MikeG
Senior Member.
On October 24th, a CT website called the Counter Current News featured a story in which the Missoula, Montana Police Department apparently categorized “The Rainbow Family,” as a possible terrorist threat in order to receive a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) grant.
http://countercurrentnews.com/2015/10/group-promoting-peace-and-love-labeled/
The story actually broke in January of this year. According to the Missoulian:
http://missoulian.com/news/local/mi...cle_dd23a072-c72a-5d4f-bb26-f19fc4af82ac.html
It did not take long before other CT websites picked up the article and ran with it.
Truthfully, it seemed like Infowars had a point. It did seem absurd to label such a group as a threat much less an organization subject to DHS surveillance.
So, I dug a little further into the story.
The Rainbow Family gatherings have generated some controversy, primarily over crime, drug use, and friction with the U.S. Park Service. None of these problems have ever come close to extremism or terrorism.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_Family
The Missoula Police Department actually withdrew the grant six days after it became public.
http://missoulian.com/news/local/mi...cle_bd9f86fd-2e41-5eb9-9e66-d0ae1b917774.html
Infowars never disclosed this part of the story even after referring to the issue months later.
http://www.infowars.com/counterterrorism-unit-eyed-vegan-potlucks-documents-reveal/
More to the point, neither the funding nor the surveillance claimed in the Counter Current News story ever happened.
This story reminded me of an earlier thread.
https://www.metabunk.org/finding-th...egators-shares-and-reposts.t6207/#post-152752
It also prompted two additional thoughts:
Stories like this can take on a life of their own as long as the target audience of CT believers is prepared to believe them.
Stories like this are also not that hard to research and debunk. Basic due diligence on my part consumed about 30 minutes. I will keep that standard in mind when considering future CT claims.
Counter Current News also went so far as to claim that the Rainbow Family is currently under police and DHS surveillance.The police department received a Department of Homeland Security grant of $254,930 last week, to assist them in fighting the terrorist threat. That threat was apparently posed by “The Rainbow Family,” a large hippy gathering that promotes peace and love.
http://countercurrentnews.com/2015/10/group-promoting-peace-and-love-labeled/
The story actually broke in January of this year. According to the Missoulian:
On Wednesday, the Missoula City Council's Public Safety and Health Committee voted to recommend the full council sign off on the project and related spending.
"It's a mobile command unit," Hoffman said before the meeting. "It's just like a motor home with communications and computers and radios and things like that. I don't know what the hazards of the Rainbow people are."
The draft letter from Mayor John Engen is addressed to the state Department of Military Affairs in Helena, and the proposal names natural, technological and man-made hazards. Among other specifics, the list cites avalanches, train derailments and extremist groups, naming the Hells Angels and Rainbow Family in particular.
http://missoulian.com/news/local/mi...cle_dd23a072-c72a-5d4f-bb26-f19fc4af82ac.html
It did not take long before other CT websites picked up the article and ran with it.
http://www.infowars.com/police-label-hippy-group-whose-message-is-peace-love-domestic-extremists/Citing a non-violent hippy group which stresses peace and love in order to justify the purchase of a vehicle that would normally be used to combat dangerous criminals or even terrorists is patently absurd and a shocking indication of how far the police state has progressed in America.
While large gatherings such as those staged by The Rainbow Family, during which crimes will inevitably occur, undoubtedly need to be properly policed, to describe the group as “extremist” is complete overkill.
Truthfully, it seemed like Infowars had a point. It did seem absurd to label such a group as a threat much less an organization subject to DHS surveillance.
So, I dug a little further into the story.
The Rainbow Family gatherings have generated some controversy, primarily over crime, drug use, and friction with the U.S. Park Service. None of these problems have ever come close to extremism or terrorism.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_Family
The Missoula Police Department actually withdrew the grant six days after it became public.
http://missoulian.com/news/local/mi...cle_bd9f86fd-2e41-5eb9-9e66-d0ae1b917774.html
Infowars never disclosed this part of the story even after referring to the issue months later.
http://www.infowars.com/counterterrorism-unit-eyed-vegan-potlucks-documents-reveal/
More to the point, neither the funding nor the surveillance claimed in the Counter Current News story ever happened.
This story reminded me of an earlier thread.
https://www.metabunk.org/finding-th...egators-shares-and-reposts.t6207/#post-152752
It also prompted two additional thoughts:
Stories like this can take on a life of their own as long as the target audience of CT believers is prepared to believe them.
Stories like this are also not that hard to research and debunk. Basic due diligence on my part consumed about 30 minutes. I will keep that standard in mind when considering future CT claims.
