CHEYENNE, Wyo. — A top U.S. Forest Service official said Monday that the agency must consider banning the Rainbow Family from Forest Service lands after a confrontation that led to the arrests of at least eight people in western Wyoming.

John Twiss, director of Forest Service Law Enforcement and Investigations in Washington, D.C., said he was among the officers who responded last week when Rainbow Family members threw sticks and rocks at federal officers. The incident started when officers tried to arrest one member of the Rainbow group for an alleged drug offense.

Twiss characterized the Rainbow participants as "noncompromising," "arrogant" and "anti-authority." He said this year's incident and other disturbances at recent gatherings should prompt a review of whether Rainbow Family events are allowed.

"I think we have to have that discussion within the agency," Twiss said. "We spend an awful lot of time and effort on these people. And frankly, the taxpayers deserve better."

An estimated 7,000 people turned out for this year's Rainbow event, held on the Bridger-Teton National Forest near Big Sandy in Sublette County.

Thursday night's confrontation started at 8 p.m. and escalated as about 400 Rainbow participants tried to intervene in the arrest, according to the Forest Service.

Twiss said when he arrived the scene, about 70 people were yelling profanities and throwing rocks and sticks at officers from as close as 25 feet away. Twiss said none of the officers was hit.

Officers fired "pepper balls" — similar to paintballs but containing a pepper substance — to control the crowd, Twiss said.

One Rainbow participant who witnessed the Thursday incident said Forest Service statements that a mob of 400 people confronted federal officers were "an absolute lie, and a fabrication."

Jeff Kline of Santa Fe said he witnessed the officers arrest the man near a children's area of the camp. The officers then shot pepper balls at crowds of people who responded to the commotion because they were worried about their children, he said.

Kline said one young officer appeared "scared to death," and pointed his pepper-ball gun at people, including mothers and their children. The pop of the pepper-ball guns sounded like a crackling fire, and some people yelled "fire," Kline said. He said that drew more people to the area who were looking for their children.

"The Forest Service law enforcement crew, I could see them running and pushing people aside," said Kline, a 30-year veteran of Rainbow gatherings. "And more people kept coming, because all the little kids were there."

Five people were arrested during the disturbance and another three people have been arrested in subsequent days for offenses related to the incident, said Rita Vollmer, spokeswoman for the Forest Service management team on the scene. Vollmer said she couldn't release their identities or specific charges. The charges included interfering with an officer and drug-related offenses, she said.

The suspects were scheduled to appear before a federal magistrate Monday afternoon at a temporary court set up in Lander, said John Powell, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Cheyenne. Powell said information on the suspects and the results of their arraignments was not immediately available.

Although annual Rainbow Family gatherings around the country have generally been regarded as drawing peaceful hippies and eccentrics, Twiss said they've been attracting a different crowd in recent years.

The Rainbow Family, which has no spokesmen, leaders or officials, has relied on the First Amendment for decades as it has held its annual gatherings at different spots on public land. That provision guarantees the right of the people "peaceably to assemble."

Linda Burt, state director for the ACLU, said although she can't speak as a representative of the Rainbow Family, it's clear that the group has a right to assemble.

"They have a right under the Constitution for free association, and we have a right generally to gather in public places," Burt said.

Burt said over the weekend that her office would investigate reports that officers had been citing Rainbow Family members for insignificant violations and that officers were walking through the camps asking people if they were using drugs without any provocation.

Twiss said Monday that he welcomes the ACLU review. "I think that what they'll find is that our officers have not violated anybody's civil liberties or anybody's constitutional rights," he said. "Our officers have been very patient, and very professional in their demeanor."

He said the Thursday confrontation could have been worse.

"When you're throwing a rock at somebody's head, you're potentially looking at hurting somebody seriously or killing them," he said. "Our officers certainly could have been looking at using deadly force, but they didn't."