July 23, 2003

Lynn Bidlack, Evanston Ranger District
Wasatch-Cache National Fores
P.O. Box 1880, Evanston, Wyoming 82931-1880

RE: Statement of Complaints against USFS Law Enforcement Officers at
the Annual Gathering of the Tribes in Utah, 2003

My name is Karin Zirk and I am a database administrator for an insurance company based in San Diego California. In addition to managing half a dozen database servers, I also administer our company accounting system and do quality control on in-house programming projects. I have been attending Rainbow style gatherings since 1989.

I attended the gathering which took place in the Wasatch-Cache National Forest over the fourth of July 2003. While my interactions with the USFS Resource personnel were positive experiences, my interactions with the Law Enforcement Officers (LEOs) patrolling the area left much to be desired. I was appalled by the large numbers of LEOs that we were forced to put up with in spite of the fact that the event was a permitted event. I was extremely offended by the endless patrols of LEOs on horseback through sensitive creeks, around children and in crowds of people. Furthermore, the use of shod horses in a muddy wetlands environment leaves deep hoof prints. In addition to my general displeasure with the overbearing presence of the LEOs, I have some specific complaints about actions taken that reflect poorly on the USFS as a whole.

1. Inappropriate behavior by Officer Kenneth Boerman.

On July 4, 2003 1 was escorting two USFS Law Enforcement Officers and one US Marshall as they wandered through the camping areas of the gathering behind the Krishna Camp and towards Kiddie Village. I maintained a respectful distance so as not to interfere with their activities. I did inform gatherers of the presence of law enforcement personnel. The three officers wandered through the woods towards Kid Village. When we got to Kid Village, the three officers stopped. One USFS LEO started to talk to two people involved in a massage. The US Marshall stood observing the scene. I stopped in the small meadow and let people in that area know that pictures were being taken by law enforcement officers.

The second USFS LEO went out of his way to approach me and engage me in conversation when I was far enough away from the other two officers that our conversation could not be overheard. I identified this second USFS LEO as Kenneth Boerman based on his badge. Mr. Boerman pointed out that a few people in the Kiddie Village area were naked and he felt nudity around children was completely inappropriate. I expressed my cultural perspective that nudity was not shameful. He argued the point with me, expressing his ethnocentric belief that nudity in front of children was disgusting and should not be permitted. I responded that my parents were European and culturally Europeans are not as uptight as Americans about nudity. He responded that I should live in Europe instead of the USA if I believed nudity was appropriate. I choose not to respond to his argumentative remarks and tone. He then pointed to a naked man meditating under a tree off to the side of the meadow, and told me that the meditating man was a pedophile. No children were anywhere near the meditating man.

Mr. Boerman then informed me that the USFS LEOs had apprehended numerous pedophiles at the gathering this year. He also told me that the people at the gathering were more horrible than I knew. In addition to the numerous suspected pedophiles that he stated had been arrested at the gathering, he said he had rescued a sixteen-year-old girl who had been gang raped in the back of a U-Haul truck in route to the gathering. He said she was so brutalized that she could barely walk when he helped her out of the truck.1 replied that I did not believe him as if his stories were true I would have heard about these situations from individuals at the gathering who focus their energy on serious crimes. In a very mocking tone he asked if I was a "Shanti Sena wanna be" and then stated that "you people think you have a radio and that makes you such an important person." I was not carrying a radio. I responded that I was just a person and no more or less important than anyone else. He asked me why I kept yelling "six-up" and asked me if I was trying to "wam" people or hide something. I choose not to respond as his tone was argumentative.

After the other USFS LEO finished his conversation with the two people, all three officers walked through Kiddie Village towards Brew Ha Ha and Rainbow Crystal Kitchen. Just before Rainbow Crystal Kitchen we met the Utah Health Department guy and two USFS resource people. The USFS LEOs exchanged a few pleasantries with them and then continued on. Mr. Boerman asked me why I wasn't yelling "six-up" at them. I replied that they were resource people. Mr. Boerman said, "you think you're so smart and you think you know everything" in the sort of voice one would expect emanating from a bratty six-year old child. All in all, Mr. Boerman showed no respect for people at the gathering, was unable to separate his personal cultural beliefs from the job he was hired to do, and tried as hard as he could to engage me in verbal arguments. Furthermore, he told outright lies indicating that criminal activity had taken place at the gathering which had never transpired and when confronted with the inaccuracy of his statements, he tried to belittle me. At no time did any of these conversations take place where the other officers could overhear. While most of the other officers I interacted with at the gathering behaved in a professional manner, Mr. Boerman is clearly unable to separate his personal beliefs from the job the taxpayers hired him to do.

2. Disrespectful show of force on the 4th of July 2003

The annual gathering of the tribes has as its spiritual center a prayer for world peace on the morning of the 4th followed by joyous celebrations and consciousness growth in the early afternoon.

Due to the nature of the prayer for peace, many participants, including myself, are in an emotionally vulnerable state in the afternoon caused by long hours of intense meditation and/or prayer. I consider this to be a very spiritual time at the gathering and therefore found the USFS cavalry charge around my family to show a complete lack of respect for our cultural beliefs. Not only did the officers ride on horseback around us in military formation, they carried guns which we have stated over and over again is spiritually and culturally offensive to many of us. There was no law enforcement need for the USFS presence on the 4th and in fact, I found it extremely offensive that since a permit was signed, the USFS acted as though they had carte blanche to invade our sacred ceremonies. The energy created by this display of force was akin to a victory march by the conquering army. I certainly hope that was not the intention of the Incident Command. However, just because one individual gave permission, does not in any way prevent a significant breach of decency.

In the future, any LEOs who choose to participate in our ceremony should do so out of uniform and without weapons so as to be equals and not oppressors. It was my understanding that the USFS had adopted a directive towards promoting cultural sensitivity and respect for the diverse cross section of American citizens who utilize their public lands. I saw no evidence of such a directive on the 4th of July. In summary, I feel the actions of these individual officers not only disrespected individuals at our prayer ceremony but also disrespected other officers who were able to perform their jobs duties in a culturally sensitive manner.

Respectfully,
Karin Zirk