Questions remain surrounding a heavy police presence Thursday morning in the 1300 block of South Grant Avenue.
City officers as well as SWAT members were seen in the vicinity of a property owned by 40-year-old Malcolm Terrell Tanner.
Crawfordsville Assistant Police Chief Ryan Teeter confirmed local officers were assisting Homeland Security with traffic control in the area during the event. The local agency was not involved in the investigation or searches. Officials have not confirmed whether anyone was detained at the property or whether the activity was related to Tanner’s pending charges.
Tanner was arrested on an out-of-state warrant in early September and extradited to Loving County, Texas, where he faces charges of engaging in organized criminal activity, deadly conduct, unlawful restraint, criminal trespass and terroristic threat causing fear of imminent serious bodily injury.
Tanner has drawn national attention for his involvement in a political dispute in Loving County, Texas, where he has been accused of attempting to bring supporters into the county, which has fewer than 100 residents, to influence local elections.
In October 2025, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against Tanner over his activities in the county. A court later issued a temporary restraining order.
Tanner owns multiple properties in Crawfordsville, including one previously deemed unsafe and irreparable, with plans for demolition at 203 S. Water St.
Efforts to obtain additional information from other agencies, including the Indiana State Police and federal authorities, were unsuccessful.
Though the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office had no involvement in the presence at the Grant Avenue property, Sheriff Ryan Needham said no one has been brought into the county jail related to the incident.
