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5 arrested in Rainbow Family clash with feds About 400 members of the Rainbow Family threw rocks and sticks at 10 federal officers as they tried to arrest a member of the group, the U.S. Forest Service said Friday. Five members of the group were arrested and one officer was slightly injured. A government vehicle was also damaged. Ten Forest Service officers were patrolling the main meadow of the Rainbow Family's camping area Thursday night and apprehended one person described as being uncooperative, Rita Vollmer, spokeswoman for the U.S. Forest Service, said in a statement Friday. "Officers began to leave the gathering site with the subject and were circled by more Rainbow participants that began to physically interfere," Vollmer said. About 400 Rainbows surrounded the officers trying to leave, she said. "The mob began to advance, throwing sticks and rocks at the officers," Vollmer said....What can we learn from this? First, you and 400 of your compadres can surround and threaten Forest Service law enforcement, and it's no sweat. Second, you can throw rocks and sticks at them, no problem. Third, whatever you do, don't threaten them with a pair of bridal reins or you will be charged for assault with a deadly weapon. Don't believe me? Just as rancher Kit Laney who did five months in the federal pen. How many Rainbow Family member do you think will wind up in the federal pen?
ACLU plans to investigate Rainbow Family treatment The American Civil Liberties Union said Saturday that it plans to investigate the actions of federal law enforcers who arrested five Rainbow Family members in western Wyoming during their annual gathering. The U.S. Forest Service says a mob of about 400 members of the Rainbow Family, a group of hippie types and eccentrics who camp on public land every year, threw rocks and sticks at Forest Service officers who tried to arrest a member of the group. Up to 60 federal and local law enforcers responded, Forest Service officials say, and fired "pepper balls" — similar to paint balls but containing a pepper solution — at the crowd to control it. As many as 7,000 members of the Rainbow Family camped out this year on Forest Service land near the Big Sandy Reservoir. The group holds a weeklong gathering on public land in a different area each year. The Rainbows and federal officers have clashed before, and in 1998, the Forest Service established a national response team to deal with the group. The ACLU plans to accept collect calls from Rainbow Family members for the next two weeks to hear their version of events, Linda Burt, executive director of Wyoming's ACLU, said Saturday....
Rainbow gathering inspires odd jurisprudence More than 100 participants in the annual Rainbow Family of Living Light "Gathering of the Tribes" near Big Sandy made appearances at a temporary federal court at the fire station here this week. The U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management had issued numerous citations and warnings, ranging from traffic violations to drug possession, during the week before the event semi-officially began Tuesday. Chief U.S. District Judge William Downes signed the unusual order to create the temporary courtroom because the closest federal courtrooms to the gathering are in Green River, Lander and Jackson, he said Thursday. Farson was chosen because it is close to the gathering and because it imposed the least inconvenience to law enforcement and the Rainbow gathering participants, Downes said. "We sent the magistrate judges to them." This marked the first time in Downes' nine-year tenure that he has signed an order to create a temporary court, he said. "But it was clearly appropriate here." The court will remain as long as Rainbow gathering participants are in the area, he said....