Main thread for Ed and Elaine Brown vs the evil IRS, Part 15

[Kat Kanning]

For Sale: "Spacious single family home in a country setting.  Home has in law apartments, a 36 x 48 detatched horse barn and paddocks.  A rare find in Plainfield. Conveniently located between Routes 12A and Route 120" at 245 Center of Town road to be exact.  MLS #2656365 by Century 21 for: $349,000

See: http://www.verani.com or to be exact=
http://www.verani.com/nh/real-estate/mls/2656365/property-search

So if the Feds tell you to get lost, off of Center of Town Road UNLESS you live there, tell them you want to look at this House For Sale!  and "scope out" the neighborhood.

  Good idea.

[Raineyrocks]

For Sale: "Spacious single family home in a country setting.  Home has in law apartments, a 36 x 48 detatched horse barn and paddocks.  A rare find in Plainfield. Conveniently located between Routes 12A and Route 120" at 245 Center of Town road to be exact.  MLS #2656365 by Century 21 for: $349,000

See: http://www.verani.com or to be exact=
http://www.verani.com/nh/real-estate/mls/2656365/property-search

So if the Feds tell you to get lost, off of Center of Town Road UNLESS you live there, tell them you want to look at this House For Sale!  and "scope out" the neighborhood.

I love it, it's brilliant.

[Lloyd Danforth]

"Ed and Elaine Brown at their fortified hilltop compound in rural Plainfield"

What's it fortified with - niacin?  Aren't all his neighbors on the same hilltop as well?  I mean, it is NEW HAMPSHIRE - there might be a few hills here and there...   And the proper definition of a compound: an enclosure of residences and other buildings.  Where's the enclosure?  The Nazis had compounds for the Jews, the US had compounds for the Japanese - but as far as I can tell, Ed and Elaine don't have one.

"The home has a watchtower, concrete walls and the ability to run on wind and solar power. Ed Brown, who has at least one gun, has said he has stockpiled food and supplies and would resist arrest."

It's got a watchtower?  Really?  Where?  Did the Mormons build it?
Solar and wind power are instantly transformed from environmentally responsible to ... nefarious because they're not paying extortion money?  And - oh my god - he's got at least one gun?  Oooooooooh.  I'd give them apoplexy.
Ed and Brown MUST be Mormons - with all that food.  Aren't they supposed to have AT LEAST a year's food and supplies put away?

"A man who has holed up with armed supporters in his cement-walled house for most of his tax evasion trial was found guilty yesterday, along with his wife, of failing to pay federal income taxes for a decade."

How does one "hole up?"  Is Ed part rabbit?  Don't the FEDGOV thugs have armed supporters and cement-walled offices?  Have you ever tried to access bureaucrats?  Talk about holed-up.  Talk about hypocrisy.

It's enough to make a reasonable man sick.

The Watchtower cost them a quarter when they made the mistake of answering the front door on Saturday morning

[error]

Margot Sanger-Katz finally turned in a story, and it's got a few new details:

Feds gather; Browns unscathed

Plainfield

By Maddie Hanna and Margot Sanger-Katz
Monitor staff
June 08. 2007 8:00AM

U.S. Marshals and local police brought armored cars, SWAT teams and an explosives disposal unit. Planes flew overhead, heavily armed police officers guarded roadblocks, and phone lines were cut. But despite the heavy police presence, marshals said they did not come to the Plainfield home of tax protesters Ed and Elaine Brown yesterday to arrest them.

Instead, U.S. Marshal Stephen Monier said police were in the area to do surveillance on Ed Brown and his supporters while an IRS criminal investigation unit seized a building the couple own 10 miles away.

"We needed to know where he was, and we needed to know where his supporters were," Monier said to a group of reporters stationed by a blockade about two miles from the Browns' home on Center of Town Road.

Monier said the marshals and IRS agents were acting on a warrant issued earlier this week, which allowed the treasury department to seize the building that housed Elaine Brown's West Lebanon dental practice. Agents wearing "IRS CID" vests were visible in front of the office complex yesterday, but they would not speak to reporters. Cars and trucks parked in the driveway included license plates from Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey. An officer with a sniper rifle was stationed on a second-story balcony.

While agents searched and secured the office building in the morning, Monier said, marshals patrolled the perimeter of the Browns' 110-acre property. During the surveillance, a marshal encountered a man whom he identified as a Brown supporter walking a dog. The man, who was not named, was detained and questioned, Monier said. He was released yesterday afternoon.
   
"Unfortunately, it required U.S. Marshal Service personnel during that encounter to take him into custody," Monier said. "Because he essentially discovered us."

Monier didn't explain why marshals needed to act on the warrant yesterday, saying only there were ongoing concerns about the security of the building.

A few hours later, after the police had left, Ed Brown said that the dog walker had been a plumber, and that the dog, a young shepherd named Zoe, was his. Arms resting on a second-story windowsill, Brown said he was not aware of the extensive police activity nearby. But he had noticed that his phone and internet service had been disconnected and discovered his dog running home about an hour after she left on a walk with his friend, whom he also would not name.

Brown said he saw planes flying overhead Wednesday evening. And in an audio recording posted on a website yesterday morning, Brown reported armored vehicles driving near his home.

"I guess we've got a lot of paranoia among our Freemason police," Brown said from his window. "Big boys with bigger toys. That's all that amounts to."

The Browns were convicted in January of multiple federal felonies related to their refusal to pay income taxes for nearly 10 years. The Browns, who contend that no laws require them to pay taxes, dismiss the court's finding as a "fiction," and describe the judge, Steven McAuliffe, as a "criminal." Both Browns were sentenced to prison sentences of more than five years, but they have resisted capture, remaining holed up in their hilltop home for several months.

Their case has attracted the attention of several fringe groups throughout the country, including tax protesters, militias and the Free State Project. The Browns' supporters have maintained websites with frequent updates, sponsor a daily internet radio show called Ed Brown Under Siege, and communicate about the case through internet message boards, e-mail lists and local meetings.

In January, when Ed Brown first abandoned the tax evasion trial, he warned supporters that the situation might turn into "another Waco." Since then, he has repeated that any attempt to arrest him could turn into a violent confrontation. In the last few months, the Browns have entertained visitors from Tennessee, New York and Hawaii - among other states - who have offered them support, advice and supplies. Those gifts have included weapons, Monier said yesterday.

In recent weeks, internet chatter about the couple had quieted down, but yesterday the web was abuzz with news, much of it incorrect, about the happenings in Plainfield. One website reported that the Brown house was on fire, while others said it was under siege. There were multiple calls for supporters to rush to the Plainfield home to show solidarity.

Ed Brown said the events did not change his perspective.

"I'm not worried about anything. What are they going to do, send me to God sooner?" he asked.

But a few minutes later, he issued another warning to officers who might try to arrest him.

"I would say to the marshal, and all of those people responsible for any unlawful action, to be very apprehensive and very nervous about conducting any criminal activity against our land or ourselves," Brown said. "We are a very reciprocal people. You do us good, we do you good. You do us bad, we're gonna do you bad. It's that simple."

Monier said he will continue to communicate with the Browns and encourage them to surrender, as he has since January. Flanked yesterday by the Washington, D.C., spokesman for the U.S. Marshal Service, he said the armored vehicles and explosives equipment are not indicative of a change in strategy.

"When you roll out with an operation, you want to be prepared for every encounter," he said.

Though marshals cut the phone lines and internet connection at the fortified concrete house yesterday, Ed Brown said that he has no concerns about the couple's ability to live independently. The house has its own well, and solar and wind generators make it able to operate "off the grid." Brown said yesterday that he has an extensive food supply, which includes gourmet items.

Brown also has a cell phone now, thanks to a journalist who tossed it to him through the window on request. Aaron Noble, an editor at the local Connecticut Valley Spectator, agreed to loan Brown his phone for the night.

"Do you have a charger for that?" Noble asked Brown following the handoff.

A few minutes later, Elaine Brown turned up live on the radio, telling listeners she and her husband were safe but in need of a long-term communication solution. Callers to the show discussed plans to bring disposable cell phones.

Neither Brown nor Monier would say how many supporters were at the Brown residence yesterday. But one supporter, Cirino Gonzalez, a former military contractor who moved from Texas to live with the Browns several weeks ago, reported last week that he had purchased a .50-caliber rifle, a weapon frequently used by military snipers with rounds a half-inch in diameter. Elaine Brown told listeners yesterday that Gonzalez was still at the house.

"I get sad knowing not everyone has one," Gonzalez wrote on his MySpace page. "Then I think about everyone . . . that is not even close to being ready."

The Associated Press contributed information to this story.

------ End of article

By MARGOT SANGER-KATZ and MADDIE HANNA

Monitor staff

[YixilTesiphon]

We're a fringe group now?

[error]

Ed Brown on today's radio show said he didn't want more armed people coming out, but that he did want people to come out and observe and keep watch on which bureaucrats do what, when and where, and to get the word in and out when they make a move.

If it were me I'd have surveillance on Monier and his gang so tight that I knew when he was taking a dump.

[Pat K]

We're a fringe group now?

Gee, and I even got a hair cut. 

[Take It In Blood]

but realisticly though, there is no need for gunfire and such on feds behalf. They can just use gas that would put them to sleep and arrest them if they want to. So that would be mess-free way for feds, but they always love to do it the hard way

[error]

Speaking of which, now's a fine time for me to say hello to the U.S. Department of Justice. Hello, USDOJ. Are you enjoying this thread? I'm enjoying watching you read it.

[Caleb]

I'm wondering if this is what they wanted for themselves when they were growing up:  oppressing their fellow human beings so that their government could have the money it needs to commit horrible crimes around the world. 

Where I come from, you DOJ guys are called bullies. And that's when I'm being nice. You're also terrorists, because you've set up a system where you coerce people to pay for these atrocities by intimidating them with threats of violence if they don't comply with your demands. Isn't that a textbook definition of a terrorist?

[SAK]

I hope you guys in NH are ready to descend (or should I say ascend since it's a "hilltop home" now) upon Ed's the next time (there WILL be a next time) something happens...

[Quantrill]

To them, not only are they just "doing their job", but they are the "good guys".  Afterall, "other people pay taxes.  Why should the Browns be any different?"

Of course, these guys also fail to comprehend the reasons "we" went to war with England.  If many of the DOJ types were around a couple centuries ago, they'd be after the treasonous colonists like Jefferson and Paine who dared to defy the wishes of their government.


Geez.  I don't like to name call, but it would be nice if people would spend more time reading history books instead of going after people who prefer to be left alone.  I mean, I can understand a few rich, powerful people who want to remain that way.  But a relatively average citizen who honestly thinks their life has meaning when they plan to attack U.S. citizens over something as trivial as taxes. 

Why aren't you this fervent about catching murderers and rapists?!?!?

Unfortunately, I already know the answer to that...

[error]

Why aren't you this fervent about catching murderers and rapists?!?!?

Well, the marshals are this fervent about catching murderers and rapists; they just don't see nearly as many of them.

[KBCraig]

but realisticly though, there is no need for gunfire and such on feds behalf. They can just use gas that would put them to sleep and arrest them if they want to.

Such things only work in the movies. The Russians tried it when Chechens took a crowded Moscow theater hostage. It didn't work so well:
At least 33 terrorists and 129 hostages died in the raid or in the following days. Doctor Andrei Seltsovsky, Moscow's health committee chairman, announced that all but one of the hostages that were killed in the raid had died of the effects of the unknown gas, rather than from gunshot wounds.

Medical certifications of the cause of death of hostages irrespective of their age and residence were completely identical: "terrorism". About 700 hostages were poisoned by gas - some of them became II and III category invalids. 12 people suffered total or partial hearing loss. 69 children were made orphans as a result of the undertaken operation. Several special forces servicemen had been also poisoned by the gas during the release operation.


Anesthesiologists make big money (and pay huge insurance premiums) balancing on the fine line between consciousness and death. And that's in carefully controlled conditions, knowing the weight and medical history of the patient. Pumping anesthetic gas randomly through a structure is guaranteed to have disastrous results.

[jaqeboy]

Why aren't you this fervent about catching murderers and rapists?!?!?

Well, the marshals are this fervent about catching murderers and rapists; they just don't see nearly as many of them.

Actually, those are state crimes and are not in their jurisdiction:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Marshals
Duties

The Marshals Service is responsible for apprehending wanted fugitives, providing protection for the federal judiciary, transporting federal prisoners (see JPATS), protecting endangered federal witnesses and managing assets seized from criminal enterprises. The Marshals Service is responsible for 55.2 percent of arrests of federal fugitives. In 2003, U.S. marshals captured over 34,000 federal fugitives and assisted in the capture of over 27,000 state or local fugitives.

The United States Marshals Service also executes all lawful writs, processes, and orders issued under the authority of the United States, and shall command all necessary assistance to execute its duties.

U.S. Marshals also have the common law based power to enlist any willing civilians as deputies. In the Old West this was known as forming a posse, although under Posse Comitatus Act, they can not use soldiers for law enforcement duties