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 [www.wtprn.com] after the incident.
"People yelled at them, 'You're shooting children,'" Parker said during an interview on the network's "Rule of Law Show."
About 7,000 people have arrived at the gathering near Big Sandy in the Wind River Mountains for the annual Gathering of the Tribes, a seven-day event of fellowship, partying including illicit drug use, praying, and living on the land.
They camp on Forest Service land around the country every year, but the Rainbow family's nonhierarchical methods -- no one can speak for the Rainbows, much less sign a land use permit -- often have stymied their relationships.
But rarely do the tensions escalate into violence.
The Forest Service's Incident Command Team in Rock Springs issued a press release Friday morning, saying officers were patrolling the main meadow of the gathering Thursday evening when they contacted a man who fled and was later caught. Another Rainbow was detained for physically interfering.
Officers began to leave the area with the subjects and were circled by Rainbow participants, according to the news release from Rita Vollmer of the Incident Command Team.
Ten officers were escorting the detained subjects when about 400 Rainbows surrounded the squad, and more officers were requested, according to the news release.
"The mob began to advance, throwing sticks and rocks at the officers. Crowd control tactics were used to keep moving through the group of Rainbows," the news release said.
Other law enforcement agencies were called to the scene, the news release said.
Officers made five arrests; one officer suffered minor injuries and was cleared by a local hospital; and a government vehicle sustained damage, the news release said.
"This lawless behavior is unacceptable and we will not tolerate it," said John Twiss, Forest Service director of law enforcement. "The safety of our employees, public and Rainbow participants is our number one priority, and we will continue to protect everyone on the national forest."
Vollmer of the Forest Service Incident Management Team did not return calls requesting comment Friday.
Rainbow Family members' accounts told a different story.
One member who identified himself only as "Ryan" told Stevens he was with his two children in his tent at the Rainbows' Kid Village north of the main meadow where the major prayer circles and dinners are held.
One of the 10 officers pointed a pepper spray gun at him and his children, he said. His girlfriend was using the latrine outside when four officers came to her and asked if she was smoking marijuana.
The officers then ran through the Kid Village and through its kitchen, and chaos erupted, he said.
Other witnesses recounted seeing about 10 officers of the Forest Service's incident command team drag an older man from the woods near the Kid Village, according to interviews by Stevens.
A woman in the village told the officers to take their guns out of the Kid Village. An officer threw that woman to the ground and pulled her head back by her hair while she was being handcuffed, one Rainbow named Rick told Stevens.
"I got out and yelled, 'what the f--- are you doing?'" Rick said. "That got it started."
The officers backed up in a defensive position, and some used their Tasers on Rainbows, he said.
Rainbows called for their crisis management team, and Rainbow family elders urged the crowd to remain calm, he said. However, the crowd kept moving, and the Forest Service officers began randomly spraying the crowd with pepper spray bullets.
The officers, with their two suspects in custody, found an exit trail from the main meadow, and the peacekeepers urged the crowd to let them go, he said.
"These people deliberately, for hours, were aggressively working the camp over and working the people over," Ryan said. "They chose the kiddie village -- the one place, the kids, to take their stand and create a riot, and I bought into it. ... They were looking for an excuse to do some damage to us."
Ryan's partner, Feather, told Stevens she was pepper-sprayed, and saw another Rainbow with welts all over his body.
Feather also recounted seeing a couple with a young child and an infant who had just emerged from the woods and didn't know what was happening.
The couple asked the officers what was going on, and the officers pointed their guns at the children. The officers walked away, but one turned around and pointed his rifle at the baby, she told Stevens.
Robert Kinn of Afton told the Casper Star-Tribune in an interview Friday that he and his family had been camping and drove to Big Sandy because they'd never been to a gathering.
Forest Service officers gave Kinn a citation and a $175 ticket for allowing someone to ride on his vehicle's trailer, and said the officers weren't polite. "I was scared, was harassed."
Kinn and his family went to the main circle for dinner, when they heard people yelling about needing help to put out a fire in the Kid Village.
About 10 minutes later, people came back to tell the main circle the fire was over, and the crowd resumed eating, he said.
One of the senior Rainbows gathered the crowd and explained the clash with the Forest Service, and another man showed where rubber bullets hit him in the stomach, Kinn said.
Kinn and his family drove home that night, he said.
Reach Tom Morton at (307) 266-0616, or at Tom.Morton@trib.com.
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Comments to this story.
craig wrote on Jul 5, 2008 9:23 AM:
As a first time rainbow gathering attendee I was standing on a large boulder observing the activities of the croud, when in front of me a man wearing dress slacks and shirt,carrying a large video type camera began filming the scene. thats when I heard in the distance (Fire) (fire) words shouted, then (dont run) as I obseved people running at the far end of meadow. The man who was filming then put his camera away and diasapeared into the trees.
DO YOU SUPPOSE HE HAD BEEN SENT IN IN ADVANCE TO FILM CROWDS REACTION?
Thirty minutes later having entered kid camp parents and children were sitting eating dinner with no signs of disorder.
I did speak with one woman who said she had been pepper sprayed, and the cops were peper spraying any one who got in thier way.
Driving out that evening we were subgected to a road block with lights shining our faces and car visually searched. we then stoped and asked other bystanders who were prevented from driving into area what was going on and they told us a riot had taken place.
( IF A RIOT TOOK PLACE IT WAS CARFULLY ORCHESTRATED BY THE LAW ENFORMENT AGENCYS)
Craig L Newman "
wyoman wrote on Jul 5, 2008 9:28 AM:
Dewd wrote on Jul 5, 2008 9:51 AM:
Ron wrote on Jul 5, 2008 10:29 AM:
Maybe the Rainbow bums ought to think about doing this reclamation work themselves, since they decided to disrupt others' plans to do the work which would help wildlife migration routes. Of course actual work would interrupt their loser bum plans of getting stoned in the woods, instead of doing anything useful to society, wildlife and the land.
Rainbow bums, try the Redwood forests of California next time. Maybe they'll put up with your idiocy. "
LaramieFran wrote on Jul 5, 2008 11:33 AM:
Zulu wrote on Jul 5, 2008 11:51 AM:
RAINBOWS, have your parties, but grow up..you point a critical finger at the LEO's doing their jobs, but refuse to accept that your members are responsible for all the "terror" inflicted upon the children...you endangered the children and fellow members by your self ingraciating acts to be the hippy-hero! Nice PR job loosers. To the rest of the Rainbows, thanks for trying to stop your own members and for trying to hold another peaceful event, be safe and have fun. "
MC wrote on Jul 5, 2008 1:56 PM:
Lamp Lighter wrote on Jul 5, 2008 1:58 PM:
DoubleStandard wrote on Jul 5, 2008 3:05 PM:
Mom wrote on Jul 5, 2008 3:12 PM:
What would you do if someone held a gun on a baby? I don't know about you but if all I had was a rock I'd throw it. "
LaramieFran wrote on Jul 5, 2008 3:31 PM:
wyomingite wrote on Jul 5, 2008 4:37 PM:
In Awe and Royally TICKED OFF wrote on Jul 5, 2008 4:44 PM:
The boy-scouts aren't the only ones suffering from the rainbows presence. The girl scouts have a camp planned next weekend and have had several drop out because of all of the problems the rainbows have been causing other campers. Parents don't feel comfortable sending their kids out within a 100 mile radius of these rainbows.
How are these Rainbows allowed to get away with all that they do? If any person, not of the rainbow family, went into a grocery store and ate the food IN THE STORE and didn't pay for it, they'd be arrested. But the rainbows can go into a store, eat the food, urinate on the food, streak through the store, and they are only asked to leave. Oh but NOT in hand cuffs. No no no.
Rainbows can go camp out on any federal land they choose and not pay fees, but we can't. We get kicked out. And fined. What makes these rainbows so special? Why aren't they being stopped? Why can't our government grow a pair and do something about these so-called peaceful tree-huggers? If they are so peaceful, then why do we always hear about the fights and the drug use and the things mentioned above? I don't care if it's just a few that give the rest of them a bad name. It's those few who make life a living hell for the rest of us when they're around.
The oil-field workers around Pinedale have been warned that if any rainbow idiots come into the field they are to call the sheriff. The workers can't defend themselves against the rainbows because they can't give the rainbows any reason for a lawsuit. If an average civilian who is not an oil-field employee comes into the field and tries to walk on to a lease, that person can and will be removed by any means necessary because of safety reasons. But heaven forbid a rainbow be told to leave. Oil field workers have been instructed to LEAVE their lease and let the local police deal with it. Just because these gross, filthy rainbows choose to live the way they do, doesn't mean that they can mess with those of us who CHOoSE to live in houses and take showers every day. Just because we CHoOSE to work to pay our bills. Because we CHOoSE to come by the finer things in life the HONEST way; by paying for them and not stealing them. Why is it that we are letting these people take things away from us?
GO AWAY RAINBOWS. YOU ARE NOT WANTED HERE. "
Shepherd wrote on Jul 5, 2008 6:32 PM:
Peace wrote on Jul 5, 2008 6:53 PM:
Rainbow Hawk wrote on Jul 5, 2008 8:22 PM:
Bill of Rights
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
The permit was issued in 1776 and in fact is THEE HIGHEST LAW OF THE LAND. Rainbow Gathering are an excercise in Free Speech, for many attending they excercise their religious beliefs (orthadox or not), they are in fact a peaceful assembly without being attacked by those who in fact violate their 1st Amendment Rights and indeed they redress the government for grievances. Of course free press also attend.
Any other law or rule which is in violation of the Constitution is, in fact, null and void on the face of it. Any person or agency which violates the Constitution is committing nothing short of High Treason.
So just who are the law breakers in this case? That is obvious to a duck. The Bush neo-nazi enforcement team.
Anyone who wants to quote the law better know it and the Constitution is the place to start for it is the highest law of the land.
What official of the U.S. Government would point their guns at children one ask? Try the Jackboots in Iraq who are responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths, most being innnocent women, children and the elderly.
These people who attacked the Rainbow Gathering are a disgrace to everything that my family members have died for in defending the country from people just like them. "
dylan r. wrote on Jul 5, 2008 8:33 PM:
Jim wrote on Jul 5, 2008 10:10 PM:
I have to ask this though if they have the right to assemble against National Forest policy, then do locals have the right to break NPS rules and peaceably assemble in Yellowstone in the Winter with more snowmobiles than allowed by the quota? "
WY Native wrote on Jul 5, 2008 11:45 PM:
redneck wrote on Jul 5, 2008 11:58 PM:
Royally Ticked offRE Dylan R wrote on Jul 6, 2008 12:18 PM:
The butchers in the meat departments at all of the surrounding grocers including Rock Springs, Evanston, Pinedale, Jackson and the Star Valley area are sick and tired of being approached by you guys begging for free meat. If you dispute this, put a call in and find out for yourself.
You talk about the law enforcement teams "harassing" your people for no reason. Law enforcement goes on high alert when you come around because of all of the no-good doers that give the hand full of good doers a bad name. I agree that there is stereo typing involved, but like you said, you do have that with EVERY group. There are far more problems with the rainbows than any group of "angry rednecks." If a drunk Wyomingite is caught urinating in a parking lot in the middle of the night, chances are he'll admit that it was a stupid thing to do and accept the punishment that is passed down to him. (or her.) When these "family members" of yours were caught urinating IN a store ON food, their response was laughter and their words were "we were just watering them for you." I was there and witnessed this and you don't have the right to dismiss me. You have no right to tell me that my opinion of your people is wrong. It is what it is; MY OPINION. Deal with it. If you want to change my opinion, then start following the same laws that the rest of us have to abide by.
What I am saying is that you don't deserve special treatment over those of us who do follow the laws.
If I take my family out on a camping trip to get away from the hassles of the world and be closer to nature, I still have to pay the appropriate fees and gain appropriate permits. It doesn't matter if I'm going up to the mountains to be closer to God, I still have to pay those fees. "
Hal wrote on Jul 6, 2008 4:49 PM:
Zulu, if the feds had not come into the gathering with various weapons deployed, this incident would never have happened. You do not know if or how an agent was injured and a vehicle damaged. In any case, neither thing would have happened if the feds had not stormed the rainbow gathering. The feds purposely planned and set into motion the events that caused this entire incident to take place. They are called the ICT or Incident Command Team for a reason. If there is no incident, they are not needed. So, no incidents, no job and no way to justify their little federal bullying organization. Unless of course an incident can be created! Then they get the chance to do their thing. And with a handful of federal government sell outs like you around, they feel somewhat supported and justified in carrying out these illegal police state tactics against other American citizens, that just so happen to have rights the same as you.
People like Zulu, Ron, Wy Native, Wyomingite, In Awe and MC are a disgrace to the rugged individualism of Wyoming, and you are the cowards that fuel the engine of federal tyranny over all Americans including yourselves. You're just to d..m stupid to realize this. Fortunately you are badly outnumbered. And yes they do point their weapons at unarmed U.S. citizens including women and children. If you don't believe this you are ignorant beyond belief. There is a woman who could confirm this for you, but she is dead and buried in her grave after being shot to death by a FEDERAL agent sniper in Idaho some several years ago as she was holding her baby in her arms out on her front porch UNARMED!!! This FEDERAL agent, nor any of the other federal agents present at Ruby Ridge at the time of this murder were under no hostile fire, but this unarmed mother was just to good of a target to pass up. The FEDERAL agent of course was acquitted by a FEDERAL judge of this cold blooded and unnecessary murder!!!
If you don't like the Rainbow People (human beings) that is fine, just don't provide your real enemy, (the federal government) with the fuel it needs to oppress all of us. It seems like you are the ones that should leave Wyoming, since you obviously don't share the same values of freedom, equality, rugged individualism and humanity that most of us in the Cowboy state have in common. In short, if you support the federal police state, you don't belong in Wyoming or anywhere else in our country for that matter. "
WyoNative wrote on Jul 6, 2008 7:25 PM:
I AM HE WHO IS ME wrote on Jul 6, 2008 9:18 PM:
Rich wrote on Jul 7, 2008 7:29 AM:
lovewywithoutrainbows wrote on Jul 7, 2008 7:39 AM:
So, "rainbow's", you dig the "poor me, I'm the victim attention, don't you??!!! Oh yeah! "
macaad wrote on Jul 7, 2008 10:46 AM:
Hal wrote on Jul 7, 2008 11:43 AM:
People are arrested all the time for absolutely no good reason in our country. It's called a "police state". You must be a relative of "Nancy Grace" the tv crime/talk show host and former federal prosecutor that believes that anyone that is ever arrested for anything must be guilty. You're just another cop lover who hopes if you dutifully offer your undying support to them, that they won't come get you. What an empty tragic life you must live, spending all of your time down on your knees in complete submission to the police state. Who shares your knee pads with you,... Wyollative perhaps? "
Marion wrote on Jul 7, 2008 1:51 PM:
Jason wrote on Jul 7, 2008 3:46 PM:
Disappointed wrote on Jul 7, 2008 4:02 PM:
Royally Ticked Off wrote on Jul 7, 2008 7:45 PM:
Thank you for your wonderful comments about me being a con. If you weren't so lazy as to just sit at your computer and call me a con, you could pick up the phone and call the stores in the towns that I've mentioned and ask them yourself. I can't guarantee that the same managers work in Evanston that were there when the Rainbows stayed in the Uinta mountains, but you can give them a try.
I don't have to prove myself to you or anyone else on here. I know what my son and I saw and I will leave it at that.
However, you must agree on the rest of my comments as you didn't disagree to any of those. As I said before, I know that not ALL of the rainbows are bad, just as I know that not ALL cops are good. I recognize that there is a big group of the rainbows that do go and help out during disasters. And I applaud those people for doing what they do. The rainbows need some sort of filtering system, and it wouldn't have to be one individual or a even a specific group. But they do need a way of weeding out the criminals that bring them heartache as well as the rest of us. What a better place for criminals to hide out, and unfortunately, I'm sure the rainbows wouldn't even know who they were.
I believe whole heartedly in equality and that is my biggest gripe with the goings on of late.
If you didn't read my entire comment, you need to.
Do you, HAL, think that it is right that they receive special treatment? Hal, are you a rainbow? If not, then do you have to gain permits to camp and fish? Do you expect special treatment because of who you are acquainted with or because of your religion? You speak of EQUALITY. Where is the EQUALITY in specialized treatment? All I am asking for here is EQUALITY. I don't care how they dress or how they talk. As long as they are expected to FOLLOW THE SAME LAWS YOU AND I HAVE TO ABIDE BY!!! That, dear HAL, is EQUALITY.
Oh, and to DISAPPOINTED, are you an obnoxious, drunk, gun totin' redneck that runs around causing trouble and shooting guns? Because you said that if people who come here aren't then we should run them off. So by saying "WE should run them off" you are including yourself in that stereo type.
KUDOS TO MARION
Enough said "
Former Wyomingite wrote on Jul 8, 2008 7:05 AM:
Sana wrote on Jul 8, 2008 11:55 AM:
Bill H. wrote on Jul 8, 2008 1:28 PM:
Pot is cool, no harm done man . . . let us live free and naked and procreate with our Mother the Earth!!!!
It's like the song man - "A horse with No Name" - float and be free my Brothers and Sisters - God is good, Love is good!!!!! "
Stoeckmann wrote on Jul 8, 2008 1:34 PM:
Hagedorn wrote on Jul 8, 2008 1:36 PM:
Boak wrote on Jul 8, 2008 1:40 PM:
Lets have peace my Brothers. I am a white gay Army National Guard participant. I was at the "rainbow" festival with all my brothers - what fun we were having until the Feds showed up . . . shame they ruined it - some were pretty sexy looking. Let's just all get along!!! "
D.CABOT wrote on Jul 8, 2008 2:33 PM:
Lets all just shoot the dumb love'in
sons-of-bitches. They be all a d@#! bunch of socialist. Everything thats wrong in this country can be summed up in one d@#* word, "rainbow"!!!!! "
Scared Sissies wrote on Jul 8, 2008 3:54 PM:
TomT wrote on Jul 8, 2008 10:00 PM:
They decided they could surround and attack federal law enforcement officers and got a harsh lesson, and now they want to posture as victims. Their tactics are transparently dishonest. If they were truly passive (as they would have you believe) then this would have been a non-event because they would not have interferred with law enforcement and brought down riot tactics upon themselves. One criminal would be in jail, and the mob would be one person smaller. Big deal. "
Hal wrote on Jul 9, 2008 2:53 AM:
Royally Ticked Off, since you are the one who told the story about the vandalism at the stores, It is your responsibility to provide the proof or witnesses, not the readers. You said it, you back it up with proof, don't sit their on your lazy butt and expect other people to chase down the proof of your remarks for you. You said it, you prove it. I noticed that you quickly added that you cannot guarantee the present day existence of any witnesses to substantiate your tale. Hmmmm. I was not there, so I couldn't possibly know if your story is true or not, very convenient for you, however because of that fact I will not say you are lying. You know the truth.
Also, it is more than a little presumptuous of you to think that I agreed with any parts of your first comments, simply because I did not tear into your whole blog entry. Actually there is very little that you wrote that I do agree with. Equality might be one of the only things that we might agree on. Even equality has to be very well defined.
I am not a rainbow, have never been to a rainbow gathering, and I don't know a whole lot about the rainbow gathering participants other than what I have read over the years about them. I am not a republican, democrat, liberal or conservative. I am a Wyoming native who believes very strongly in supporting the constitutional, civil and human rights of all American citizens. Even the ones I don't personally like. In your most recent blog, equality seemed to be most important to you. You mentioned that everyone must follow all the laws and apply for all the same permits and pay all the same fees that you do. If these requirements were in fact unconstitutional impositions that had been placed on everyone, would you still insist that everyone be unconstitutionally victimized for the sake of "If the government can do it to me, then they should do it to you too."
Royally, the point that I think you are missing, that so many people are trying to make in the midst of this incident is this: We all have some very definite rights that were identified a long time ago as being inherent rights by our birth and human existence. These rights were put into words in a document that were as specific as they could be at the time they were written, and this document was then adopted as the absolute supreme law of the land. That means no other laws or policies may be enacted, enforced or applied later by the offices or officers of the government of men that takes legal precedent over this supreme law of the land. It was made very clear in these words that government could neither grant nor withhold these rights. They are the inherent rights of all American citizens, and government permission (permit) or conveyance is not required for all American citizens to enjoy these naturally occurring rights. No one, not even the United States Supreme Court is accorded the right or authority to cherry pick which of these inherent rights are to be applied or allowed, and which ones are to be modified or curtailed. Of course the constitution made provisions for legislation to be enacted thereby creating laws, but it is very difficult to determine just which of these laws is in compliance with the supreme law of the land, and which ones are not. The right to peacefully assemble on public lands is a very fundamental inherent right of the people, and the federal, state or local governments can only impose the most unrestrictive and absolutely necessary requirements upon the citizens with respect to these citizens' right to freely exercise this fundamental right. Requiring people to apply for and pay a fee for a permit in order for the people to exercise the right to peacefully assemble on public lands may very well be unconstitutional. Apparently the rainbow gatherers feel that it is. They may be right. Just because the government gets away with imposing a requirement upon the people before the people can exercise their constitutional rights, does not mean it should be allowed to stand and not be challenged.
The congress of the United States makes laws all the time that are absolutely unconstitutional. Probably most of the laws that congress passes and the president signs into law are actually unconstitutional. Most bills or senate files that become law do so without the peoples' representatives even reading these proposals before they vote on them. We the people cannot allow our government to create laws or policies in this fashion, and the only way to do anything about it is to challenge these laws. You must attempt to exercise your rights and if and when you are prevented from doing so, then you have standing and the legal means to challenge the actions of the government against you and others.
Today America has slipped into a quasi monarchy, and that has to end. Otherwise there is nothing left to pass on to our children, etc. Do we need certain laws as a matter of course for the sanctity of human civilization? Of course. But the obvious intent of the founders was that the only laws that were to be created were to be deemed absolutely necessary and were to be as reasonable, unrestrictive and as completely compatible with the constitution as possible. You and I and everyone else knows that is not what is happening today or for many years now. Accepting this is not the answer. Challenging it at every opportunity is. Royally Ticked Off, the constitutional, civil and human rights that are yours upon your birth are being constantly infringed upon by government that will never be satisfied with its' size or the scope of its' power. Never. We cannot afford to assist this wrongdoing by our government, and must support ourselves when it is reasonable to do so. Even if we don't particularly care for those whose position should be supported.
The apparently minor inconveniences, possible rudeness and even minor misdemeanor infractions of law that the rainbow whatevers do, does not and should not disqualify them from the same rights as all other American citizens. Also, the public lands they gather on belong as much to them as all the rest of the public. It would be nice of course if they would respect this proposition and leave the land as clean and pristine as possible when their gathering is over. There are many reports that they do. Some that they don't. No, I do not support the use of illegal drugs under any circumstances, but that is a matter that requires proof not the mere presumption that it takes place.
Personally, I think that the basic core of the rainbow participants is probably made up of average, decent people. I also think that there has inevitably been a few slugs that have glommed onto this group and they probably share little or none of the values of the main group. That happens in any group of humanity. Cowboys, athletes, business owners, baptists, atheists, beer drinkers or cheerleaders. No reason to stereotype this group. It is by all accounts a very diverse group of people. Most important though is that they are all human beings and probably they are all U.S. citizens.
Be honest about this, if you were out somewhere on public land, having a picnic or a campfire type event with a group of your friends or relatives, and you were not hurting anyone and you felt that you had every right to assemble in this public place without first getting permission from the government and suddenly the feds show up and started a rampage within your assemblage which included small children, because they thought someone might have been smoking some marijuana, would you react in a completely compliant and submissive fashion, especially if they were armed with tasers, pepper spray guns, guns with rubber bullets, and they shot them at your group? Because someone might have been smoking marijuana? That relatively minor "maybe it was happening" infraction justified the manner in which the feds behaved in these circumstances? American citizens are not sheep. We are not property of the government. We are not robots without emotions and thoughts. We are not and should not be some submissive, organisms that are to compliantly lay down and allow some other armed humans in uniforms to impose any degree of power or authoritative abuse upon us that they choose, because they claim they are the law and they claim they have this special legal authority over us the citizens. I would gladly trade 1,000 of my lives for death before I would ever live under that kind of despotism. Wouldn't you?
Royally, you have to understand just how evil and abusive our government has really become. They want complete control of every last facet of your life! They will not be satisfied until they have it. And they can always find lots of light and siren personalities out there that are craving the chance to put on a uniform, wear a weapon, and boss and bully other human beings around. Power cravers. Power cravers. A psychologically very sick and dangerous category of people. If they thought the law would back them up, they would rape your wife and children, take all of your possessions, murder you and move on to the next person. That description is a little extreme of course, but many of them secretly would love the opportunity to do this. Not all of them of course. But many would. The way things are going, within a few more years they will have that authority. This is why so many millions of Americans absolutely hate our government now. And they hate the agents of government that defend the policies and sick behavior of this government. And why shouldn't they, the government and its' agents constantly demonstrate and brazenly prove its' hatred for the people in so many ways and for many many years now.
This is why no one in Wyoming wants to ever give up their guns. Your government is owned by and carries out the orders of people who are consumed with hatred for human life, freedom and dignity. And any group of people who ever dares to attempt to live any part of their lives free from this insatiable desire for total control by the government is a target. That means any individual or any group. "
anon wrote on Jul 9, 2008 11:14 AM:
try Zimbabwe, or Iran, or Sudan, or...
You are so fulll of crap.
I'll chip in for your one-way ticket out of this 'evil" nation "
No I wont give up my rightsIm not done using them yet. wrote on Jul 9, 2008 11:34 AM:
down by em too.You all know what happened to our tribes.forced off the land.starved.murdered.I honor any tribal freedoms.shame on you for your narrow thinking.
Home of the BRAVE. "
Moonbeam wrote on Jul 9, 2008 12:15 PM:
stoeckmann wrote on Jul 9, 2008 12:53 PM:
You can sit at my fire anytime friend.
What we need is a revolution!!!!!!!! "
Concerned Grandmother wrote on Jul 9, 2008 12:59 PM:
Shiela wrote on Jul 9, 2008 2:08 PM:
Royally Ticked Off wrote on Jul 9, 2008 3:11 PM:
Oh and one more thing, HAL, I am one person and one person only. My comments have only appeared under In Awe and Royally Ticked Off, and then the shorter version, Royally Ticked Off. The reason, I'm sure, that so many of these comments appear to be from the same person, is probably due to the fact that most of the people commenting in on this situation are all of the same mindset and we all agree that everyone should be created as equals. "
Zimmern wrote on Jul 9, 2008 4:39 PM:
free wrote on Jul 10, 2008 7:37 AM:
NFNVET wrote on Jul 10, 2008 8:22 AM:
Dillon wrote on Jul 10, 2008 12:26 PM:
ADAPK wrote on Jul 10, 2008 1:06 PM:
Hal wrote on Jul 10, 2008 2:09 PM:
I am somewhat flattered by the degree of wrath and disapproval that is directed at my comments and I suppose at me personally. My rather lengthy remarks (sorry for the size), must have really gotten to someone or perhaps to several people. Thank you for responding. There is no better way for the majority of readers to get a sense of what this issue is about and where people stand than to have a lot of ideas expressed. I sincerely hope that more people will comment before the blog goes down.
It is very educational to all of us to see how so many people in our state think and feel about all of the issues that have been written about in these blogs. It would be nice if more people would write and share their thoughts about the tone and content of all of these comments.
My earlier comments are precisely where I stand and there is no possibly whatsoever that I would change my thoughts about this. I will continue to support the U.S. Constitution and all of its' provisions for all Americans. I stand by my remarks concerning the government and could amplify my comments, but it is not necessary. The tone and content of many of the angry responses supports my views and the reason I have them
I am not asking anyone to leave their home state simply because I disagree with them. I did not advocate any "global solution" in any of my comments, just an undying support for the U.S. Constitution. In my last blog I devoted over a thousand words to the "substance of the issue", only 36 words suggesting that perhaps some of these comments are from the same writer, and I addressed that at the beginning of this comment. As I stated in my earlier blog, equality needs to be well defined, because what may be equal to some is not necessarily equal for all. To me, the most important thing is that we all stick together as Americans and mutually support, defend and protect our human and constitutional rights regardless of the lesser issues involved. "
Hanover wrote on Jul 10, 2008 3:54 PM:
Feed wrote on Jul 10, 2008 3:58 PM:
highmarkin wrote on Jul 10, 2008 8:41 PM:
Hal wrote on Jul 10, 2008 8:58 PM:
I am sure there is to be another volley of your duplicate identity comments following this blog. You have made a huge miscalculation as to the intelligence of most of these readers. No one is ever going to believe that such a large ratio of Wyoming citizens would openly refute their own constitutional rights and instead bow so compliantly to federal oppression of U.S. citizens. Wyoming people in large numbers have never taken that political position in the past and they certainly do not take that position now.
Whoever you are, and I suspect you are a cop, or a federal agent yourself, or closely affiliated with one or the other, you badly overplayed your hand. Your refusal to provide any reasonable or intelligent challenge to the "content" of my written remarks is a strong indication that you are probably a government agent of some type, and most likely in law enforcement. Your whole purpose here is to discredit the writers who defend Americans' rights as being "liberals" . Where in my remarks is the "name calling" you referred to? Where in my remarks did I label anyone's remarks as "hate speech"?
Your disregard for honesty and integrity is not in the least bit appalling to me. You are very representative of the deceitful manipulators who attempt to steer public attention away from the important political issues at stake and instead focus them on the words of people that have correctly identified the real problem. You are obvious and you have exposed yourself. You, and perhaps the one other member of your tandem team are the supreme enemies of the American people, hiding behind the anonymity of a blog site and trying to convince as many people as you can that most people believe and think as you do.
It is more than obvious that your most important effort here is focused not upon presenting any useful thoughts or ideas, but rather in desperately trying to discredit my words. My words must really scare the he.. out of you huh? The only category of person who would be so upset and frightened by the words I have written in the course of this blog would be a government agent or a close confidant of one. I look forward to reading your next obvious list of made up names and virtually identical writing styles. You and your partner have been caught squat. You are a disgrace to human decency and you are an extremely dangerous threat to all Americans. "
anony wrote on Jul 11, 2008 5:52 AM:
Agent wrote on Jul 11, 2008 11:46 AM:
Hal wrote on Jul 11, 2008 12:05 PM:
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