Pubdate: Fri, 07 Sep 2001
Source: National Review (US)
Copyright: 2001 National Review
Contact:  http://www.nationalreview.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/287
Author: John Derbyshire
Note: Mr. Derbyshire is also an NR contributing editor
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?200 (Rainbow Campground Shooting)
http://www.mapinc.org/ashcroft.htm (Ashcroft, John)
http://www.mapinc.org/find?420 (Cannabis - Popular)
http://www.mapinc.org/af.htm (Asset Forfeiture)

ATTORNEY GENERAL JANET ASHCROFT?

In Robert Bolt's wonderful play A Man for All Seasons, Sir Thomas More is 
subjected to a show trial because, for reasons of conscience, he will not 
take an oath acknowledging King Henry's supremacy over the English church. 
Found guilty by a rigged jury, and knowing he will be executed for his 
"crime," Sir Thomas says the following:

I do none harm, I say none harm, I think none harm. And if this be not 
enough to keep a man alive, in good faith I long not to live.

We all know, from the example of Waco, that doing none harm, saying none 
harm and thinking none harm were not enough to keep a man -- nor a woman, 
nor a child, either -- alive in the America of Bill and Hillary Clinton. I 
forget whether Janet Reno was Hillary's third or fourth choice for the 
affirmative-action slot of Female Attorney General; but along with everyone 
else who cares about liberty, I shall not soon forget the cold-eyed cruelty 
with which that sinister creature ("very big and very scary," testified one 
of her victims, 17-year-old Ileana Fuster) dispatched those who were so 
foolish, or so stubborn, as to cross her and her battalions of armed thugs.

But all that is behind us now, isn't it? We now have a Republican 
administration, right? And an attorney general, John Ashcroft, who is not 
keen on torturing 17-year-old girls, burning cultists alive, protecting FBI 
snipers who had used the wives of eccentric mountain men for target 
practice, or kissing Fidel Castro's backside. Don't we?

Well, you might have asked Tom Crosslin or Rolland Rohm. Up to a few days 
ago you might, that is. This week they were both shot dead: Crosslin, aged 
47, on Monday by an FBI agent; Rohm, aged 28, on Tuesday by a Michigan 
state trooper. Crosslin was the founder and owner of Rainbow Farm in 
Vandalia, Michigan, where Rohm also lived. As of the time of writing, 
Rainbow Farm's website is still available, and I suggest you take a look at 
it to see the background to this story. I particularly direct your 
attention to the farm's "mission statement," which you can get to by 
clicking the "Purpose" link on the website's first page.

Crosslin was a libertarian and a keen proponent of marijuana legalization. 
When he bought the 34-acre farm 15 years ago, it seems to have been with 
the express purpose of making it a haven for, as he says in that mission 
statement, "the medical, spiritual, and responsible recreational uses of 
marijuana." Rock concerts were held on the property. At one, in May 1998, 
an expensive car that was about to be forfeited to the U.S. government as 
part of a drug investigation was set in front of the concert stage where 
concert-goers, egged on by the vehicle's owner, smashed it to pieces with 
hammers. Another concert, last June, featured Merle Haggard, an old 
favorite of mine. (Sample quote, for those who don't know the man: "Look at 
the past 25 years -- we went downhill, and if people don't realize it, they 
don't have their [expletive] eyes on ... In 1960, when I came out of prison 
as an ex-convict, I had more freedom under parolee supervision than there's 
available to an average citizen in America right now... God almighty, what 
have we done to each other?")

Such blatant disrespect for the government's authority over our lives and 
property did not, of course, go unnoticed. To further compound the offense, 
Crosslin kept guns to protect his property. Marijuana! Guns! Pretty soon 
the state police had a court affidavit filed to stop the rock concerts. In 
testimony supporting the affidavit, witnesses reported seeing children as 
young as 13 smoking pot in front of adults. If that doesn't shock you 
rigid, another witness saw even younger children, aged 7 and 8, subjected 
to the sight of adults walking around naked and embracing. When, last 
Friday, Crosslin skipped a court date related to drugs and weapons charges, 
the mighty engine of law enforcement rumbled into action. Not only local 
police, but also the Feds were involved, because Crosslin was suspected of 
shooting at a TV news helicopter -- a federal offense under Title 18 (I.2, 
Sec. 32) of the U.S. code.

Tom Crosslin was not the type to yield meekly. There quickly developed one 
of those "standoffs" we are so familiar with now, in which heavily-armed 
and trained agents of the nation and the state surround a citizen who has 
declined to bend over and squeal like a pig for their amusement. You might 
suppose that the obvious tactic for the authorities in such a case would be 
to cut off the suspect's electricity and water, hunker down, and wait him 
out. This never seems to happen.

Spotting Crosslin walking across his property with a long gun in his hand, 
an FBI man shot him dead. Rohm met a similar fate at the hands of a state 
trooper the next day. In both cases we are told, by the authorities, that 
the man "pointed his gun at the officers."

There is much more to the case than this, and you can read the details for 
yourself if you feel inclined, on the news wires (available via Drudge) or 
the pages of local newspapers like the Detroit Free Press (which, however, 
does not seem much inclined to question the government line).

Crosslin seems to have been on the point of losing his property, in some 
measure because of government harassment. Rohm was involved in a child 
custody case. Bonds had been revoked, the legality of firearms questioned. 
It's not a simple case. I must say, though, that in my own readings I have 
come across nothing to prove that either man was a danger to anyone, 
certainly not before the government began to threaten and intimidate them. 
To the best of my knowledge they did none harm, said none harm, and thought 
none harm. The general temper of the Crosslin project can be gauged from 
the closing paragraph of that mission statement:

Rainbow Farm DOES NOT promote the use of illicit drugs by anyone, nor do we 
condone or encourage the use of tobacco, alcohol, or marijuana by minors. 
We do not encourage breaking laws. We work hard to change attitudes and bad 
laws from within the system of government currently in place. We support 
that system of government and we feel privileged to live in America.

The man who wrote that no longer lives in America, or anywhere else. He was 
shot in the head late Monday afternoon by an FBI agent. That agent's boss, 
new FBI head Robert Mueller, has made no comment on the case that I can 
locate. Neither has his boss, Attorney General Janet Ashcroft. Oh, sorry: 
that should be John Ashcroft, of course.
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MAP posted-by: Beth