STANDOFF'S VIOLENT END UPSETS FEW IN VANDALIA

But Some See Shades Of Waco, Ruby Ridge In Deaths Of 2 Men

VANDALIA -- This poor, conservative farming village in southwest Michigan,
where federal agents killed two men at a campground that promoted marijuana
use, isn't an anti-government enclave or a haven for extremists, residents say.

"This is a nice, quiet town. The people here are not what you would call
revolutionaries," said Dale Williams, owner of Trail's End Bait Shop.

The confrontation at Rainbow Farm, in which Thomas Crosslin and Rolland
Rohm died, "was coming for years, with those people out there advertising
marijuana," said Williams while selling bait to a customer.

"They were rubbing the cops' noses in it. I never would have guessed they'd
get shot. But this is not Waco, Texas."

Crosslin, 47, was shot dead Monday after a weekend-long standoff with
federal and local authorities over felony drug and weapons charges. On
Tuesday, Rohm, 28, met the same fate.

Crosslin and five others were arrested on drug charges in May after a
two-year investigation of marijuana use at Rainbow Farm, a 34-acre
campground that endorsed marijuana for medical, spiritual and recreational
purposes. The ongoing tensions led to the weekend showdown, authorities said.

Rainbow Farm was a local oddity, out of sync with the area.

"What is the impact of these shootings on our town? Zero," said Rocco
Papandrea, owner of a water filtration business and 30-year resident of
Vandalia. "These guys weren't really part of the community. They really
didn't have anything to do with us."

"If they raised their guns at FBI officers, then the FBI guys have to look
out for themselves," said Jessica Burt, a clerk in Papandrea's office.

Not everyone agreed with the FBI's actions. According to a handful who held
vigil for the dead men, the events of this week put Vandalia on the same
level as Waco and Ruby Ridge, the infamous sites of government-citizen gun
battles in the 1990s.

"It happened here in Vandalia this week, and it's happening all over the
U.S.," said Trina Moss of Hillsdale County, who was among a small group of
protesters huddled near a campfire on the east side of town. "Government is
over-reaching people's lives, and the sad thing is we're paying them to
look up our butts with a magnifying glass."

Moss stood near crudely drawn messages on plywood hung from road signs
along M-60 with references to Waco. "They killed them," one placard announced.

Atypical Town

The deadly climax set Vandalia apart from its historic roots and from the
rest of bedrock conservative western Michigan.

Its residents would rather their town be known as a key stop on the
Underground Railroad, a place that offered shelter to fleeing slaves from
Indiana and Illinois before the Civil War. The area is home to many African
Americans, some of whom are descendants of the runaway slaves who settled
there.

Vandalia is not a typical bedrock Republican, Christian Reformed, western
Michigan town. The only apparently active church in the downtown area was a
Buddhist temple. There is one red brick church that is boarded up and
overgrown with weeds.

The farming community of about 360 people was devastated a few years ago
when its major employer, Bivouac, a van customizing company, moved to Indiana.

The ochre-colored pole barns that Bivouac left behind provided training and
target practice facilities for FBI agents and state police involved in the
standoff with Crosslin and Rohm.

Raymon Neal, a Detroit native who is a 10-year resident of Vandalia, was
surprised by the gun battle.

"Why now? The police have known for years what they were up to at Rainbow
Farm," Neal said. "I'm surprised it came to this. But I can tell you, the
people around here didn't want that drug activity going on so close to town."

Police said Crosslin and Rohm drew their guns before they were shot.

But Gerry Livermore, mother of Rollie Rohm, said she doubts that is what
happened. "I know Rollie wouldn't put his life in jeopardy knowing that he
has a 13-year-old son to care for," said Livermore, visibly shaken and
weary after a long drive to Vandalia from her home in Rogersville, Tenn.

During the standoff, police said it appeared a house and four main
buildings on the campground property were burned. Authorities also 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 safely without injuries.

Crosslin's uncle, George Colwell, said the shootings were "very
unnecessary. Very uncalled for. It's murder. I feel like this is another Waco."