Live Free or Die !
http://www.wmur.com/news/10772891/detail.html
CONCORD, N.H. -- A Plainfield, N.H., man fighting tax evasion charges has barricaded himself in his hilltop home, saying he is prepared for an armed standoff.
Meanwhile, his wife is negotiating a plea on her own charges in their tax evasion and fraud case.
Ed and Elaine Brown did not show up for their trial on Friday. Elaine returned on Tuesday to say she is negotiating with prosecutors, but Ed Brown is holed up in their home, vowing to stay away from court and protect his property.
"I'm in my house," he said Wednesday morning by phone. "I won't leave it."
"If somebody comes at your house with guns to arrest you and you've committed no crimes, what would you do?" he asked.
"Most Americans would cower and cringe and raise their hands and surrender like a good little slave," Brown told The Associated Press.
And him?
"I won't. Under no circumstances," he said. "I do not tolerate cowardness, oppression, bulliness, and I certainly don't tolerate a federal agency that has absolutely zero jurisdiction in my state, nevermind in my county, in my town."
In the home on Tuesday, Brown told supporters and reporters he has weapons and has called for supporters to converge on his property to help him resist the tax charges.
"You attack my property, it's going to get really violent," Brown told the Concord Monitor on Tuesday. "I don't care who it is."
With a handgun tucked in the front of his pants, Ed Brown met with reporters Tuesday in his kitchen. Three supporters blocked the driveway with their cars, listened to a police scanner and kept an eye out for people approaching the home.
A sign at the end of the driveway read, "Fed bullies: leave the Browns alone." On a nearby tree, a large sign warned "public servants" and government officials not to trespass.
Although federal agents seized more than 30 weapons from the Brown home in May, Ed Brown said some weapons were left on the property. Brown said he expects more supporters to come to the house within the next few days.
"The whole woods will fill up," Brown said. "These are some very serious people."
On Wednesday, Brown said the judge has violated his rights, the media won't report the truth and he does not intend to return to court.
"Under no circumstances. Why would I go into a court that's already disallowed me all lawful due process?" he asked.
Brown said there's a possibility the situation will end peacefully, if the government leaves him alone.
"If they attack me, I have no choice, do I?" he said.
"Do I see it turning out any other way? Yeah, there's a possibility if they stay away and all obey the law of the land" and let his wife go free, he said.
U.S. Marshal Stephen Monier said his office has been in regular contact with Brown and has no plans to go to the property at this point.
The Browns haven't paid federal income taxes since 1996 because they don't think the law requires them to pay.
Judge Steven McAuliffe agreed Tuesday to postpone the couple's trial for another day to allow prosecutors to calculate how much they expect Elaine Brown to pay in back taxes and penalties, including a prison term, as part of the deal. According to her lawyer, Brown and the government have agreed on the "substance and extent" of her criminal liability.
The Browns argued that they have violated no laws by failing to pay income taxes for the past 12 years. They are charged with conspiring to evade taxes, conspiring to disguise large financial transactions and disguising large transactions. Elaine Brown, who earned most of the couple's income, is also charged with tax evasion and with failing to collect employment taxes from the staff of her Lebanon dental office.
They attended the first three days of the trial but did not go to court on Friday.
Prosecutor Bill Morse said the government would need some time to calculate Elaine Brown's total tax liability. Its previous estimate of $625,000 did not include all the years in which Elaine Brown admitted she did not pay taxes.
E-mails that have circulated on anti-government Web sites and e-mail listservs have called on supporters to help protect Brown and his home. One message, urging people to join Brown, was titled "Will Plainfield be another Waco?"
The Browns' large home, surrounded by acres of woods, sits atop a large hill. A circular tower affords a 360-degree view, and walls in the home's recent addition are reinforced with 10-inch-wide concrete, Brown said.
Over the past few decades, Brown has claimed membership in several anti-government and militia groups, including the Constitution Rangers of the Continental Congress of 1777, the Constitution Defense Militia and the UnAmerican Activities Investigations Commission, which he founded.
U.S. Army Security Agency 1967-1971
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