Militias Rally, But Suspected Deadbeat Dad Surrenders

A doctor wanted on deadbeat-dad charges surrendered Monday after a six-day standoff during which he rallied right-wing militia members to his home.

Lynn Truman Crawford, 42, was taken to Shreveport, La., for a hearing on charges of failing to pay $70,000 in child support since 1985 in Missouri.

The standoff began last Wednesday when federal agents and sheriff’s deputies went to arrest Crawford at his mother’s house. Crawford refused to recognize the agents’ authority.

Authorities forced open a door to send in a dog, but Crawford’s dog attacked the police canine and a deputy, the FBI said. The deputy shot Crawford’s dog to death, the FBI said.

Crawford was seen with a long weapon, the FBI said. It said attempts to negotiate with Crawford “were met with exclamations of antigovernment sentiment and his refusal to recognize the authority of the U.S. government.”

On Monday, several media organizations were contacted by militia groups which said their members had gone to Coushatta to observe the standoff. About a dozen militia members were on hand from Texas, Alabama and Missouri.

Crawford said that he is not affiliated with any militia but that he had contacted militia members out of fear he would be executed by FBI and state agents.

“I am very pro-government,” he said. “But I want officers, agents, officials, employees and instrumentalities of the federal government to obey their own laws.”