To the editor:

I realize there has already been a lot said about the police at the Wakarusa Festival, but I still get the feeling that most people don’t understand how far they went. I read the letter by Rob Dewhirst on June 15 and I strongly agree that the police went too far.

I was a part of a film crew hired to document this year’s festival. Though I saw, and filmed, a few things that showed a need for police presence, I also witnessed and heard stories of police going far beyond the long arm of the law to get what they wanted.

All glass vendors, whether they carried pipes or not, were threatened by the police. One vendor I talked to said police tried to stop the sale of glass jewelry, such as necklaces and earrings. My friend told me of a glass vendor whose very large inventory was thrown out by police while no one was there to say anything.

Concert-goers all along Eighth Street (where most of the glass vendors set up camp) were patted down and pockets were emptied. It even sounds like police were checking tents while the owners were out enjoying what they paid for.

As we drove down Eighth Street to get some footage, I immediately felt some of the vendors’ disgust for surveillance and authority as shouts of “NO CAMERAS” and “ANTI PIG” filled my ears. I thought we had it bad enough with security telling us that we couldn’t come on stage to film what we were hired by Wakarusa to film, but it has become very evident that the campers and music fans had it much worse.

Toby Jennings,

Lawrence