``He had to appear before a federal magistrate for violating a camping ban at this year’s gathering, where up to 20,000 free-spirited hippies are expected for a weeklong outing that officially starts today.

Citing high fire danger in the tinder-dry Routt National Forest in the northern Colorado mountains, the U.S. Forest Service denied them a permit, and by Friday about 300 of them had been ticketed.

“We’re here for love and peace, and we’re met with resistance from public servants,” the 57-year-old Bobcat lamented.

Forest Service spokeswoman Denise Ottaviano, part of a federal team created in 1998 to deal with the Rainbow Family, said the agency grapples with the loosely organized group every year. But this year the campers may be putting themselves and law enforcement officers in serious danger, choosing scattered sites seven miles down a narrow, dirt road in a forest ravaged by tree-killing beetles, she said. ''

"A national task force has been scrambled to watch and cite those who take part in the Rainbow Family gathering, which has consisted of more than 2,000 peace-preachers and is expected to draw tens of thousands more. The Colorado State Patrol and local agencies statewide are set to contribute to the task force's ranks, said U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Kim Vogel.

"We're not picking on innocent people," said Denise Ottaviano, a U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman who came to Steamboat Springs from Washington as part of the task force. "Everyone there is part of an illegal gathering." "


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There has already been an incident (ABC News, Denver, Colorado) in which about 200 people encircled a police checkpoint, armed with sticks and rocks. The Forest Service drew their weapons, but retreated.

The gathering is being held in a meadow with only one road out. The media has been given word that the reason they cannot assemble is because of potential for fire. This is another distortion of facts. For years now, the Rainbow tribe has waged an ongoing legal battle to defend constitutional freedoms.

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Picture of the gathering: http://www.welcomehome.org/gabe/CO_1992/JL4LCO92.JPG

The did in fact invoke DHS "Incident Response Team" to deal with this danger to Homeland Security. (Did anyone ever notice the switch from 'National' to 'Homeland')

If not for the timestamp and the info you provided, I would've first thought this was some crazy photage from the 70's. Wow. Gotta respect that - chanting we love you at people with guns.

I love the mixture of peace-and-love babble with the torrent of foul-mouthed abuse pouring from the apparent cameraman. Some of those hippies want to love those cops up; he wants to keep pulling the trigger until it goes click.

these are some scary hippies.

I can think of a few reasons not to let 20k hippies people hang out and camp in a national forest for a while without oversight.

I agree with what Mr. Rogers said about the counterculture: "Do these peace-and-love types ever stop to consider what living in harmony with nature actually means? It means survival of the fittest, death to the weak, live and let die, kill or be killed. This is all very admirable but you won't find a Wiccan, Pagan or hippie who practices it. Living in harmony with nature does not mean collecting crystals, chanting to the goddess and lighting candles to heal the earth. Nature isn't all love, peace and baby animals. Nature is birth, sex, death, instincts, survival, predator and prey. It is fangs, flesh and f--king."

*length=9:41

The duration of this video has been updated from unknown to 9:41 - length declared by bareboards2.