If you're familiar with the Libertarian view of American politics, you may have heard the
philosophy boiled down to a single sentence that describes the ideal libertarian America
as one where gay married couples are able to protect their home grown weed with guns.
It's a humorous line that espouses the libertarian core belief of the individual's liberty in
the context of a few typically partisan political talking points.
But believe it or not, something similar to the described scenario did actually happen
about twenty years ago, at a place called Rainbow Farm.
So, how did the weed defending go for the gun-toting homosexuals in the land of the
free and the home of the brave?
Take a wild guess...
Born in 1955 in Indiana, USA, Tom Crosslin had an interesting life before the Rainbow
Farm.
A big, rough fella, he was often described as a hothead.
He had been part of a biker gang and was a convicted felon, after producing a gun in
a pay dipute with an employer.
But he was also a determined hard worker, being a long-haul trucker before moving to
Michigan and becoming house flipper.
He would buy an old property, fix it up and then sell it for a profit.
It was in Michigan that he met Rolland Rohm, and the two became a couple.
Rohm was the opposite of Crosslin in many respects.
Smaller and quieter, he was described as an easy-going hippy.
He had a young son named Robert from a previous relationship, but Rohm had full custody and
Crosslin treated Robert like his own.
They became a little family.
In 1993, Tom Crosslin bought an overgrown acreage in the village of Vandalia, in Cass
County, Michigan.
Crosslin would transform the area into what would become known as Rainbow Farm, and he,
Rolland and Robert Rohm began living on the property.
He hired people in the area that most would consider unemployable to work on the farm.
They were well liked by their neighbours, and integrated well into the community.
If they noticed a neighbour's driveway was snowed over, they ensured it was ploughed.
If they noticed someone was in need, they would help out.
Once, Crosslin learned that kids at Robert's school didn't have enough money for lunch,
so he donated enough money for a year's worth of student lunches.
In 1995, Rainbow Farm hosted the first of many events that espoused the couple's marijuana
advocacy.
Tom Crosslin was a firm believer in personal liberty and Rolland Rohm was a stereotypical
hippie - they both believed in legalisation of weed.
Over the years, these events grew in size and frequency.
More people were hired, more structures were built on the land, including a stage.
Eventually, Rainbow Farm was hosting full on festivals, the most notable being the annual
events, "HempAid" on Memorial Day and "Roach Roast" on Labor Day.
Performers included Janis Joplin, Merle Haggard and *laughs* Tommy Chong.
Of course.
Shame they couldn't get Willie Nelson.
Hosting a bunch of events themed around weed didn't do much to ingratiate Rainbow Farm
to Johnny Lawman, and authorities were keen to keep a close eye on the goings on.
More likely they just wanted to shut the whole thing down, and were looking for any excuse.
The Rainbow Farm wasn't openly breaking any laws, but they were very publicly announcing
their disagreement with the law, and obviously the events attracted, and in the eyes of the
law, encouraged a lot of potheads.
Most of the people attending were breaking the law, but the events themselves weren't,
so the law would have to investigate to find something they could catch them with.
The police set up roadblocks for people coming and going to the festivals.
Undercover narcs were sent in, looking to find a supply network of drugs at the events,
particularly hard drugs.
They found acid, pills, coke, and a loooooot of weed, but they couldn't find any indication
that this was organised, or tied to Tom Crosslin or the event managers.
These were just random guys showing up at a festival to sell drugs.
In fact, Crosslin would have anyone caught selling drugs thrown out of the Rainbow Farm.
He didn't want Rainbow Farm to be linked to any illegal activity that would discredit
or disrupt their advocacy, and he was well aware of the risks these fellas were bringing
upon the whole thing.
The Cass County Prosecutor sent Tom Crosslin a letter, informing him that they had proof
drugs were being sold on his premises, and if they found evidence linking this to Crosslin,
Rainbow Farm would be subject to civil forfeiture.
You'd kind of have to wonder why they'd really give too much a shit, honestly.
I've done videos on the sieges at Ruby Ridge and Waco, and I sometimes get comments that
defend the authority's actions, saying Randy Weaver was associated with white supremacists
and the Branch Davidians were a cult, and that my critique of the government's conduct
indicates that I'm sympathetic towards these things.
To be clear, I'm absolutely not, and I believe you can be simultaneously unsympathetic to
these things and still believe that the government had a very ham-handed approach that lead to
unneccesarry deaths.
But in this case, how could anyone defend the government's zeal for getting these guys?
I mean, unless the thought of a bunch of people getting together in a field to smoke weed
and listen to music really, really upsets you.
But is that a reasonable position to hold?
If they're not hurting anyone, what harm will come from just leaving them alone?
Crosslin himself was familiar with Ruby Ridge and Waco, and in a letter responding to the
Prosecutor, said; "We are all prepared to die on this land before
we allow it to be stolen from us.
How should we prepare to die?
Are you planning to burn us out like they did in Waco, or will you have snipers shoot
us through our windows like the Weavers at Ruby Ridge?"
In 2001, a seventeen-year-old was driving back from Rainbow Farm's 4/20 event, when
he crashed into a school bus full of kids.
The teenage driver was the only death, but his body was found wearing a Rainbow Farm
wristband.
This confirmed what the authority's had suspected all along.
Weed was the devil, and the Rainbow Farm was the source of all the area's problems.
It was time to massively ramp up their efforts, and take them down once and for all.
Three weeks later the property was raided.
The supposed reason was for suspected tax evasion, and they were looking for accounting
records.
This seems to be an issue with a lot of these videos.
Who would win in a fight - one million libertarians or a single tax form?
Actually, Tom Crosslin, persuant to his desire to make sure that Rainbow Farm was totally
legally above board, had done all his taxes correctly.
What he hadn't done correctly, was have two shotguns and a 9mm in the farmhouse.
This wouldn't be a problem in and of itself, but Crosslin was a felon, he was barred from
owning guns.
Oh no.
Then the police found a 200-plant growing operation in the basement.
Oh Jesus Christ no.
Seems like a fairly major lapse in judgement to be growing this stuff on the property.
Them stoners and their stupid fucking ideas.
In their defence, this weed was for Crosslin and Rohm's own personal use, but it was still
illegal.
They were both arrested, forbidden from hosting any more festivals on the property, and 12-year-old
Robert was taken by Child Protective Services.
The prosecuting attorney detailed all the previous incidences of drugs being distributed
at Rainbow Farm in an official request to proceed with the asset forfeiture he had previously
threatened.
The two got out on bail, and Tom Crosslin announced that that year's "Roach Roast" festival
would still be going ahead, in direct violation of the restraining order forbidding this.
The next week the authorities informed Crosslin and Rohm that they'd be back in court on the
31st of August.
Crosslin went around to campers on the farm and told them they'd have to leave.
He also warned his neighbours that something might be about to go down, offering to pay
for hotel stays if they wanted to clear out for a while.
On the day they were due in court, neither Crosslin or Rohm showed up.
At Rainbow Farm, smoke began to fill the sky.
Crosslin had set fire to several buildings.
He was facing twenty years in prison, and the loss of his farm, and he wasn't about
to go down without a fight.
When a TV helicopter came to film the scenes, Crosslin fired on it, believing it to be a
police chopper.
The helicopter left, but the actual police arrived.
They swarmed the surrounding area; state police, FBI, SWAT teams, but they kept their distance,
hoping to avoid another Ruby Ridge or Waco.
There were already anti-government protestors setting up camp.
Rohm and Crosslin were holed up in their farmhouse.
The authorities communicated to them through friends and family that acted as intermediaries,
hoping to coax them into surrendering peacefully.
But they were not going to give up Rainbow Farm.
The FBI set up snipers surrounding the property.
On September 3rd, Tom Crosslin was trekking through the woods around the property, armed
with a rifle.
He paused at the tree line.
There was an FBI sniper hidden in the leaves.
Crosslin raised his rifle.
He was shot in the head and killed instantly.
Attention now turned to the meeker Rohm.
How would he react to being the sole defender of Rainbow Farm, would he surrender, or go
ballistic?
On the phone with negotiators, Rohm agreed to surrender on the condition that he could
see his son.
He would leave the house without a fight at 7am.
But an hour before, the authorities reported the upper level of the house was on fire.
30 minutes later, Rohm emerged, weapon ready and aimed at the officers outside.
He was shot and killed.
And that was the end of Rainbow Farm.
It didn't, and still doesn't, receive nearly as much coverage as events like Ruby Ridge
or Waco - although this is perhaps because it occurred right before 9/11.
It also isn't really as egregious as those, if the story really happened the way it was
reported then it's hard to say the authorities were overly-aggressive in the same way they
were in the other sieges.
The continued attempts to get the place shut down before they could prove they were doing
anything wrong was a bit much, but I suppose they were breaking the law in the end.
You may be interested to know that Michigan became the first state in the Midwest to legalize
recreational marijuana in 2018.
So who knows, maybe someday we'll see Rainbow Farm return to its former glory as a smoke-friendly
festival venue.
The history behind it is a marketing graduate's wet dream.
Present them as martyrs, y'know, like these two guys died for your right to smoke weed,
and you'll be selling more t-shirts with their faces on them than Bob Marley's.
You'll turn a festival into a site of holy pilgrimage.
Well, that's the cynical side of me talking, but I feel like the two would approve, y'know,
it's sort of a middle finger to authority from beyond the grave.
Anyways, it certainly makes for an interesting story, do you agree?
Let me know in the comments and if you enjoyed my telling of it why not subscribe?
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