Fear and Terror at the Gathering
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We are here and alive near Yellowstone National Park today. We fled the Rainbow Gathering yesterday afternoon.
The stories I have to tell you!!
You will hold your breath, cry and laugh hysterically, but I need a day or two to process everything that has happened. Each day held so much excitement and drama that I could fill a book and speak of nothing but the last two weeks.
For today, while we rest and meditate on what we've been through, I need to get some information out.
I placed a call to the Municipal Judge on July 3rd to report the explosion of the terror tactics being employed by the Forest Service.
For any Family members who were witness or victim to any of the incidents at this years Wyoming Gathering, there will be contact information at the end of this post. Statements and video footage are being collected for the ACLU, Family attorneys, and other government organizations. If you have anything to share, please contact one of these individuals or organizations.
Sweet readers, today I am going to leave you with someone else's words while I put everything together in my head and make phone calls.
Abe Yonder writes:
Dear Editor,
I came here to the peace gathering from Georgia and have been enjoying it immensely. I have been thrilled by the vastness of Wyoming and the wide-open spaces, and the clear mountain air. You really do have the most beautiful land I have ever seen. The altitude has made me slow down a bit, but still, it is refreshing--and the beautifully rugged snow capped mountains!
Many things have surprised me about this gathering; the abundance of good food and fresh water, feasting in the wilderness, children happily playing, the music and entertainment. This is the greatest show on earth and it is totally free! The councils are amazing; everyone, anyone, even the children, have a voice in council and are being listened to. It reminds me of a Bible prophecy--"A little child shall lead them"--and this prophecy comes with a promise --"They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain!" I have seen this prophecy fulfilled before my own eyes! But the main thing that amazes me is how peaceful and beautiful it really is with s so many people from so many different places and different walks of life. It is amazing to see this many people living in the woods in perfect harmony without fighting or violence.
The only violence I have witnessed was yesterday when I walked back to the Bus Village parking lot. A gray-haired man was dragged from his car and beaten by law enforcement in front of horrified onlookers.
The elderly gentleman was slammed to the ground and kicked with his face in the dirt. He was tazed, handcuffed, and then a tazer-gun was put to his neck and fired point blank. The man appeared to be more than half dead as they loaded him up and took him away.
I asked what had this man done and was told that he had refused to give his ID and consent to a search of his vehicle. I asked to know who are these monsters that can so blatantly violate a man's civil rights in front of a crowd of eyewitnesses and get away with it. No one seems to know.
After the arrest this group of uniformed thugs walked through the Bus Village parking lot with guns drawn as if looking for someone else to abuse. They are not local police. Where the come from I do not know, what they are doing here is not clear.
They are wearing uniforms and driving law enforcement vehicles and K9 units through the Gathering, but they are not being supportive, peaceful or helpful, and it seems to me that their only mission here is to seek out and give tickets to minor law violators and bully the people who are peacefully gathering in this beautiful place. They are most certainly not here as peace keepers or to help this peacefully assembly in anyway.
What I saw in not an isolated incident; they are here in record number, searching people and vehicles, forcing occupants on the ground, dumping out the contents of their packs and supplies, going through kitchens and emptying out their spices, sugar, oatmeal and other containers, dumping everything on the ground, looking for anything they can arrest them for and even searching small children!
Why does gathering in the National Forest on Independence Day to pray for peace present such a threat?
Why have I not seen even one news reporter out here for what must be the biggest event ever to happen in these woods since Jim Bridger swatted his first mosquito?
I would like the local media to come out and get to know and experience this most amazing of all gatherings, and to interview and get personal stories of people who are here, to find out who these law enforcement personnel are and what they are being paid to do.
I am a man in my sixties and I have never seen such an outright abuse of power in front of so many people.
It would take a person from the press to get this information out; to expose these atrocities that are being perpetrated here in the name of law enforcement, and if there is a gag order on the local media it would be good to report that too.
May God bless you with Liberty and Justice for all,
Abe Yonder
yonder@yonderfamily.org
If you witnessed any part of the police action at the 2008 Family Gathering, the ACLU is collecting statements over the next two weeks, and asks that you call the collect at 307-637-4565.
Other contact information will be added shortly. PLEASE check back and PLEASE use this information. We must come together as a people and stand up for our rights. We must flex our rights and power as free people to affect change in this world so that this sort of thing cannot happen. It is up to us to stand up for our selves and our children. No one else can or will.
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. ~ Margaret Mead
Is this not exactly what the Rainbow Family Gathering is about? Let us, please, not be scattered and confused by the abuse, but rather, let it strengthen our resolve and our bond.
Loving you!
The stories I have to tell you!!
You will hold your breath, cry and laugh hysterically, but I need a day or two to process everything that has happened. Each day held so much excitement and drama that I could fill a book and speak of nothing but the last two weeks.
For today, while we rest and meditate on what we've been through, I need to get some information out.
I placed a call to the Municipal Judge on July 3rd to report the explosion of the terror tactics being employed by the Forest Service.
For any Family members who were witness or victim to any of the incidents at this years Wyoming Gathering, there will be contact information at the end of this post. Statements and video footage are being collected for the ACLU, Family attorneys, and other government organizations. If you have anything to share, please contact one of these individuals or organizations.
Sweet readers, today I am going to leave you with someone else's words while I put everything together in my head and make phone calls.
Abe Yonder writes:
Dear Editor,
I came here to the peace gathering from Georgia and have been enjoying it immensely. I have been thrilled by the vastness of Wyoming and the wide-open spaces, and the clear mountain air. You really do have the most beautiful land I have ever seen. The altitude has made me slow down a bit, but still, it is refreshing--and the beautifully rugged snow capped mountains!
Many things have surprised me about this gathering; the abundance of good food and fresh water, feasting in the wilderness, children happily playing, the music and entertainment. This is the greatest show on earth and it is totally free! The councils are amazing; everyone, anyone, even the children, have a voice in council and are being listened to. It reminds me of a Bible prophecy--"A little child shall lead them"--and this prophecy comes with a promise --"They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain!" I have seen this prophecy fulfilled before my own eyes! But the main thing that amazes me is how peaceful and beautiful it really is with s so many people from so many different places and different walks of life. It is amazing to see this many people living in the woods in perfect harmony without fighting or violence.
The only violence I have witnessed was yesterday when I walked back to the Bus Village parking lot. A gray-haired man was dragged from his car and beaten by law enforcement in front of horrified onlookers.
The elderly gentleman was slammed to the ground and kicked with his face in the dirt. He was tazed, handcuffed, and then a tazer-gun was put to his neck and fired point blank. The man appeared to be more than half dead as they loaded him up and took him away.
I asked what had this man done and was told that he had refused to give his ID and consent to a search of his vehicle. I asked to know who are these monsters that can so blatantly violate a man's civil rights in front of a crowd of eyewitnesses and get away with it. No one seems to know.
After the arrest this group of uniformed thugs walked through the Bus Village parking lot with guns drawn as if looking for someone else to abuse. They are not local police. Where the come from I do not know, what they are doing here is not clear.
They are wearing uniforms and driving law enforcement vehicles and K9 units through the Gathering, but they are not being supportive, peaceful or helpful, and it seems to me that their only mission here is to seek out and give tickets to minor law violators and bully the people who are peacefully gathering in this beautiful place. They are most certainly not here as peace keepers or to help this peacefully assembly in anyway.
What I saw in not an isolated incident; they are here in record number, searching people and vehicles, forcing occupants on the ground, dumping out the contents of their packs and supplies, going through kitchens and emptying out their spices, sugar, oatmeal and other containers, dumping everything on the ground, looking for anything they can arrest them for and even searching small children!
Why does gathering in the National Forest on Independence Day to pray for peace present such a threat?
Why have I not seen even one news reporter out here for what must be the biggest event ever to happen in these woods since Jim Bridger swatted his first mosquito?
I would like the local media to come out and get to know and experience this most amazing of all gatherings, and to interview and get personal stories of people who are here, to find out who these law enforcement personnel are and what they are being paid to do.
I am a man in my sixties and I have never seen such an outright abuse of power in front of so many people.
It would take a person from the press to get this information out; to expose these atrocities that are being perpetrated here in the name of law enforcement, and if there is a gag order on the local media it would be good to report that too.
May God bless you with Liberty and Justice for all,
Abe Yonder
yonder@yonderfamily.org
If you witnessed any part of the police action at the 2008 Family Gathering, the ACLU is collecting statements over the next two weeks, and asks that you call the collect at 307-637-4565.
Other contact information will be added shortly. PLEASE check back and PLEASE use this information. We must come together as a people and stand up for our rights. We must flex our rights and power as free people to affect change in this world so that this sort of thing cannot happen. It is up to us to stand up for our selves and our children. No one else can or will.
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. ~ Margaret Mead
Is this not exactly what the Rainbow Family Gathering is about? Let us, please, not be scattered and confused by the abuse, but rather, let it strengthen our resolve and our bond.
Loving you!
Posts
5 comments:
Wow, sounds like an awful experience. This makes me soooo angry! Can't wait for a more general description of what you guys saw.
Pics would also be helpful, because I suspect that while some horrible things happened, amazing, wonderful things happened as well.
Take care,
J
http://adventuresinvoluntarysimplicity.blogspot.com/
For some context:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1SL58BHBSc
J
http://adventuresinvoluntarysimplicity.blogspot.com/
Earlier today, before reading this post, I read an old Ed Abbey essay about similar events between police/rangers and hippies at 2 AM in Yosemite in July, 1970. The country's getting older, but definitely no wiser.
That is incredibly frustrating. I wish I could have an incredible amount of patriotism for my country, but more and more, it's just gotten worse, not better. I'm not quite the hippie guy, but I think our freedom of assembly needs to be enforced with great fervor. If you can't all meet and camp in our National Parks and enjoy like minded people for a few weeks in America without hassle, then America is not at all the country we pretend it is.
I am glad you guys are safe and sound, and sad yet again, our government can't find better use of it's resources.
This reminds me (oddly?) of the time that Ronald Reagan teargas'd a large group of students at a UC-Berkeley rally in 1969. His ultra-conservative supporters loved it, but everyone else seemed shocked that he sent helicopter gunships against college students, then blocked their exit by gasmask-wearing National Guardsmen.
Search the web for "ronald reagan" "tear gas" to see for yourselves.
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