cannabisnews.com: Rainbow Farms Standoff Sparks Talk, Opinions
Rainbow Farms Standoff Sparks Talk, Opinions
Posted by FoM on September 08, 2001 at 08:53:53 PT
By Peggy Trytko, Niles Daily Star
Source: Niles Daily Star
Tragedy struck the small town of Vandalia when two men were shot and killed in a four-day standoff with police. Grover Thomas Crosslin, 46, was shot by an FBI agent Monday afternoon and his roommate, Rolland Rohm, 28, was shot by a Michigan State trooper Tuesday morning at Crosslin’s Rainbow Farm campground.It began last Friday when Cass County law enforcement officers responded to reports of fires on the campground east of Vandalia on M-60. An anonymous call to police warned the fires were set to ambush officers.
Rainbow Farm was well known for staging festivals where drugs where exchanged and used. Crosslin held Hemp Fest every Memorial Day weekend and Roach Roast on Labor Day weekends.Authorities searched the campground in May and seized 300 marijuana plants and three loaded firearms and arrested Crosslin and Rohm on drug and weapons charges. Rohm’s 13-year-old son was removed from the property and placed into foster care.In June, Cass County Circuit Judge Michael E. Dodge issued an order prohibiting Croisslin from holding festivals until his trial, scheduled February 26, 2002.Crosslin allegedly violated the terms of the order when he held a festival at Rainbow Farm Aug. 17 and 18, leading to hearings that were scheduled last Friday to revoke Crosslin’s $150,000 bond and Rohm’s $25,000 bond.Neither appeared in court Friday. Cass County Sheriff’s deputies who responded last Friday to the scene where not allowed on the grounds and found themselves in a standoff. Attempts to negotiate with Crosslin through a third party were unsuccessful.On Monday afternoon, Crosslin, carrying a rifle and accompanied by Brandon James Peoples, allegedly approached an area where an FBI observer was stationed. Upon seeing the FBI observer, authorities said Crosslin raised his weapon to shoulder height and pointed it directly at the agent. The FBI agent fired one round and fatally wounded Crosslin.Authorities established negotiations with Rohm that continued through the night. Rohn was killed the next morning after authorities saw a glow in the upstairs of the farmhouse. At approximatley 6:30 p.m., Rohm was observed leaving the residence and walking out into the yard with a long gun. After several orders to put the weapon down, Rohm reportedly pointed the weapon at a Michigan State policeman and was fatally shot.The violent end to what was hopefully going to be a peaceful negotiation prompted questions posed to Dowagiac residents as to what they thought of the incident and if they thought police handled the situation well.John Hall, a hot dog vendor on Main Street said he believed officers did not want a confrontation. Hall, a former police chaplain said he knows Sheriff Joseph Underwood and other officers.“I know the attitude of the guys. I think they did a good job. I was sick for them when I heard he got shot because that’s not what they wanted.”Crosslin was given every opportunity to give himself up, Hall said. It was Crosslin who made the aggressive move when he came out with a gun during negotiations.“It was totally opposite of what he was trying to do. So that’s why we think it was a suicide by cops,” Hall said.“He had everything, why didn’t he just come to court? But just seeing the situation in the news, I knew, and even my son said it was going to end up going wrong because he’s creating his own problems.”Kris Dawkins was out of town when the incident happened, so she said she doesn’t know the details of the standoff at Rainbow Farms in Vandalia but people at work were talking about the incident.“Everyone was just really upset about how it was handled,” Dawkins said. Some of her co-workers felt police overreacted when they shot the two, she said.“Because I don’t have the facts, I don’t have the details, I don’t know,” she said.Jerry Ferrari said he got the tail end of the story. It started the day he left town and ended the day he came back, he said, and what he knew about it, he read on the internet.“I really didn’t follow it that closely,” he said. “I really don’t have a negative or positive on it. Probably a little bit of both sides.”Ferrari said in previous standoffs with police in Ruby Ridge, Idaho, and Waco, Texas, “it seems like police like to use force.”“I think they jump the gun a lot of times,” he said, adding that he didn’t know what the situation at Rainbow Farm was and that it was not a good thing for Crosslin and Rohm to have pointed guns at police.Sally and Don Heffington said they followed the story a little bit on the news.“I don’t really know all the facts, just a lot of hearsay” Don Heffington said. “The radio says one thing, the paper says another.”“I don’t think they needed to kill him,” Sally Heffington said. “They could have shot him in the legs or something,” Don said.The two also said police could have waited Crosslin out or used tear gas to end the situation.Margaret Farmer said she heard about the standoff through the grapevine and saw it on the news Friday night. She said she knew someone had shot at a helicopter, but didn’t know there was a standoff.“Nobody can prove cops could have handled it differently.” she said when asked if she thought police handled the situation well. “I couldn’t handle it no different and you couldn’t handle it no different than what they could,” she said. In that situation something was bound to happen, she said. “I wouldn’t know what to do.”No innocent bystanders where hit and no police got hurt, she said. “That’s their job. They should know what they’re doing.”Darin Hackett said shooting at a helicopter and plane were actions that threatened authorities.“The minute he raised his gun and shot at a news chopper and at police that’s a threat right there,” Hackett said.“They could have had something to lure cops in there,” he said, “so I think they did do it fair sniping them off, if they did snipe them off.”Hackett just got out of the Navy after four years and is now in the National Guard. He was on call during the standoff, he said. When he went to the Cass County jail to put a resume in for corrections officer, there were a lot of FBI agents there, he said.Kyle Belew, owner of the Wounded Minnow Saloon, said he doesn’t advocate the legalization of pot.“I think that actually in that whole arena, they set the whole thing back by the choices they made,” Belew said.“I think the guy was unstable to begin with and I think the FBI did pretty much the right thing. They gave him his chances. He shot at a helicopter. If he didn’t have a gun, he wouldn’t have been shot. When it comes to that point...”Belew thinks the two men chose to be martyrs for the cause of legalizing marijuana. “Unfortunately, there’s a 13-year-old boy involved in that whole thing.”“I might sound harsh, but they had their choices. They made their choices. The FBI had to do what they had to do.”Belew also expressed concern that in highlighting the events of the standoff, local media did not portray happenings at the farm that led up to the incident.“The bad thing is there were two people who were shot,” he said. “They both received bullets, and really, for what? In a way, I’m torn. Did they need to be shot? I actually think those guys probably were not violent people. But they chose to walk out of that house with a gun and actually point it.”Wounded Minnow cook Mike Mortimore recounted a news story he read about the frame of mind an officer would be in if a rifle were aimed at him or her.“I think they handled like they could,” he said.“Everybody can speculate about what happened,” Mortimore said, but said people need to think about it from the police’s point of view.“Do they want to do somthing like that? Would they come down to small town America and draw that kind of attention?“I think they did everything they could. Remember he’s the one who shot at the NewsCenter 16 chopper.”Mortimore supports the legalization of marijuana, saying if it is regulated and taxed it “could help a lot of our country’s problems.”He has friends who have gone to Rainbow Farm, he said, but never went there himself.“I always thought it was a bad idea to go out there,” he said.Mortimore said he thinks the incident hurt the cause of legalizing drugs.“He could have chosen a better way than to get busted with 300 plants,” Belew said. “He just did all the wrong things.”Source: Niles Daily Star (MI)Author: Peggy Trytko, Niles Daily StarPublished: September 8, 2001Copyright: 2001 Niles Daily StarContact: dailystar leaderpub.comWebsite: http://www.nilesstar.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:Rainbow Farm Campgroundhttp://www.rainbowfarmcamp.com/Tom Crosslin & Rolland Rohm Memorialhttp://www.freedomtoexhale.com/rb.htmRainbow Farm Outcry http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10851.shtmlCamp Drew Line in Blood http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10847.shtmlCannabis News Articles - Tom Crosslinhttp://cannabisnews.com/thcgi/search.pl?K=Crosslin
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Comment #9 posted by freedom fighter on September 08, 2001 at 23:45:55 PT
Choices that kills human beings
“I think that actually in that whole arena, they set the whole thing back by the choices they made,” Belew saidA choice to grow one or 300 plants does not kill, rape or rob or invade or snitchize anyone.A choice to impose your brand of happiness will do that. Mr. Belew has the right to abstain. If he does, then, he needs to understand that another has the same right not to abstain.Was it Mr. Belew's choice not to legalize cannabis that kill Tom and Rolland? I think so! It was not the FBI or the cops or Tom and Rolland that made that choice. It was Mr. Belew and the folks who are so misguided about choices.ff
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Comment #8 posted by dddd on September 08, 2001 at 13:41:13 PT
I noticed that too R-N-R
...;.How much more obvious do lies have to get?.....There is noway this could be a fact,,,,yet there it is,,,stated as if it wasan actual occurance,,,,,,,,,,If cornered,,and asked for detailsconcerning this badly aimed shot,,,the reply would be somethinglike this;;;;; "Well,,,from what we understand,,,there was ashot fired at a police helicopter,and this is according to the peopleinvolved,,,I'm afraid we wont have any more details,until theinvestigation is complete......yes,,,next question"....."yes,mr DrugPig,can you tell us why it was that Mr Crosslin was shot between the eyes,on his own property,by federal fuckin' HIT MEN?,,,we assume thatperhaps Mr Crosslin could have been shot in the leg,or chest????dddd
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Comment #7 posted by Rock-N-Roller on September 08, 2001 at 13:16:31 PT
Police aircraft shot at ???
The police say that a shot was fired at a police aircraft and missed. I'm not talking about the news helicopter. How do they know that? Did they see this bullet pass by with thier eyes? How do they know it came from the farm? I can just see how it went:Pilot to ground control: Just entered suspects airspace.Ground Control: What do you see?Pilot to Ground Control: Not muchGround Control: You have to see something.Pilot to Ground Control: Just green fields, and burning buildings.Ground Control: We need more than that.Pilot to Ground Control: Oh Yeah! a bullet. looks like a Remington 22 cal. shot from suspects farm. I could tell it came from the suspects weapon. I saw the rifling marks on the side, Just went by the windscreen. Missed by 5-11/32 inches. Isn't that a federal offence.Ground Contol: Yes it is. What color was the bullet?Pilot to Ground Contorl: Lead Gray. I'm sure.Ground Control: Are you sure it was a Remington and not a Winchester?Pilot to Ground Control: Positive.Ground control to Troops: There's our green light. Repeat, green light, we have a go. This is not a drill. GREEN LIGHT.What excellent vision these people have.I would like to have this claim that they were shot at and missed, looked at real close.
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Comment #6 posted by Silent_Observer on September 08, 2001 at 11:39:16 PT
Patrick, you're exactly right..
Time to use the power of the Vote to clean house. Nothing else will work.
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Comment #5 posted by Bully Pulpit on September 08, 2001 at 10:46:46 PT:
LIES
We shouldn't take the FBI's claim that Crosslin had a gun at face value. He very well may have, but considering how planting evidence is standard practice among police, it is very likely that Crosslin had no weapons. Crosslin had claimed that the campground had no weapons prior to his execution.
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Comment #4 posted by Patrick on September 08, 2001 at 10:45:16 PT
Lethal Force
With all the sophisticated tools at law enforcements disposal why do they not equip their snipers with tranquilizer guns? We can drop an elephant in a split second. They wouldn't have even had to wait for Tom to raise his gun before they shot him. As soon as he stepped in range bang! HE could have been sleeping like a baby, easy arrest. But no 125 storm trooper on Toms land had to kill him so some greedy ass politician/lawyer type can confisicate his property with no resistance. No, instead we save tranquilizers darts for animals and use good ole fashioned lead bullets on our people. This week has been one of "being in shock" over this incident. Shock is evolving into anger. We have to Vote the anti's out of power. God speed to Jamaica, Canada, and England in their legalization efforts. We need our overseas cannabis loving friends to help us beat this WOD cancer out of america. We came to the aide of Europe during WWII. Hopefully, Europe can come to the aide americans that are imprisoned by our own dysfunctional democracy. A democracy that is armed with government sponsored assasination death squads. Please Help us to now throw off this 21st century tyranny before it spreads to your countries. The people of america are good at heart. It is not the people of this land but our "government" that has taken over us and refuses to confront global warming, racism, and continues to move forward with its plans for a new arms race.
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Comment #3 posted by LameBrain on September 08, 2001 at 10:22:52 PT
Classic Steppenwolf
Monster Once the religious, the hunted and weary Chasing the promise of freedom and hope Came to this country to build a new vision Far from the reaches of kingdom and pope Like good Christians, some would burn the witches Later some got slaves to gather riches But still from near and far to seek America They came by thousands to court the wild And she just patiently smiled and bore a child To be their spirit and guiding light And once the ties with the crown had been broken Westward in saddle and wagon it went And 'til the railroad linked ocean to ocean Many the lives which had come to an end While we bullied, stole and bought our a homeland We began the slaughter of the red man But still from near and far to seek America They came by thousands to court the wild And she just patiently smiled and bore a child To be their spirit and guiding light The blue and grey they stomped it They kicked it just like a dog And when the war over They stuffed it just like a hog And though the past has it's share of injustice Kind was the spirit in many a way But it's protectors and friends have been sleeping Now it's a monster and will not obey (Suicide) The spirit was freedom and justice And it's keepers seem generous and kind It's leaders were supposed to serve the country But now they won't pay it no mind 'Cause the people grew fat and got lazy And now their vote is a meaningless joke They babble about law and order But it's all just an echo of what they've been told Yeah, there's a monster on the loose It's got our heads into a noose And it just sits there watchin' Our cities have turned into jungles And corruption is stranglin' the land The police force is watching the people And the people just can't understand We don't know how to mind our own business 'Cause the whole worlds got to be just like us Now we are fighting a war over there No matter who's the winner We can't pay the cost 'Cause there's a monster on the loose It's got our heads into a noose And it just sits there watching (America) America where are you now? Don't you care about your sons and daughters? Don't you know we need you now We can't fight alone against the monsterwritten by John Kay,in the late sixties
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Comment #2 posted by mr.greengenes on September 08, 2001 at 10:07:59 PT
Tavern owner dislikes competition
"Kyle Belew, owner of the Wounded Minnow Saloon, said he doesn’t advocate the legalization of pot."Well of course not, might cut into his liquor profits. Can't tolerate that kind of behavior now can we.The media made a big deal out of some 17 year old kid leaving the camp ground and getting killed in a wreck. How many drunks hit the road on a daily basis after spending some time at the Wounded Minnow Saloon.And while I'm on the subject the media also made a big deal out of some nude individuals walking around the campground.About thirty minutes south of the Rainbow Farm, in Granger,IN, there is a nudist colony called Sunny Haven that has been in existence for at least 30+ years. Recently, I believe earlier this summer the newspaper had a warm and fuzzy article about how families take their children there. What's the difference?
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Comment #1 posted by bruce42 on September 08, 2001 at 09:25:30 PT
whatever
“I think the guy was unstable to begin with and I think the FBI did pretty much the right thing. They gave him his chances. He shot at a helicopter. If he didn’t have a gun, he wouldn’t have been shot. When it comes to that point...”Maybe he was unstable maybe not, I don't know. What I DO know is it would NOT matter whether he had a gun or not. The Miami 13 showed us that.All we have to go by are police and FBI reports, and we know how truthful THOSE can be. No civillian or media witnesses, no survivors. How convienient for them.
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