Pubdate: Wed, 04 Sep 2002
Source: Detroit Free Press (MI)
Copyright: 2002 Detroit Free Press
Contact:  http://www.freep.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/125
Author: Associated Press

ANSWERS STILL SOUGHT IN DEADLY CAMPGROUND SIEGE

Law Officers Killed Pair, But Kin Question Action

VANDALIA -- A year after a deadly standoff near this southwestern Michigan 
community, the families of two men shot dead by law- enforcement officers 
are still seeking answers.

The irony of the violent deaths of marijuana-rights activists Grover (Tom) 
Crosslin and Rolland Rohm at Crosslin's Rainbow Farm Campground, where 
peace was the reigning theme, has not been lost on their supporters.

The 5-day siege involved local and state police and the FBI.

Crosslin, 46, was killed Sept. 3, 2001, when he allegedly raised a rifle to 
fire at an FBI agent and was shot in the head by the agent.

Rohm, 28, died the following day. He was shot by a state trooper after 
allegedly setting fire to the campground's farmhouse where he and Crosslin 
lived, then running outside brandishing a rifle.

At an impromptu gathering Monday of supporters and family members at the 
burned-out campground, neighbor Buggy Brown recalled the peaceful 
atmosphere that prevailed at the campground's popular Memorial Day and 
Labor Day weekend festivals of past years.

Each pro-marijuana concert attracted thousands of visitors who came to see 
such entertainers as Tommy Chong and Merle Haggard. But there seldom were 
any problems, Brown told the South Bend (Ind.) Tribune for an article Tuesday.

"You wouldn't have as much trouble as you would at a bar," he said.

No one is certain what triggered the standoff. Some say Crosslin felt he 
was pushed too far when he was notified that his property could be 
confiscated for his alleged drug activities and that he faced possible jail 
time on drug-related charges.

Others say Crosslin could not cope with the loss of Rohm's then-12- 
year-old son. A court had ordered the boy removed from the farmhouse, where 
he had been raised since age 4 by the two men.

The siege began Aug. 31, 2001, when Crosslin and Rohm, armed and dressed in 
camouflage, allegedly set fire to other buildings on the property.

The FBI became involved after Crosslin allegedly shot at a news helicopter 
from South Bend television station WNDU as it flew over the campground. 
Firing at a helicopter is a federal offense.

Cass County Prosecutor Scott Teter cleared the FBI and Michigan State 
Police of any wrongdoing in the shootings. The FBI, State Police and the 
Cass County Sheriff's Department also conducted their own investigations, 
and their reports backed Teter's report.

But relatives and other supporters of Crosslin and Rohm continue to doubt 
the authorities' version of what happened.

Elkhart, Ind., resident Shirley DeWeese, Crosslin's sister, said she 
believes Crosslin and Rohm were set up by someone who wanted their 
property. She continues to doubt that her brother was even carrying a gun 
when he was shot.

Rohm's stepfather, John Livermore of Rogersville, Tenn., questions nearly 
all of Teter's report.

Livermore said information he received from private investigators that he 
hired to look into the case indicates that someone other than Crosslin and 
Rohm set the fires at the campground and fired on the helicopter.
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