cannabisnews.com: Police Criticized for Standoffs Deadly End 





Police Criticized for Standoffs Deadly End 
Posted by FoM on September 05, 2001 at 12:14:02 PT
By Dee-Ann Durbin, Associated Press
Source: Kalamazoo Gazette
The U.S. Justice Department will investigate the shootings of two men killed by authorities during a standoff at a campground.An FBI agent shot Rainbow Farm owner Tom Crosslin and his partner on Monday after Crosslin authorities say he pointed a gun at the agent, one of several law-enforcement officers surrounding the Cass County campground. Federal and state police were searching a campground for marijuana advocates late into Tuesday night.
Police said both men were shot after pointing weapons at law enforcement officers. But many of those who live near Rainbow Farm, a 15-year-old campground that promoted medical and recreational marijuana use, lashed out at police for failing to end the standoff peacefully.Crosslin, 47, the owner of Rainbow Farm, was fatally shot by an FBI agent Monday night after a standoff that began Friday. Rolland Rohm, 28, who lived with Crosslin, was shot by Michigan State Police Tuesday morning on the campground property.A third man at the campground, Brandon J. Peoples, was walking with Crosslin and suffered minor injuries when Crosslin was shot. Authorities questioned Peoples but did not take him into custody.Mark Courtade, head of the criminal division of the U.S attorney's office in Grand Rapids, said the Justice Department's review centers on a second shot allegedly fired at Crosslin by an FBI special agent. The agent was extensively questioned by FBI officials, The Detroit News reported Wednesday.FBI Special Agent Dawn Clenney, spokeswoman for the bureau in Detroit, said Tuesday night that a special team of FBI agents from Washington also was investigating. The bureau withheld the names of agents involved in the shootings, but said the agents will continue working during the review.The standoff began Friday when deputies went to the farm after neighbors said Crosslin was burning buildings on his property.Authorities said Crosslin shot a news helicopter as it flew overhead Friday. Shots also were fired at an unmarked state police plane Saturday but missed, police said. Both aircraft landed without injuries.Police said they believe Crosslin was upset about a Friday hearing to revoke his bond. Authorities had arrested Crosslin and five others in May after a two-year investigation into allegations of marijuana use at the 34-acre campground.Crosslin was charged with felony possession of a firearm, growing marijuana and maintaining a drug house. Rohm also faced criminal charges, although it wasn't clear Tuesday whether he was among those arrested in May. The men had lived together for about 11 years, family members said.Police said Crosslin violated an order prohibiting him from holding an Aug. 17-18 festival, prompting the bond hearing.The campground hosted at least two music festivals each year, HempAid and RoachRoast, according to its Web site.Crosslin's younger sister, Shirley DeWeese, said Tuesday that the campground also held many events for the residents of this rural southwest Michigan community, including an Easter egg hunt and Halloween hayrides."What is America coming to?" DeWeese said as she sat at a makeshift protest site near the campground. "These people murdered them. There's really no explanation."DeWeese vowed that Rainbow Farm would be rebuilt at another location.Neighbor Tammy Brand, 31, said she didn't follow the debate over marijuana. Instead, she knew Crosslin and Rohm because her son is friends with Rohm's 12-year-old son Robert."I don't know what their cause was. I just wanted to say, 'It's not worth it. Robert needs you,"' she said. "We trusted them. We liked them. They were good people."Rohm's son was put into foster care in Cass County after the May arrests, said Rohm's and Crosslin's attorney, Dori Leo.Rohm's stepfather, John Livermore, said Tuesday that he and Rohm's mother may try to become the boy's guardians. Livermore also said the family may sue state and federal police over Rohm's death.Livermore said he believes Rohm left the house Tuesday morning because he thought police were going to allow him to see his son."He had a learning disability and he trusted them," Livermore said. "I believe he walked out expecting to see his son and met his death."Michigan State Police Lt. Mike Risko defended police actions and said Rohm was repeatedly ordered to put down his gun."In each occasion both subjects pointed firearms at officers, and I don't know what else you would have officers do," Risko said.The FBI has said little about the standoff. Special Agent Dawn Clenney said officials were investigating and still did not know what sparked the standoff."It's a big crime scene out there," Clenney said. "We've got a lot to do."Local, state and federal officials were still at the campground Tuesday evening. State police helicopters flew overhead early Tuesday and a bomb squad also was on the scene, but Risko said no bombs had been found. Police had suspected the property was booby-trapped."The house is still smoldering so it will be a few days before we get the investigation part of it done," Risko said.Vandalia, about 30 miles northeast of South Bend, Ind., has a historically defiant spirit.A plaque in the town park describes Vandalia as a one-time junction on the Underground Railroad. Slaves escaping through Illinois and Indiana were taken in by local Quakers, who guided the slaves east into Canada.The campground had been one of the town's best-known landmarks. A state-issued sign pointing the way to the farm was still up on Tuesday morning, but had been removed by Tuesday night.Complete Title: Police Criticized for Standoffs Deadly End to Campground Standoff Source: Kalamazoo Gazette (MI)Author: Dee-Ann Durbin, Associated PressPublished: Wednesday, September 5, 2001Copyright: 2001 Kalamazoo GazetteContact: kgletters aol.comWebsite: http://kz.mlive.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:U.S. Department of Justicehttp://www.usdoj.gov/Rainbow Farm Campgroundhttp://www.rainbowfarmcampground.com/ Justice Department To Investigate Shootings http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10829.shtmlCannabisNews Articles - Tom Crosslinhttp://cannabisnews.com/thcgi/search.pl?K=Crosslin 
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Comment #18 posted by Jeri Youngren on September 06, 2001 at 16:43:35 PT:
Why?
Why wasn't this on Katie Couric along with the other shark attack coverage?
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Comment #17 posted by sledhead on September 05, 2001 at 21:48:45 PT
New Contact Info
Source: Kalamazoo Gazette (MI)Website: http://kz.mlive.com/Feedback: http://www.kalamazoo-gazette.com/emaileditor/Address: 401 S. Burdick St., Kalamazoo, MI. 49007Contact: letters kalamazoogazette.comCopyright: 2001 Kalamazoo GazetteForum: http://kz.mlive.com/Fax: (616) 388-8447
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Comment #16 posted by Buddha on September 05, 2001 at 20:54:55 PT
Don't let it happen anymore
Vote Libertarian
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Comment #15 posted by E. Johnson on September 05, 2001 at 19:06:24 PT
Movie! Movie! Movie
Who was it that said, "If you get them by their hearts, their balls and minds will follow"?But seriously this is a story that really needs an explanation on film. Americans just aren't going to understand what's at stake here without seeing the texture of the conflict. No news story can explain this adequately.
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Comment #14 posted by revolutionary man on September 05, 2001 at 18:38:57 PT
Ya all remember the nazis?
I'm a peaceful person and believe in non-violent protest: "the pen is mightier than the sword", and all that... I'm also jewish and remember what the nazis did only sixty years ago, and for that reason I'm very concerned about our governments use of violence to further their "cause". They continue their war against the planet to satisfy their greed, and when questioned about it they use blatant dishonesty to manipulate public opinion. Who really runs this country? Organized crime and the CIA perhaps? We all know that the CIA smuggles drugs INTO our country: heroin in the early 1970's to kill the anti-war hippies, and cocaine/crack to kill the African americans and hispanics during the 1980's. Think about THAT for a minute...HOW could our own CIA do that to us? My mind boggles at what they've done and GOTTEN AWAY WITH! Sooner or later this country is headed for a violent revolution the way things are going now... Am I wrong? Look what they just did to those two good men after publicly stating in the media that they wanted a peaceful resolution - they obviosly said that in the media to make them off guard, and then their snipers just picked them off. The snipers got them in their sights, and then just before they squeezed the trigger MAYBE they said something, but I doubt they gave them any real chance to give up. They already knew they wouldn't give up, so sending in snipers at all was a death sentence for them. The feds didn't really want a peaceful ending to it, and they mearly set them up to be executed - it's as simple as that. No I don't believe in violence, but I remember what the nazis did and I think our "government" is getting way out of control... They way they stole the election is scary, and now the "oil people" running our country are planning on destroying one of the last truly "wild" places on our planet (Alaska). I'm digressing... I really don't beleive in violence - hopefully those two tragic deaths will help the cause of cannabis legalization. What happened certainly should open up peoples eyes as to who the real "criminals" are.
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Comment #13 posted by Charlie on September 05, 2001 at 15:41:36 PT
Smoke ins...
They will not be forgotten. Someone already said it here,I am Tom Crosslin.I'll never vote democrap or repulsican again.
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Comment #12 posted by Adrian on September 05, 2001 at 15:20:54 PT:
War on drugs is a war on freedom and dissent..
Most events have causes and the cause of these unnecessary killings is the persecution that our culture suffers at the hands of a death cult that feeds on ignorance and corruption. However, remember Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and the activists who fought to stop the obscenity of Vietnam and draw strength that one day we will be free of this denial of out human rights and freedoms.All the cannabis activists in New Zealand send support for your part in the worldwide struggle for freedom. We too have problems with the FBI - two years ago Louis Freeh came down and frightened our Government into doing nothing about the cannabis laws, but luckily, a much more enlightened government has taken office and a law change is imminent.The lesson ? Get the Green Party into office at a Federal level. It may take a generation but it will work and only then can the Federal Bureau of Inquisitions be held in checkNORMl NZ INc
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Comment #11 posted by Dankhank on September 05, 2001 at 15:13:04 PT:
Peaceful??????
Lehder, perhaps you forgot the storming of the Bastille, as French citizens marched the guilty straight to the guillotine. Off with their heads was the cry as they chopped hundreds.I would like to see every cop get what they gave.
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Comment #10 posted by Lehder on September 05, 2001 at 14:29:57 PT
thank you, Morgan
well said. I do not want anyone shot or blown up either. I always think of the French revolution, won by those with ideas like R-man's. That brought only the cruel Robespierre to power, followed by a desperate and violence-sick population that welcomed the order of Napoleon - and his trampling all over Europe. I want the antis and their storm troopers marched peacefully into their own prisons.
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Comment #9 posted by FoM on September 05, 2001 at 14:20:12 PT
Dank Hank
I have my What's New page black and have started a Memorial Page. I just got started so it is very rough. This page is going to take me a while to get finished. Very hard to do.
Tom Crosslin & Rolland Rohm's Memorial Page
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Comment #8 posted by Rock-N-Roller on September 05, 2001 at 14:12:47 PT
Get up, Stand up, Stand up for your right.
In order to bring more media attention to this tragedy we need to make a lot of noise. We need the likes of Gary Johnson, Jessie Ventura, and Normal to attend the funerals and deliver the eulogies. We need to have thousands of, even more people, attend the services, so many people it overcomes the place, just like the police and firemen do. If this could happen the media cannot completley ignore this. If we get more media attention it can possibly help to educate the ones who need it. E-Mail Gary Johnson's office, and Normal, lets try to get them there. I will make several posts of this comment. Do not be angry or surprised if you see this again. I will post it in other places to get more attention. Get up, Stand up, Stand up for your right.
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Comment #7 posted by TroutMask on September 05, 2001 at 14:05:35 PT
Don't do anything foolish
Morgan and others are right: Any violence from our side would turn the public more against us ("Marijuana-Addicted Terrorists Threaten US Government"). The tide has turned and we are winning. As unfortunate as it is, they've given us martyrs for our cause. It's important that we not do the same for them.-TM
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Comment #6 posted by John Markes - part 2 on September 05, 2001 at 14:01:01 PT
An idea...
 I would be interested in finding out if the ballistics match between the bullet that hit the helicopter and guns of both sides...
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Comment #5 posted by Morgan on September 05, 2001 at 13:45:42 PT
Revolutionary Man
I can appreciate your feelings. But killing people and blowing things up is not going to change anything. In fact, it will just prolong this stupid war. It's what they want. A world filled with hate and greed is what they want. A world at war is what they want. War is very profitable. Without it, they would be out of business. They would very much like you to be the next Timothy McVeigh. Don't give them the satisfaction.This is a war unlike any that the human race has been involved in before. What we are engaged in (much to the anti's dismay) is a war of information. This has always been a part of any war (propaganda), but the difference here is that we are fighting back with our own information via the internet. And we are winning. Painfully slow as it may be, we are winning. Word is getting out. Hell, in just the short amount of time that I've been aware of all this (about a year and a half), I have seen a major change in public perception. And the snowball is rolling down the hill, getting bigger, rolling faster. There's no stopping it. You'll live to see a major change in the public's perception of all this (that is if you stay away from guns and bombs) and we'll look back on this particular sad event and see the FBI/DEA/KKK for what they are. Criminals. Murderers. Liars. Bigots. Patience. Our day is coming.***********************************************************
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Comment #4 posted by E. Johnson on September 05, 2001 at 13:44:58 PT
Remember Vietnam
Nonviolent protest eventually worked, violent protest discredited everyone involved.Our best weapon is their cruelty. Their cruelty disproves their position. They claim they are trying to make a better more peaceful world. It is obvious that this incident has not brought anyone closer to that goal.
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Comment #3 posted by Sage Blankenship on September 05, 2001 at 13:41:54 PT:
Spend your money on Candidates instead of Bullets!
MY Ancestors from both sides of my Family Tree fought in the first real battle of the American Revolution. It was "Point Pleasant" and not "Lexington": ) A couple of simple comments from me. Officers use a version of the military M-14, (M-16), which uses a .22 caliber round. So whether those inside the Farm shot at the Channel 16 News Helicopter or whether it was those outside is still open to question as far as i am concerned. Afterall, they sure kept the rest of the Press away from the Farm, so a couple of well placed shots would surely keep the Air Space free from the Press as well. Secondly, as for the Fires, whelp if the Government had made it perfectly plain to me, that they were intending to Sieze my Home or Farm etc., they would only sieze so many as ashes here too, so i can easily see the Fires being set as a perfectly logical tactical step in their minds... While it would be easy to lose one's self control and start randomly killing Police Officers everywhere and blowing up every Federal Building on the Planet, i must say, that this is the time for cooler heads and rationalizations. Our forefathers gave us a Document, that allows us to Revolt w/out firing a single Shot, its called the Vote. I implore everyone that has a sense of Justice to start a Petition, find a Candidate thats pro Weed and anti Federal Goverment, march against the Federal Buildings you'd like to destroy with Signs and not bullets and bombs. Take the anger thats within You, and put it to a Positive Use.Btw, if you can not find a Candidate thats Pro-Weed and Anti Fed, then run for Office youself. The only reason this so called Drug War has been going on for as long has it has, its because we've been sitting on our backsides and not doing enough about it. If your really pissed, look in the Mirror, cuz its really all of our own Faults that this once great Country as become the Evil Monster that it has become.One last Comment, if you find a Candidate thats to your liking, then put your Money where your Mouth is. I've been told for over twenty years that I should run for Congress, yet when i hold out my hand for money, all i've ever gotten is a glazed eyeballs in response.
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Comment #2 posted by Dankhank on September 05, 2001 at 13:28:28 PT:
Conspiracy to Murder!!!!!!
I want to know why the FBI man and the State Officer were in a position that made them feel that they were in danger when they murdered the men.I want to know what gear, armor, helmet, ... etc each was wearing during the shooting and why they felt they HAD to shoot.I want to know if the LEO's have standing orders to place themselves in a dangerous position so as to facilitate the shooting of anyone who resists this nazi, police state we claim is "The Land of the Free."Each officer supposedly felt at danger when the mudered men alledgedly pointed a weapon at him.WHY????I would like to believe that each shooter, sorry, murderer, is too stupid to know how to stand behind a tree or car or anything else to protect themselves, but, you know ... I believe it is part of a plan to shoot everyone who dares to defy authority.We are truly in a war, and WE are unarmed, for the most part, and outgunned all of the time.I demand that the FBI answer my questions, but we know, the cowardly murderers will hide their yellow bellies underneath their storm trooper jackets.My index page is blacked.
Hemp n Stuff
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Comment #1 posted by revolutionary man on September 05, 2001 at 12:35:17 PT
The federal pigs have declared war on us.
We must band together, and fight the federal pigs whose greed is destroying our planet. Cannabis/hemp could save the planet, but the federal pigs don't want that to happen, because it would cost them money. They have shown us time after time that they will kill us in cold blood if it helps their greedy cause, so we must learn a lesson. From now on we should take the war to them and blow-up more federal buildings, or even kill the pigs in their own homes. Let them die with their families, just like they've done to so many of us!!!
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