---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 06 Sep 2002 11:55:02 -0700
From: radtimes <resist@best.com>
Subject: Rainbow Farm to Be Auctioned
Newsbrief: Rainbow Farm to Be Auctioned
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/253.html#rainbowfarm
Cass County, Michigan, prosecutor Scott Teter sure knows how to
rub salt in an open wound. Teter, the man who presided over the
events that led like a Greek tragedy to the deaths of Rainbow Farm
owners and long-time marijuana activists Tom Crosslin and Rollie
Rohm a year ago (http://www.drcnet.org/wol/202.html#rainbowfarm),
took the occasion of this year's looming Labor Day weekend
anniversary of their killings to announce that the property would
be auctioned off under conditions designed to ensure it could
never again be used as a place of fun, music, pot smoking and
anti-drug war agitation.
Crosslin and Rohm were shot to death by law enforcement officers
during a stand-off at Rainbow Farm last Labor Day weekend, an
event that was obliterated from the public consciousness eight
days later by the events of last September 11. Crosslin and Rohm
had retreated to the farm as a last resort after Teter moved to
revoke their bail in a pending criminal prosecution because they
organized a pro-marijuana rally at the farm. Both men faced years
in prison beginning that day; instead, they returned to their
long-time home and began burning buildings they feared were
destined to be seized by Teter.
After the men's deaths, Teter indeed initiated a civil forfeiture
action. But he told the South Bend (Indiana) Tribune last week
that he had cut a deal with the estate of Rollie Rohm's son
Robert, now 14, who was taken from Rainbow Farm by state agents
last summer and has been placed in foster care despite the
requests of his grandparents to raise him. The 43-acre property
would be divided into parcels and auctioned to the highest bidder,
with the proceeds going to Robert Rohm, Teter said, pronouncing
himself "very pleased with this agreement."
And no wonder. It ensures that Rainbow Farm will not rise from
the ashes -- now or ever. According to Teter, the deed to each
parcel will include a restrictive covenant that the land may never
be used as a campground or entertainment venue again. Also, any
potential buyers must be vetted by county officials, who may block
the sale if someone they consider an unseemly person (such as a
Rainbow Farm friend or sympathizer) attempts to buy the land.
"We can conduct background checks on the buyer if necessary,"
Teter said. "Basically, we did not want the campground to be
reopened under any circumstances. We didn't want a repeat of what
happened there before."
Teter may be pleased, but relatives and supporters of the two dead
men are not. Rollie Rohm's stepfather, John Livermore, told the
Tribune the county had always been after the land and that an
auction will bring "only pennies on the dollar," thus victimizing
Rohm's son once again. And former Rainbow Farm manager Doug
Leinbach told the Tribune he had received e-mail from Robert
saying he doesn't want the farm to be sold. "He says it's the
only thing he has to remember his father," Leinbach said.
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