POLICE KILL SECOND SUSPECT IN STANDOFF AT MICHIGAN FARM

CHICAGO, Sept. 4 -- Authorities today shot and killed a second man at a
Michigan farm, ending a five-day standoff in which two aircraft came under
fire and several buildings at the "alternative campground and concert
arena" were set ablaze.

An FBI agent shot Rolland Rohm, 28, after Rohm allegedly pointed a rifle or
shotgun at a police officer just after 6 a.m. Rohm's roommate, Grover T.
Crosslin, 47, owner of the Vandalia, Mich., campground, was killed Monday
evening after pointing a gun at police.

The deaths were the culmination of a siege that began Friday with Cass
County sheriff's deputies arriving after reports of buildings burning on
the farm. Authorities did not attempt to put out the fires because
neighbors told police that Crosslin intended to ambush them, said Sheriff
Joseph Underwood Jr.

Underwood said that Crosslin had told neighbors to leave the area because
"all hell was going to break loose." Soon after officers arrived on Friday
to set up a perimeter around the property, a news helicopter from nearby
South Bend, Ind., was hit by a bullet as it flew overhead. Later, an
unmarked Michigan State Police aircraft was also fired upon over the
campground.

Police speculated yesterday that the men were desperate over the
possibility of losing their farm, located about 120 miles east of Chicago,
in the wake of an undercover drug investigation that had yielded charges
against both.

The campground, Rainbow Farm, was frequented by people who advocated
legalization of marijuana and was scheduled to host the annual "Hemp Aid
2001" festival on Memorial Day Weekend.

But after a two-year probe in which undercover police officers allegedly
purchased drugs, including marijuana and LSD, festivals at the site were
banned by a local judge until the trial. Crosslin was charged with growing
marijuana, maintaining a drug house and felony possession of firearms. Rohm
faced similar charges.

Authorities called in Dori Leo, attorney for the two men, to help mediate a
peaceful resolution. Leo had been representing the men in court and was
also fighting government attempts to seize the farm.

Leo said that after Crosslin was killed, police asked her to talk to Rohm
on a walkie-talkie in an attempt to calm him down.

"He was scared," Leo said in a telephone interview. "He asked pointed
questions about what charges could be brought against him and what the
consequences would be for the charges. He was adamant that our society is
run by a bad government and wanted that message to get out."

About 3:45 a.m., Rohm asked authorities to allow him to see his 12-year-old
son, who had recently been placed in foster care after living at the site
with the two men for more than five years.

"I was hopeful this would end peacefully," said Leo, still shaken.

The sheriff said police were in the process of granting the request when a
fire was reported at the compound shortly after 6 a.m. and Rohm was seen
leaving the residence with a long gun. About a half-hour later, Underwood
said, police ordered Rohm to drop the weapon, but he pointed it at an
officer and was shot and killed.

Crosslin was being mourned in a posting on the Rainbow Farms Web site. "The
Final Roach Roast was this weekend. Prayers to the family of Grover T.
Crosslin," it read. "He is an inspiration to us all. It is never a happy
occasion when someone is murdered, but it is an honor dying for a cause you
believe in. God Rest His Soul."

Underwood said authorities had hoped for a peaceful resolution.

"It just didn't seem like they wanted that to happen. It appears they must
have felt the campground was going to be permanently closed."