To whom it may concern,

I was disconcerted by the behavior of a USFS officer later identified to me as Kenneth Boreman on about June 24, 2003, at the Rainbow Gathering.

I was in a small parking area near the Liberty Kitchen, dining and tending a small campfire with friends. Officer Boreman and an officer named Lampshire came driving by. I stepped out of a van where I was eating dinner with friends as the vehicle approached, and Officer Lampshire called out, "Is that little girl still in that van?"

I asked why he needed to know that, and Officer Boreman interrupted by saying, "He just needs to know."

I made no reply and Officer Boreman gunned the engine, pulling past me in a cloud of snow. He drove to the end of the road, turned around and headed back. As he came past me and others at the little campfire, I said "We take care of our own children here."

Officer Boreman backed up his vehicle to be even with me and said, "I wouldn't bring my daughter here."

"That's OK," I said.

"Do you have a child here?" he asked, "I do."

"She's probably running around unsupervised," he said, which was not true.

"I know right where she is and what she's doing," I said, which was. "We take care of our own kids."

"I bet you were taking care of that little girl who probably got raped 14 times last night," he said, then rolled up his window and drove off.

I don't appreciate having strangers ask me questions about my friends' children; I don't appreciate being accused of letting my own daughter run around unsupervised; I don't appreciate being lied to by the Incident Command Team.

I can be contacted at (208) 305-3361 should anyone wish to discuss these events.

Sincerely,

Michael S. Crater
1512 Seventh Ave.
Lewiston, ID 83501