USDJ Investigates Rainbow Farm Murders -- Poppies.org

The U.S. Justice Department will investigate the shootings of two drug-reform advocates murdered by police last week during a standoff at Rainbow Farm, a popular Michigan campground that hosted such festivals as Hemp Fest.

Reprinted from the 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.