Union Leader: "Feds round up Free Staters"

[KBCraig]

Okay, so that's not an exact quote of the headline, but it's close enough.

Locking and re-directing here, to an existing thread.

http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Feds+seek+Brown+sympathizers&articleId=f54a0d4f-3f36-47ef-abd1-af92810fe583

Feds seek Brown sympathizers

By SCOTT BROOKS
New Hampshire Union Leader Staff

Manchester – Federal marshals are combing New Hampshire and other parts of the country for Ed and Elaine Brown sympathizers suspected of plotting violence in retaliation for the Plainfield couple's arrest last week.

In Manchester, marshals have questioned several members of the Free State Project, a group of small-government activists that includes some of the Browns' most ardent supporters. In one interview that was videotaped and posted online, an agent identified one Free Stater, Rob Jacobs, 42, of Manchester, as a potential threat.

"There's been a lot of talk about once Ed and Elaine Brown were arrested, there was going to be this retaliation," the agent told Jacobs' roommate, Sharon "Ivy" Ankrom, during the filmed interview. "When I've asked people, 'Put yourself in my shoes. Who do I need to be concerned about? Who might actually do something violent?' And they all say Rob."

Jacobs denies being part of any plot to exact revenge for the Browns' incarceration. In an interview yesterday, he said he has been in contact with the agent since last Saturday and has agreed to answer questions.

"Their question as to whether I am a threat to anybody is met with a stern answer: No," Jacobs said.

The federal agent's interview at Murphy's Tap Room, a downtown bar frequented by Free Staters, was conducted Friday, one day after U.S. marshals infiltrated the Browns' home and brought the couple into custody.

Ed and Elaine Brown were convicted in January for refusing to pay federal taxes on $1.9 million of income between 1996 and 2003. The two refused to go to prison and spent the ensuing months holed up in their Plainfield compound.

In that time, Ed Brown made repeated threats against any agent who would come for him and said he had a "hit list" containing the names of more than 50 people whose lives would be in danger if something happened to him.

U.S. Marshal Steve Monier, who masterminded the Browns' apprehension last Thursday, said federal agents are reviewing any threats to government officials and are interviewing people throughout the country as part of an ongoing investigation.

"We are continuing to monitor the threat environment," Monier said. "We'll follow those threats where it goes, and we'll take appropriate action."

Monier confirmed the video on Google is authentic. He asked the New Hampshire Union Leader to refrain from publishing the agent's identity because it could prompt more threats.

The 13-minute clip focuses mostly on the agent's face as he tells Ankrom why he wants to talk to Jacobs and asks her to tell him where he is. At one point, the video shows, the agent tells her, "I need to gauge to myself, 'Is Rob a threat to people that we're in charge of protecting?'"

Jacobs said he supports the Browns' cause and has visited their home many times in the past year. He said he has never seen Ed Brown's supposed hit list and said he does not know anyone who might be planning to harm government officials.

Ankrom, 30, a hostess at Murphy's, said she filmed the agent and asked a friend to post the video online because she wanted Jacobs and other people who might be wanted for questioning to know the marshals were looking for them.

Two other members of the Free State Project -- roommates Phillip Allen, 22, and Michael Hampton, 35, of Manchester -- said a marshal came to their door last week to ask questions, including whether they know anyone who has threatened to commit violence because of the Browns. Both said they did not.

"I think taxation is slavery," Allen said yesterday. "But I'm not going to shoot anybody."

Keith Murphy, owner of Murphy's Tap Room and a member of the Free State Project, said many Free Staters who already have come to New Hampshire supported the Browns' crusade against the federal income tax. They were turned off, however, as Ed Brown's rhetoric became increasingly violent and after he told reporters all of the world's problems are the fault of Freemasons and Jews.

"We are 'small L' Libertarians," Murphy said of the Free Staters. "We believe violence is inherently wrong. It's not in our nature."

Four people linked to the Browns were arrested last month and have been held on federal felony charges. None was a member of the Free State Project, Monier said.

Elaine Brown is being held at a minimum-security prison in Danbury, Conn. Her husband still was waiting to be transferred to prison yesterday.

Authorities have said the tax evaders could face more charges.