Hassling the Rainbow

Hippies at the Rainbow Gathering - who if they played golf would be considered tourists - are getting citations for minor infractions like cracked windshields and loose dogs and are having to appear in federal court in Albuquerque 120 miles away.  Way to harsh the mellow. 

The Albuquerque Journal and the Santa Fe New Mexican cover the story that morphs into a tale of law enforcement overkill - 50 officers, 370 "incidents" and 120 citations among the 1500 gathered.  And the event hasn't even started yet. 

From the New Mexican:

Garrick Beck, a Santa Fe business owner and public-information volunteer for the Rainbows, said the citations were an excuse for the officers to search Rainbow family vehicles and "harass them." The Rainbow family has no official spokesperson or leader. Instead, it manages its gatherings through volunteers.

Beck said the tickets were handed out by a "rogue" group of Forest Service law-enforcement officers. According to some gatherers, he said, "this comes as a slap in the face after several months of successful cooperation between (Rainbow) volunteers and Forest Service resource officials to assure a safe and legal event."

I drove through Cuba twice this weekend.  Nary a hippy in sight but multiple law enforcement vehicles zooming up and down 550.  Rest assured that young men with guns in overpowered SUVs are protecting you with near maniacal fervor from people who talk about peace and sleep in the woods.   

Comments

[Inky Ink, Inc.]

People who talk about peace and sleep in the woods?!?!? Sounds pretty subversive to me!

[ABQ Bear]

Will have to wait until they leave. See whether they damaged, or did not damage our forest. Then ticket them.

[WanRey]

Such BS. Figured this would happen. NM is pretty lame in this aspect.

[scot]

ABQ Bear: The PR show of law enforcement almost certainly has nothing to do with protection of the forest, and everything to do with some perceived need to protect morality, and the decent, local, citizenry from these "degenerates".

[Quietfoot]

Mr. Bear,

If the damage you are talking about is something like, clear cutting forests, closing free flowing rivers or mountaintop removal, please, please, please, contact the forest service, and the corporate perpetrators. If you still think a few thousand bare foot children of God are going to ruin someplace you visit often, please return next season to see your forest vastly improved. Trash removal, underbrush clearing, identification and protection of natural resources are our history. I am not sure the cattle herders grazing on our forest lands go back and hand turn and seed when they pass through. Please see for yourself.

I've been to quite a few of these gatherings. Their stated purpose is "to pray for peace on this planet". For me personally, it is that and also a celebration of America and Freedom and our right to assemble peacefully as granted by the Constitution. I think it is no coincidence that the event culminates on the 4th of July. I'm a software architect by trade and while some might consider me a "Hippie", I don't think of myself as one. It saddens me that that so much effort is put into squelching the activities of a minority that is only trying to exercise its rights as Americans.