RENO, Nev. (AP) — Fans of the annual Burning Man counterculture festival on the Nevada desert are accusing law enforcement officers of overzealously crashing the party.
Attorney David Levin of Palo Alto, Calif., maintains law enforcement has become so heavy-handed at the eclectic art and music gathering that he was compelled to form a legal defense team known as Lawyers for Burners.
Officials from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and Pershing County Sheriff's Department say drug use is common at the event and they merely try to enforce the law.
Some 50,000 people are expected to attend the weeklong gathering beginning Monday on the Black Rock Desert, about 110 miles north of Reno. Last year, almost 300 Burners were cited or arrested by federal officers.
