would be helpful to again clarify the Forest Service's approach to the 2008 Gathering:
The Agency's authority to require group use permits is in place and has been upheld by the Courts. However, the Forest Service does have discretion with respect to the enforcement of this authority. Pursuant to that discretion and a previously negotiated protocol recognizing the unique nature of the Rainbow Family, we will implement the following process to facilitate a Gathering in accordance with the Forest Service Regulations:
MARK REY
Click here to read 1,063K PDF Version.
I have had pictures of LEOs in Colorado on this web site for a long time, under Old News/Bad News from Colorado Rainbow gathering.
Don's letter asking for pictures
Subject: Need Photos and Videos of Police Actions
Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2007 07:08:39 -0800 (PST)
From: Don E <don@hempery.com>
Organization: http://groups.google.com
Newsgroups: alt.gathering.rainbow
Next week several of us are going to meet with Undersecretary of Agriculture Mark Rey and Assistant Director of Law Enforcement and Investigations, John Twiss in Washington, DC. I want to have a PowerPoint presentation of the police tactics at our gatherings as a way of bringing the reality we face directly to the undersecretary. He needs to understand that at the same time he is doing his best to find a reasonable accomidation for our family gathering, the LEOs are totally interfering and trying to destroy our ability to gather. So I need photos and videos to prove my point.I am looking for anything from the past three years that shows the extent of the police harrassment we have been facing. I have a lot that I have taken on my own, but I know much more exists out there. Now is the time to come forward. If you have good photos of any of the police harrasment, please forward them to me as quickly as possible.
Don E Wirtshafter
Forest Service says 'mob' attacked officers; campers say officers pointed guns at children
U.S. Forest Service officers pointed weapons at children and fired rubber bullets and pepper spray balls at Rainbow Family members while making arrests Thursday evening, according to witnesses.
"They were so violent, like dogs," Robert Parker told reporter Deborah
Stevens of the libertarian-oriented, Round Rock, Texas-based
We the People Radio Network
after the incident.
Story: (with lot's of comments)
Arrest leads to Rainbow Riot
(Casper Star Tribune)
I think this is just another copy of the same story
Story:
Arrest leads to Rainbow Riot
(Jackson Hole Star Tribune)
Story :
Rainbow Family Attacked With Pepper Spray And Rubber Bullets By FEDS
(Former Democrat Blog)
The FSEEE has a page with quite a few links to more stories
Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics
Here's a story with pictures, including one captioned
CALM Nurse Practicioner Jane treats a girl from Hawaii who has an infected ankle. Medical treatment is free in the Rainbow camp. Each of these camps have people who generously donate supplies, money, time and expertise to help supply these medical stations at the Rainbow gatherings every year. For some of these people, this is the only medical attention they will receive all year.Visit to the Rainbow Camp
Several web sites say something like
U.S. Sen. John Barrasso slammed the U.S. Department of Agriculture Thursday, calling the Forest Service's management of this year's Rainbow Family gathering "unacceptable."This one seems to have the best description of what the Senator actually said. It's not friendly to the Rainbow.
the report by the usfs in 1991 can be held in sharp contrast to the misrepresentation of facts that were rampantly made by several of the leo officials at this year's gathering.another email questions the reporting of the "rock throwing incident". i was not in kid village when the incident occurred, but i did see the gaggle of leos strutting across the meadow on an obvious "mission".
i also spoke with upset parents and observed the reactions of terrified children who witnessed the violent behavior of the leos. i also treated several people who were injured. this included people who needed pepper spray washed out of their eyes, people who were shot multiple times who had huge welts all over their bodies, and a man who had an allergic reaction to the pepper spray so intense that he stopped breathing three times. now that was scary. at first several of us did not think that he would make it--fortunately he stabilized.
the people who were shot were primarily the shanta sena who were standing between the cops and a bunch of upset parents, trying to calm the crowd. no one that i spoke to saw anyone throw rocks or raise sticks. i have no doubt that several people might have expressed threatening gestures toward the leos. but the mob of rainbows simply never happened.
the leos really blew their wad on that one. they were so exposed by their behavior, that they went into retreat and were no longer seen much on site. for the first time in many years, their presence was not seen during the fourth. they did continue to hang out on the roads and stop cars for not using their left turn signal to turn into a parking area in the middle of nowhere. once they stopped a car they said they had 'probable cause' to search a vehicle and handed out $150 fines with manditory court appearances for this trival and questionable infraction of good driving habits.
ignore all rumors and all newspaper articles where rainbows are not quoted along with the incident command team.
peace.
Family,
I'm back in Massachusetts after the adventure out west where Forest Service law enforcement people came into the gathering aggressively. They were upset that the huge drummers fire pit was dug too deep and wanted it filled in.
When no one filled the pit in, they aggressively began to intimidate campers by walking dogs through the gathering and driving 4 wheelers through the gathering. At the middle bus village and parking, law enforcement would sit in cars behind trees and look for people to turn into the parking lot. If a person didn't use their blinkers, or turn signal, they were followed and their vehicle was searched.
The incident at kiddy village upset many gatherers on the land.
Shots from a "bean bag" riot type gun were fired at a brother in the village. Many of us at main circle heard and saw that their was a commotion in the area of kiddy village just after supper circle on Thursday the third of July. Some folks ran in that direction. Some folks apparently wanted to and did Ohm circle the Leo's. Plunker asked for a focus at Main circle and eloquently pointed out that this could be frightening to the Leo's and could incite a more violent reactions from them and that this would not be a good response. A few younger inexperienced brothers were stired up and wanted to retaliate in a less than peaceful manner. Thanks to the words of Plunker for peace, and in support of the higher aspirations of our brothers and sisters for peace most remained peaceful. Plunker pointed out that if someone were to retaliate violently, (and I paraphrase) that that person was either an agent provocateur, a hypocrite or an ASS HOLE. The fire pit remained. I did not see Leo's at main circle or at the kitchens I visited on the 4th or the 5th.
The gathering was peaceful with the exception of a place called "death camp", someone there broke someone's camera and this camp was generally not practicing the spirit of peace. They fought among themselves mostly, it seemed to me. There was no riot. The forest service police were not friendly at all and were usually aggressive. To view some of the situation, go here:
The gathering, sans the cops, was as beautiful as one could imagine as was the mountain meadow site. Very different from the last Wyoming as it was more lush and green. The herb walk with Frank, Greenlight and 7th Song was enlightening and I had a great time jamming in the magic hat band and at Kiddyvillage and Green and Purple Barf with the likes of Johny Banjo and others. Folks at the national are aware of the upcoming nerf gathering and many say they are planning to come. My favorite kitchens, Instant Soup, Jerusalem, kiddy village and there was a fun brunch at Green & Purple Barf on the fifth. I envy Jeff as he got to ride a beautiful horse one afternoon in the main meadow.
News stories need to be based on reporting, not stenography.
That didn't deter the ... Associated Press's network of underpaid punch-clock stringers from running a discredited official narrative, one that in this case appears to have been written by criminals, as the unquestioned truth. Unfortunately this is common practice.
The story here, of course, is much bigger than the Rainbows, the Kiddie Village police riot, the Associated Press, or the Buffalo News. It's a much more important story about honesty, reality, and bearing witness. It's about how more and more, as journalists turn their backs on their collective responsibilities, we're becoming a society ruled by lies and misinformation. We now must add to our ever growing list of things for which to struggle the demand for coherent, honest narratives of reality, for the creation of an accurate documentation of the events of the day.We knew the revolution would not be televised, but don't count on reading about it in the newspaper either.
this is the best report i have found on the assault on kiddie village. it was written by mike nimon. i spent quite a bit of time with him at the gathering and i would trust his perspective.at the bottom of the article you will find my report on what i saw, placed into the context of health and safety.
Getting a Grip
Weirdos Riot: What's wrong with the Buffalo News?
by Michael I. Niman
S. Jane Albert, MS, RN-C, FNP
Boston, Ma
I was a witness to the aftermath of the July 3 incident at kiddie village. I write this as a health care professional. I am a family nurse practitioner with 20 years of experience providing health care at Rainbow Gatherings. In my many years of dealing with various health care situations, I have never seen nor ever expected to see a situation where young children would have been placed at risk by officers whose sworn duty is to protect those incapable of protecting themselves.At the time of the incident I was at CALM--the Center for Alternative Living Medicine--the medical unit at the Gathering. I was monitoring a radio at the time and heard the various announcements and pleas for assistance. Since I am a trained street medic as well as a nurse practitioner, I chose to wait for clarity before rushing to the scene. Once I had a sense of what medical supplies might be needed, I gathering them up and walked the five minutes to Kiddie Village along with other CALM crew.
What I found there was total chaos. Children were crying and needed special attention. Parents were upset and angry. There was an acrid stench in the air. Several people had multiple welts on their bodies and were in pain after being hit with pellets. Multiple people needed their eyes flushed due to pepper spray irritant. I spent the next few hours administering health care to the victims. In the worst case, a man with a history of asthma had an allergic reaction to the pepper spray and actually went into respiratory arrest. We had to work on him for over an hour before he was medically stable. At one point, several of us were unsure if he would make it.
To me, the incident in kiddie village brings home the point that the Incident Command Team (ict) uses a very poor policing style at best. As one who has had to deal with crazed people for years at Gatherings, it is obvious that when dealing with a volatile person or situation, it is important to do all you can to decrease the possibility of creating more chaos. What ever you do, you should try to stay away from any action which could potentially frighten children and upset their parents and other caregivers. I am reminded of a situation which occurred in kiddie village at the 1999 Pennsylvanna Gathering. There was a woman camped there with a long history of mental illness. For several days I had been getting reports that there was a concern that she was beginning to decompensate. I was asked to go over to kiddie village to evaluate the situation. When I got there she was playing with knives and threatening to hurt herself and potentially anyone who tried to take her knife away. A physician and I assessed her and decided that, indeed, she was potentially dangerous and clearly psychotic and that she needed to be removed and taken to a hospital for evaluation.
The problem was that she was in kiddie village and to confiscate the knife and subdue her so that we could get her to the hospital, would probably require us to physically restrain her. We knew that such an action would be upsetting and could easily frighten the young children camped in the area. We had discussions with various folks at kiddie village as to how we could extricate her in a non-threatening manner. We had long strategy conversations with various shanta sena. Had we been anywhere else in the gathering, the whole process of removing the knife and restraining her might have taken an hour or so. But because of our concern for how our actions might effect the young children, it took us hours and hours for us to gently coax her out of kiddie village so that we could get her to a medical facility.
It would seem to me that if a bunch of volunteer medical professionals and shanta sena were able to understand and respect the volatility of apprehending someone in the environment of kiddie village, then it would seem that highly skilled government agents, whose main responsibility should be to safely maintain peace and order, should also understand that concept as well.
That is, unless.....
This message is from the usenet side of AGR. It was posted by a reliable source.
Please forward to your lists and friends and have them bring fruit and chocolate to
help keep people moving.
– – – – –
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.
NY Rainbow P.O. Box 1554 New York, NY 10009 www.nyrainbow.org lightline: 212-560-7111 nyrainbowfamily@aol.com ny.rainbowfamily@verizon.net nyrainbow@nyrainbow.org WE LOVE YOU!
So the three people arrested have their court dates coming up and we are especially looking for a video that was taken up on the road as the cops were amassing and a woman was yelling at them.I have spoken to one person who saw it at Kid Village right after the incident was over, but he does not know whose video it was or what became of it.
I have heard second hand that someone else saw it and it showed the woman being pepper sprayed.
If we don't turn up this video and/or witnesses of this portion of the event, a single mom could be sent to jail. Please pass this info on to everyone you can think of. If you have info, you can send it directly to the usual Rainbow legal suspects or you can send what you have to me and I will forward it on.
Let's not allow our family to go to jail. United we stand ....
Love, Karin http://www.karinzirk.com
|
|
|