ANSWERS STILL SOUGHT IN DEADLY CAMPGROUND SIEGE

Law Officers Killed Pair, But Kin Question Action

VANDALIA -- A year after a deadly standoff near this southwestern Michigan
community, the families of two men shot dead by law- enforcement officers
are still seeking answers.

The irony of the violent deaths of marijuana-rights activists Grover (Tom)
Crosslin and Rolland Rohm at Crosslin's Rainbow Farm Campground, where
peace was the reigning theme, has not been lost on their supporters.

The 5-day siege involved local and state police and the FBI.

Crosslin, 46, was killed Sept. 3, 2001, when he allegedly raised a rifle to
fire at an FBI agent and was shot in the head by the agent.

Rohm, 28, died the following day. He was shot by a state trooper after
allegedly setting fire to the campground's farmhouse where he and Crosslin
lived, then running outside brandishing a rifle.

At an impromptu gathering Monday of supporters and family members at the
burned-out campground, neighbor Buggy Brown recalled the peaceful
atmosphere that prevailed at the campground's popular Memorial Day and
Labor Day weekend festivals of past years.

Each pro-marijuana concert attracted thousands of visitors who came to see
such entertainers as Tommy Chong and Merle Haggard. But there seldom were
any problems, Brown told the South Bend (Ind.) Tribune for an article Tuesday.

"You wouldn't have as much trouble as you would at a bar," he said.

No one is certain what triggered the standoff. Some say Crosslin felt he
was pushed too far when he was notified that his property could be
confiscated for his alleged drug activities and that he faced possible jail
time on drug-related charges.

Others say Crosslin could not cope with the loss of Rohm's then-12-
year-old son. A court had ordered the boy removed from the farmhouse, where
he had been raised since age 4 by the two men.

The siege began Aug. 31, 2001, when Crosslin and Rohm, armed and dressed in
camouflage, allegedly set fire to other buildings on the property.

The FBI became involved after Crosslin allegedly shot at a news helicopter
from South Bend television station WNDU as it flew over the campground.
Firing at a helicopter is a federal offense.

Cass County Prosecutor Scott Teter cleared the FBI and Michigan State
Police of any wrongdoing in the shootings. The FBI, State Police and the
Cass County Sheriff's Department also conducted their own investigations,
and their reports backed Teter's report.

But relatives and other supporters of Crosslin and Rohm continue to doubt
the authorities' version of what happened.

Elkhart, Ind., resident Shirley DeWeese, Crosslin's sister, said she
believes Crosslin and Rohm were set up by someone who wanted their
property. She continues to doubt that her brother was even carrying a gun
when he was shot.

Rohm's stepfather, John Livermore of Rogersville, Tenn., questions nearly
all of Teter's report.

Livermore said information he received from private investigators that he
hired to look into the case indicates that someone other than Crosslin and
Rohm set the fires at the campground and fired on the helicopter.