Pubdate: Thu, 06 Sep 2001
Source: Herald-Palladium, The (MI)
Copyright: 2001 The Herald-Palladium
Contact:  http://www.heraldpalladium.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1378
Author: Mike Rupert,  H-P Staff Writer
Note: The Associated Press contributed to this story
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
http://www.mapinc.org/af.htm (Asset Forfeiture)
http://www.mapinc.org/find?200 (Rainbow Farm Shooting)

FBI, MSP DEFEND SHOOTINGS

The rolling hills and scenic woodlands at the 34-acre Rainbow Farm 
Campground provided a stark contrast Wednesday to the charred remains of 
the five-day standoff that left two men dead.

The burned-out shell of a Volkswagen Beetle and the lingering smell of 
smoke from buildings that were destroyed by fire were a constant reminder 
of the violence as state and federal officials worked to find out exactly 
what happened.

Grover T. "Tom" Crosslin, 46, was shot from about 25 feet away and Rolland 
Rohm, 28, from about 100 to150 yards, law enforcement officials revealed 
during a media tour of the campground.

The standoff began Friday when neighbors complained Crosslin, who had 
worked for the decriminalization of marijuana, was burning buildings on his 
property.

Crosslin was shot by FBI agents in a wooded area about 200 yards south of 
the farm's main house while returning from a neighbor's house Monday 
evening, said FBI Special Agent in Charge John Bell Jr.

"The agent was secreted behind a tree in an observation post," Bell said, 
pointing to the tree and the fire pit in the heavily wooded area where 
Crosslin was shot. "When Mr. Crosslin spotted the agent, he raised a gun to 
his shoulder, pointed it directly at the agent and the agent fired."

Bell said a coroner's report shows Crosslin was hit more than once, but 
would not say exactly how many times Crosslin was shot or if he was shot by 
more than one agent. However, Bell did say two agents were involved in the 
shooting.

Cass County Sheriff Joseph Underwood said Crosslin stormed out of the main 
house after growing frustrated with negotiators earlier that evening. 
Underwood said a camouflaged Crosslin was openly carrying the rifle as he 
walked through the woods.

A well-worn two-track littered with beer cans, broken lawn chairs and other 
debris led to the site of the shooting from the farm's main house.

Rohm, who lived with Crosslin at the farm, was shot just outside the farm's 
main house early Tuesday morning by Michigan State Police from a distance 
of 100 to150 yards, said Capt. Richard Dragomer, 5th District state police 
commander.

Dragomer said police believed Rohm was going to surrender after a deal was 
struck for him to talk with his 13-year-old son who was removed from the 
home in May after Crosslin and Rohm, along with three others, were arrested 
on drug charges. Police believe the boy's removal may have been a catalyst 
for the standoff.

"We were hoping he was going to walk out and end this peacefully after the 
negotiations," Dragomer said.

Dragomer said flames starting coming from the main house around 6 a.m., and 
when Rohm came out 45 minutes later with his rifle aimed at state police, 
officers had no other alternative but to protect themselves.

Two state police officers shot at Rohm across a clear meadow from a tree 
line, Dragomer said, though he would not say whether one or both hit him or 
how many times he was shot.

Crosslin and Rohm were both brandishing .223-calibre Mini-14 semiautomatic 
rifles that were "loaded to the gill" and "ready to fire," Bell said.

As many as 60-75 FBI agents, 30-35 sheriff's deputies, and another 35 state 
troopers were called in during the stand-off, according to law enforcement 
officials.

Despite the large amount of manpower, law enforcement officials maintained 
that at no time did officers take any aggressive action to provoke Crosslin 
and Rohm.

"For a majority of the time we were trying to establish negotiations," Bell 
said. "There were sets of observer teams stationed along the perimeter of 
the farm. They knew we were there -- but these men were allowed to roam freely.

"We were merely acting as observers hoping to find a way to end this 
peacefully through negotiations."

Investigators from the FBI, state police and the state fire marshal's 
office sifted through the remains Wednesday of the 10 buildings at the 
campground that were destroyed by the fire. Nine of the fires were set 
Friday and another was set Tuesday at the two-story main house just before 
Rohm was shot.

Bell emphasized Crosslin and Rohm set the fires, not police.

Bell said investigators have found the remains of several long guns, a 
revolver, hundreds of shell casings and what they believe to be a detonated 
pipe bomb and several propane tanks that may have exploded during the fire.

Dragomer and Bell both said no evidence of narcotics has been found on the 
farm, but said if any was located within the buildings it would have burned 
in the fires.

Bell said further evidence could provide more details into what exactly 
these men's operations were at the farm, and why the events unfolded as 
they did.

Dori Leo, the lawyer for Crosslin and Rohm, explained why the pair decided 
they had no option of leaving the farm alive and provoked police into 
shooting them to death in separate but similar incidents 13 hours apart.

"I was stunned Rollie didn't make it," Leo told the Detroit Free Press. "I 
knew what would happen to Tom after we talked. Tom was the defiant one. But 
Rollie was scared."

Leo, a former Cook County, Ill., prosecutor, wondered why her clients had 
to die.

"Why can't we maim them? Or tranquilize them?" she asked.

Leo said she asked the Cass County Sheriff's Department on Friday afternoon 
to back off in the hopes Crosslin and Rohm would surrender.

Leo said the sheriff was concerned about public safety.

"Maybe they were justified," she said. "But it's too bad it had to end this 
way."

The FBI had 15 to 20 people working the site Wednesday, including members 
from the national laboratory in Washington, D.C., who are conducting an 
internal investigation, Bell said.

"Anytime an agent fires his gun there is an investigation -- it's normal 
business procedure," said Bell.

Bell said two agents -- neither from Southwest Michigan offices -- have 
been questioned in the investigation of Crosslin's death, but both remain 
on active duty in other areas of the state. Bell would not release the 
names or home offices of the agents.

The two state police officers are on paid administrative leave pending the 
results of a state investigation, Dragomer said. Those names are also being 
withheld.

A sheriff's deputy arrested one protester, Brian McCullough, 38, of 
Gilbertville, Ky., on Wednesday at the entrance to the campground and 
charged him with disorderly conduct. He posted a $100 cash bond and later 
returned to the protest site.

McCullough, who drove to the campground with three other protesters, said 
he was arrested after uttering an obscenity to the deputy.

Holding a handwritten sign bearing the words "THEY KILLED THEM," Mesick, 
Mich., resident Melody Karr, 37, said she didn't know how long she and her 
fellow protesters would continue.

"I think as long as it takes to get some answers," Karr said.
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager