Feds battle Rainbow Family

The Rainbow Family and the Feds had a little scuffle last week in Wyoming. It started when the Feds tried to arrest some Rainbow Family members. The Rainbowers claim harrassment all week at their gathering. The Feds claim to have been attacked by a mob. The Rainbowers claim the Feds opened fire on the children's village at their gathering. On top of all this someone started a fire (arson). Whether it was the Rainbowers or the Feds is up in the air.

Here's some links:

ACLU to investigate Rainbow Family treatment

Rainbow Family "Homepage"

Arson suspected in gathering fire

400 members of Rainbow Family surround and attack feds

Four Rainbow members plead guilty

The feds are so scared of people gathering together, and what makes them really scared of the 'Gathering of the Tribes' is there are no leaders. No one they (the feds) can hold responsible.

Thousands of people go to the annual gatherings and they can't arrest everyone.

The last national I went to was over 10 yrs ago in Oregon, and we had the feds blocking the entrances refusing to let anyone in or out for about a week. They wanted someone to sign their permit, but of course no one would do it.
No one is going to put themselves up to be responsible for thousands of individuals. Rainbow has no leaders. The local militia was apparently on 'our side', which made the cops nervous I guess and they finally staged a 'hippy' signing the form. The 'hippy' was seen leaving with the feds. Rainbow won again, what a party we had.

I'm not surprised about this last incident, the feds get more aggressive every year, maybe they (the tribes) just decided they'd had enough of the constant harassment for simply wanting to gather peacefully with other people. You can only take so much before you strike back.

I think they (the feds) are scared of the fact that the gatherings prove that Human Beings can get together in their thousands peacefully with no need for their authority, money, or their 'system'. They don’t want this attitude spreading; we are not allowed to be free…

Just my 2pence…

Hi, yourrolemodel.

Also, good on you for making a thread in the SS forum that's not about the Freemasons. Star for that in the very least.

The link you provided to their homepage is broken. Do they have any history with any sort of real defiance of the government or is it just a bunch of hippies hanging out?

ANOK, since you were at the RF gathering once before could you share some of your experience of what it was like? I've never heard of this group before.



[edit on 7/10/2008 by sc2099]

There appears to be consistent trend in US law enforcement and government to treat all groups that do not follow the conservative beliefs of the religious right as criminals. A rather paradoxical situation for a nation whose leaders are continually declaring how "free" people are and how everyone else envies the American fight to worship, live and believe as they see fit. That actually seems to apply only to those who believe the "right" doctrines. There seems to be an accelerating trend to focus on the "thought crimes" of the rest of us.

The Rainbow Families are just one more group who do not conform to the enforced social norms of the US. ("gol durn hippies") thus they have to be monitored very closely so that the authorities can "get 'em" and keep America pure. The recent attempt by the State of Texas to break the polygamist sect seems to be motivated more by a fear of their being different than anything else. I do not necessarily agree or condone the beliefs of either group, but they do have the right to believe and live as they see fit.

As America moves more and more towards a totalitarian society where anything or anyone different than the norm is to be feared and persecuted, one has to wonder who will be next. Perhaps nudists or those who practice what the fundamentalists call "satanic" religions like Wicca. We have already seen the child abuse flag being waved by the Texas authorities although some in the system still had enough sense to call it the bull that it was.

The only thing I find reassuring is that these social groups have not been branded as terrorists so that the various Patriot Act and Military Commissions Act provisions can be used against them. At least not so far.

I remember when the Rainbow Family came through Huntsville, Texas a few years ago (don't remember exactly when). Anyway, local residents were advised to steer clear of the state park because the family consisted mainly of hippies, felons and child molestors.

How's that for a little fear-mongering.

Metamagic, how can you say this

There appears to be consistent trend in US law enforcement and government to treat all groups that do not follow the conservative beliefs of the religious right as criminals.

and this

The recent attempt by the State of Texas to break the polygamist sect seems to be motivated more by a fear of their being different than anything else.

in the same breath? FLDS is ridiculously right-wing. They're not pot-smoking hippies; they're commune-living Christians. They're so right wing they make average evangelicals uncomfortable. Clearly you have a bias against Conservatives and conservative ideology.

The government doesn't tolerate anyone who challenges its authority no matter which side of the political divide they fall on. The government is beholden to no ideology except its own welfare and self perpetuation. It only panders to certain groups to give the illusion of a constituency.

[edit on 7/10/2008 by sc2099]

reply to post by sc2099




I was at this event when it happened. I must say it if a very beautiful event. It takes a hard time to really describe what it is like, and everyone will say something different. It is in a way like a massive family reunion cause everybody treats everyone else like family. All different religions and cultures come together to be one and share everything. The event is free, and everything at the event is free, people volunteer cutting or hauling wood, cooking meals for others, teaching workshops, serving coffee, ect. All the food is either donated by people coming or paid for with the magic hat. The Magic hat is like a donation bucket.


The police come every year (even though this is my first year there are videos and I talked to eye witnesses) and harass people. This year was no different.

There hate of the rainbow family starts in 1972 when they arrested people just for being at the gathering (no permit) and the supreme court rules we didnt need a permit because we are not an organization we are just a bunch of people going into the woods and camping and sharing our food. Every since then the forest service (not the LOCAL just the Forest Services Incident Command Team) has been looking for excuses to end the rainbow family gatherings.

They try to make lies that the rainbow family leaves horrible messes behind. Here is some articles from some locals.
www.welcomehome.org...

They also told the media that we displaced the scouts trip. However the truth is the rainbow family was working with the forest service (special use permit) and they failed to tell the rainbow family about the scouts trip till a week before our event. We already had over a mile of pipe in the ground for water. Our event ends on the 7th, and the scouts were coming on the 27th on the other side of the mountain. On the 27th there will still be about 100 family members there still cleaning up and reseeding the land. There was no reason to move these scouts, but the 150 scouts who were relocated are doing much the same thing.

Now they come into our camp with there guns, into kiddie village (thats where the children stay at the gathering) and a woman tells them to put there guns down there are children here and you are scaring them. She keeps asking them over and over and is talking about peace when the one female officer grabs her and slams her on the ground. A male officer then pulls her hair while the female officer cuffs her. Another brother freaks out and yells "What the F are you doing!" to the officers. They arrest him. People start to gather to see what is going on, the officers were "surrounded" (people came from all directions to see what was going on) and so they opened fire (with paint ball guns with pepper spray in them) to get out of the crowd. At this point there was confusion and people thought there was a fire... so people came running with buckets of water. I guess there were 2 brothers who picked up stones and started throwing them at the officers well after shots were fired. Our elders quickly stopped them by getting between the crowd and the officers just to be shot in the back with pepper spray bullets.

The rainbow people were not perfect, after being shot at and seeing guns pointed in children's faces two of the 400 people in the crowd started to throw stones. The cops try to claim 400 people were throwing stones, but if that was true you would see some stones flying in the youtube video... and I dont think the cops would have made it off the mountain. If 400 people were throwing stones at 10, somebody would be seriously hurt. Just watch the videos and see if you see any stones being tossed.

reply to post by yourrolemodel


1. What the hell is a Rainbow Family.
2. What the hell is this doing in Secret Societies?

reply to post by Rockpuck

Rockpuck,

If you don't know what the Rainbow Family is it seems secret enough to me and I'm the one that posted it here. If Rockpuck's ignorance isn't enough for this thread to be on this board a mod can move it. If there is somewhere more appropriate that would be appreciated. You do realize that if this thread gets moved I'm starting one to claim there's a Masonic conspiracy to take over the Secret Societies board.

Here's what Wiki has to say about them.
Rainbow Family

reply to post by Anonymous ATS


Thank you for sharing your story with us. I appreciate hearing what happened from someone who was there.

It breaks my heart to hear that the feds have such a problem with these meetings...well, breaks my heart and makes me extremely angry.

Originally posted by sc2099
Metamagic, how can you say this

There appears to be consistent trend in US law enforcement and government to treat all groups that do not follow the conservative beliefs of the religious right as criminals.

and this

The recent attempt by the State of Texas to break the polygamist sect seems to be motivated more by a fear of their being different than anything else.

in the same breath? FLDS is ridiculously right-wing. They're not pot-smoking hippies; they're commune-living Christians. They're so right wing they make average evangelicals uncomfortable. Clearly you have a bias against Conservatives and conservative ideology.

The government doesn't tolerate anyone who challenges its authority no matter which side of the political divide they fall on. The government is beholden to no ideology except its own welfare and self perpetuation. It only panders to certain groups to give the illusion of a constituency.

[edit on 7/10/2008 by sc2099]

Thank you for your thoughtful reply. I do agree with your last paragraph entirely, although I would suggest that this is more a characteristic of all governments and not just the US government.

I never intended to imply that they held the same set of beliefs that the Rainbow Family held, but in the us-them mentality of the government, I suspect that they are lumped together in the same category as the FLDS -- with the label "weirdo" slapped on it. All it takes is one dimension of difference from what is defined as normal to be put into that box. Don't forget in that box we also find gays (in some places still), 911 truthers, anti-war activists, wife-swappers, wiccans, spiritualists, dowsers, nudists and some environmental activists. Even though they may be totally average in every other way.

The Rainbow Family are different because they are "hippies," the FLDS are different in that they are polygamists. I did not say that FLDS were different in every way, but even if they were flag waving, bush supporters, the emphasis by in the US on "marriage is divinely ordained as a union between one man and one woman" generally moves them into the "very different" category. Remember authority tends to think in black and white, us and them, for me or against me patterns.

As for your comment about my bias against conservatives and conservative ideology, you are absolutely correct, I spent 25 years living as one in a fundamentalist family. Pillar of the community and church. I developed many connections and business relations in the police, military, intelligence services and defense contractors. But we all have that moment of awakening in which things become very clear, For me, it was October 31, 1998 at 10:47 pm. At that moment I saw how I had been deceiving myself and started a new path to where I am now.

I guess you could say, been there, done that and never doing that again. But that does not mean that I don't like conservatives, I still have my conservative friends and associates, I just no longer share their views. Now I see the person rather than the labels I used to put on them.




[edit on 10-7-2008 by metamagic]

My ex-daughter in law has been attending these gatherings for years with my grandchildren - its exactly what it purports to - people with a vision that folks can get along, take care of each other and have wholesome fun in the outdoors....

In her life outside these yearly gatherings, she owns and operates a whole foods store, her children are straight A students and two of the nicest kids you ever want to meet...she walks her talk....

Harassment of these folks by the Fed is simply another disgusting example of fascism from the top down....and I've seen it get worse every year of my life...

[edit on 10-7-2008 by realshanti]

Rockpuck, take it easy.

This is a thread about another group outside the mainstream of modern life. Secret in the sense that they are without the need of leaders or rules, and secret in the sense that most seem to have found a karmic connection that allows them to be people first, before anyhing else. And secret in that they are not well known.

This forum isn't just the playground of organized societies, such as the freemasons. (And the anti masons, who seem to be nearly as organized. )

Be patient, there'll be a mason bashing thread where you feel comfortable coming along soon enough, I'm sure.


[edit on 10-7-2008 by NGC2736]

reply to post by NGC2736

NGC2736,

Thanks for your support.

On the other hand I'm disappointed there's no Mason conspiracy to take over the Secret Societies board. They are obviously slacking off.


[edit on 10-7-2008 by yourrolemodel]

Be patient, there'll be a mason bashing thread where you feel comfortable coming along soon enough, I'm sure.

Indeed. Was just wondering what a Rainbow Family was. Sometimes when I read threads about obscure topics I leave hope that it includes a definition of the obscure topic at hand. I swear I use Wikipedia more often to find answers on topic threads on ATS then I do actually reading the ATS articles..

Just don't see the "secret society" bit of it.. even after reading the Wiki article.

Originally posted by Rockpuck

Be patient, there'll be a mason bashing thread where you feel comfortable coming along soon enough, I'm sure.

Just don't see the "secret society" bit of it.. even after reading the Wiki article.

If you don't see why Rainbow Family is a secret society, then I guess you wouldn't call Freemasonry a secret society either. The fact is neither is very secret at all. So let's just clear all those mason threads out of the SS forum...

Originally posted by realshanti
My ex-daughter in law has been attending these gatherings for years with my grandchildren - its exactly what it purports to - people with a vision that folks can get along, take care of each other and have wholesome fun in the outdoors....

In her life outside these yearly gatherings, she owns and operates a whole foods store, her children are straight A students and two of the nicest kids you ever want to meet...she walks her talk....

Harassment of these folks by the Fed is simply another disgusting example of fascism from the top down....and I've seen it get worse every year of my life...

[edit on 10-7-2008 by realshanti]

People who have power in this country prefer different groups to remain balkanized. They would prefer other peoples children not become well adjusted straight A students. Also who knows what sort of exchange of information might take place at one of these events.

Originally posted by metamagic

And thank you as well for the well thought out reply. I would also agree with you that it is a behavior of all governments and not just the USgov.

And now for the disagreements!

While I concur that in the eyes of the government FLDS belongs in the "other" rather than the "self" category just as the RF, you said in your post that the US gov only picks on left wing "others". This was really my only bone to pick as clearly it doesn't matter if someone is a lefty or a righty, only that they are self or other.

As for your comment about my bias against conservatives and conservative ideology, you are absolutely correct, I spent 25 years living as one in a fundamentalist family.

Haha, the ones who used to be a part of it are always the biggest opponents! That's with anything though. No one hates the Catholic Church like a former Catholic, etc. I'm curious, what made you do your 180? If you don't want to share here feel free to U2U. I do know the epiphany you're talking about as well, but mine happened in the opposite direction. I used to be left/center left and I made a migration to the right.

reply to post by sc2099


Technically, since the majority of Mason threads are not started by Masons, but are instead by people who are either against Masonry, or have questions about Masonry, generally in a conspiratal slant, actually the majority of thread son them do belong.

This, on the other hand, is about the Rainbow Family being investigated by the FBI. Can't say I havn't heard about them, but I had to refresh my memory on the group, and there is certainly nothing secret about them, and the OP did not state anything in terms of a secret society either, only that they are at odds with the Feds.
So, my question is, where is the SS conspiratal angle?

My only disagreement here as well..

Is it a government conspiracy against Rainbow People?

Is it a conspiracy against the Gov BY Rainbow People?

Just wondering where the secret society bit is, and why this isn't regular Breaking News info .. where it would get more attention anyways..