Around 650 members of a counter-culture group have arrived so far in southern Missouri’s Oregon County to camp out in Mark Twain National Forest. Hillary Markin, Public Information Officer with the U.S. Forest Service’s National Incident Management Team, said it’s part of the Rainbow Family of Living Light’s annual gathering that culminates on July 4th.
“Looking at past years of Rainbow incidents that I’ve been involved in, I’m guessing (it will be) around that 2,000 mark, you know,” she told Missourinet. “This seems to be shaping up very similar to the incident in 2023, which was out in New Hampshire in the White Mountain National Forest where we had about 2,200 on the 4th of July.”
Markin said as of June 28th, there have been more than 150 law enforcement actions involving the Rainbow Family.
“Forty-four of those were incident reports, 91 of those were written warnings, 66 violation notices, and two arrests,” she said. “I’m also aware that there was one additional arrest yesterday and our stats are just usually a day behind.”
That third arrest happened on Sunday. Markin said law enforcement actions included traffic violations, drug possession and distribution, damaging natural resources, threats and interference with law enforcement, and more.
The gathering is illegal because no one with the Rainbow Family applied for a permit. An anonymous member emailed Missourinet, saying that, “the family does not sign a permit because they believe in their first amendment right to peacefully assemble and the right to exercise their freedom of religion.” The Rainbow Family bills itself as a non-violent group that promotes peace, love, and taking care of the earth.
Missourinet has also requested an interview with one or more Rainbow Family members, but so far no one has committed.
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