UPDATED: Burning Man attendees face traffic stops, searches

Jennifer Kane | Reno Gazette Journal

Show Caption Hide Caption Burning Man 2018: RGJ reporter prepares for his first Burn RGJ City Life reporter Mike Higdon subjects himself to the elements before covering Burning Man for the first time

More recent information on this developing story can be found here: Burning Man calls traffic stops 'aggressive, unconstitutional'. If you or someone you know has an account of a traffic stop on the way to Burning Man this week, please reach out to reporter Jenny Kane at jkane@rgj.com.

Law enforcement officers from both the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs and Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe have been pulling over vehicles on their way to early Burning Man festivities in the Nevada desert.

Bureau agents and tribal police were pulling over drivers passing through tribal land beginning last week and continuing this week. On Monday, about a half-dozen federal and tribal vehicles, some unmarked, were seen stopping vehicles primarily in Nixon, a tiny town halfway between Reno and the Burning Man site.

Burning Man, which hosts 70,000 attendees and 10,000 staff and volunteers, takes place this year from Aug. 26 through Sept. 3. There is one road, State Route 447, to and from the event; a large portion of that road goes through the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe's land.

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The Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council in the past month approved a memorandum of understanding that detailed the Bureau of Indian Affairs' plans to have a law enforcement presence this year on the tribal land, according to tribal officials. The BIA initially proposed the memorandum to the tribal police, which then presented the agreement to the council.

The tribe declined to provide the document, and the BIA has not responded to repeated calls for comment. It is unclear what the duration of the agreement is, and its purpose.

"I've heard from everybody that they were either pulled over or threatened to be pulled over," said Mike Harden, a member of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, noting that not just Burners are getting followed and stopped.

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Almost everyone in the tribe has to drive through Nixon for work, school or just getting elsewhere, Harden said. Tribal members noticed the BIA's presence starting last week when tribal members starting getting pulled over for going as little as 3 mph over the posted speed limit.

"The real gauntlet is getting to the playa," Harden said, noting that he'll be attending Burning Man for his 17th year this year.

According to social media reports posted over the weekend, dozens of Burners have been pulled over for speeding, blocked license plates, items in the windshield, dim tail lights, crossing the white line between the lane and the roadside and even driving too slow.

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The law enforcement presence is in a town of less than 400 people, Harden said. Officers were also patrolling other small tribal towns such as Wadsworth and Sutcliffe.

"They've been pulling people over for the smallest things. This is the first year I've seen (Bureau of Indian Affairs) officers out here at this time. Usually they only come out for serious crimes, like meth rings or, I wouldn't say murders because we don't really have murders, but just serious crimes," Harden said. "It's hard to say if they came out just for Burning Man, or they're just sending them out here since apparently they're increasing the Bureau's presence on tribal lands across the U.S. generally."

Members of the tribe in the past have voiced concern about Burners speeding through the small towns that line the highway to the Black Rock Desert, where Burning Man takes place. Traffic becomes exceptionally heavy during the weeks before, during and after Burning Man.

Typically, though, traffic is monitored by local authorities, including Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Police, Washoe County Sheriff's Office, Nevada Highway Patrol and Pershing County Sheriff's Office, according to past reports from the Bureau of Land Management, which permits the Burning Man event.

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While the traffic stops have been a nuisance, many people on social media complained that the vehicle searches and the use of K9 units after being pulled over for minor infractions was the most intrusive element of the new tactics.

"They asked me for normal stuff, my driver's license, registration, and then they asked me to step out. They got the dogs out and they sniffed around the van, but they didn't go inside," said Ruben Rivera, of Los Angeles, who arrived in Nixon on Monday.

Rivera, who has been attending Burning Man since 1999, said he was pulled over because his bike tire was blocking his license plate. While the officer was friendly, it was terribly discomforting, he said.

"I think it's definitely harassment. Hopefully it won't ruin business," said Rivera, who is selling leather wear and other accessories as a vendor before the event. "The tribal land is like half this road. As soon as you step off (Interstate 80), make sure your car is clear and you don't speed."

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Neither Bureau nor tribal officers, both of whom were patrolling Nixon on Monday, would speak to why the Bureau was suddenly staffing the area, nor how many traffic stops the agencies had made over the weekend.

"We saw multiple vehicles pulled over, being searched by emergency vehicles with flashing lights," said Torrey Smith of Redwood City, Calif., who drove the Pyramid Highway but still had to drive through Nixon on Saturday.

While Smith was never pulled over, at least three of Smith's friends were not as lucky, he said, including one whose vehicle was searched without her consent after she failed to stay completely within her lane. After the agents found nothing, she was detained for nearly an hour until her husband, an attorney, arrived to assist her, Smith said.

"We are 100 percent OK with standard law enforcement, but the very best and brightest are being harassed and erroneously pulled over," said Smith, an engineer who is bringing a Tesla coil and zip line installation to the event.

Most of the people showing up on-site this week are artists or staff associated with the Burning Man organization since the event does not officially begin until Aug. 26.

"We want to know what’s going on, who's doing this and we want to hold someone accountable," Smith said.

Here are some of the social media accounts of law enforcement activity: