Tax Revolt in New Hampshire

To avoid serving prison sentences for tax evasion, Ed Brown and his wife, Elaine, have locked themselves off from the world on their own terms. From behind the 8-inch concrete walls of their 110-acre hilltop compound, the couple taunt police and SWAT teams and play to reporters and government-haters with references to past standoffs that turned deadly. Residents want the Browns' circus to end before their small Connecticut River town becomes the next Ruby Ridge or Waco. N.H. town hopes for end of standoff

By PHILIP ELLIOTT, Associated Press Writer, Yahoo News, 6/21/07

To avoid serving prison sentences for tax evasion, Ed Brown and his wife, Elaine, have locked themselves off from the world on their own terms.

From behind the 8-inch concrete walls of their 110-acre hilltop compound, the couple taunt police and SWAT teams and play to reporters and government-haters with references to past standoffs that turned deadly. Residents want the Browns' circus to end before their small Connecticut River town becomes the next Ruby Ridge or Waco.

The Browns raised the specter of the first case, the 1992 shootout at an Idaho property called Ruby Ridge, by holding a news conference Monday with Randy Weaver, whose wife and child were killed there along with a deputy U.S. marshal.

Ed Brown warned authorities they wouldn't take him alive: "We either walk out of here free or we die."

The Browns were sentenced in absentia to 63-month prison sentences in April, after being convicted of conspiring to evade taxes on nearly $1.9 million in Elaine Brown's income and of plotting to disguise large financial transactions.

Though they have refused to leave the compound, U.S. Marshal Stephen Monier insists he has no plans to raid it to make them serve their time and will instead seek a peaceful surrender.

Expert observers praise the authorities' hands-off approach, but patience is wearing thin for Plainfield's 2,400 residents. Town selectmen recently asked Monier to stop the influx of militiamen and other anti-government groups to the Browns' home and to bring the couple to justice.

"While we understand and support efforts to achieve a quiet resolution to this matter, the longer the Browns remain at large the better the chance, in our view, that our local police force will be involved in an incident with them or their group of supporters," the letter reads. "In short, we believe that it is time that definitive action be taken."

It's a sentiment echoed throughout the town.
"The people of Plainfield feel the whole thing has been mismanaged from the get-go," says Stephen Taylor, a Plainfield native who is state agriculture commissioner. "He's got this band of loonies up there right now. There's this constant traffic and helicopters overhead and everything. Goddamn crazies."

The town south of bustling Lebanon has a "live-and-let-live" reputation that no one wants linked to the Browns, Taylor said.

"Everybody feels a tiny bit of embarrassment. This is what we're going to be known for?" Taylor said. "We don't want to be known for this."

The Browns' home on an isolated dirt road includes a turret that offers a 360-degree view of the property and a driveway that is sometimes barricaded with sport utility vehicles.
Ed Brown, a retired exterminator, and his wife, a dentist, have bragged that the compound is self-sufficient and capable of running entirely on solar, wind and geothermal energies.

While saying repeatedly that he has no interest in harming the Browns or their supporters, Monier has not said what he does plan to do.
He says the massive law enforcement turnout on June 7, complete with roadblocks and planes, was for surveillance of the compound while agents seized the Lebanon building that housed Elaine Brown's dental practice.
But Ed Brown and many residents believe it was a botched raid that apparently had to be called off when someone walking a dog stumbled onto federal agents in camouflage near the home.

"We were much better off before the federal government tried to take him into custody and it didn't go well," fumed town administrator Steve Halleran. "The fervor had died down. That was one of the things we were hoping, that people would go on to other things. But that's all by the wayside."

Weaver's news conference with the couple only added to local frustrations.

"That must've been a first. We've never really seen convicted felons just be able to hold press conferences," Halleran said. "There has to be a restriction of access to and from their property. If people can continue to visit them, to bring them supplies, with diesel fuel and food, they can stay there for a long time."
Brown neighbor David Grobe, a former patient of Elaine Brown, just wants the dirt road to be silent again. He said satellite news trucks parked at a softball field for Monday's news conference at the same time residents wanted to play.

"This used to be a very quiet street," he said.
Sitting in lawn chairs around the Browns' long gravel driveway, the couple's supporters rail against Freemasons, the Illuminati, the Federal Reserve, the Vatican and the mainstream media.

Some defend the Browns' claim — repeatedly rejected by courts — that no law authorizes the federal income tax and that the 1913 constitutional amendment permitting it was never properly ratified.

"The income tax can take more than the Mafia can with a machine gun. Believe me," said Alfred Liseo of Meriden, Conn.

"The Mafia doesn't have popular support," interrupted Bill Walker. "The government has support of millions of ignorant people who have the wool pulled over their eyes. They think they need to pay. They don't."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070621/ap_on_re_us/tax_evaders;_ylt=Agtt.Roy15G0RjF63LBo8KJvzwcF


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Alice man holed up in N.H. home with tax protesters

Gonzalez's father says he may join his son to stand against government

Cirino Gonzalez, 30, joined Browns in fight against federal taxes

Christopher Maher, Alice Echo-News Journal, 6/13/07

A 30-year-old Alice native has joined a group of tax-protesters who have barricaded themselves in a home in New Hampshire, in what some fear may soon become a standoff similar to the one that unfolded in Waco, Texas, in 1993.

Cirino "Reno" Gonzalez, 30, of Alice is one of more than a dozen people who have joined a New Hampshire couple, Ed and Elaine Brown, in a protest against the federal income tax.
The Browns, who in April were sentenced to more than five years in prison after they were convicted of multiple charges related to tax evasion, have refused to surrender to federal marshals and are currently living with several supporters in a home in Plainfield, N.H.

An Alice Native

Gonzalez was a student at Alice High School before dropping out in 1993 and obtaining his GED. He studied law enforcement at a community college and worked as a clerk in the Jim Wells County Sheriff's Department for a short period of time, and worked at the Thunder Road night club, his father said.

A divorced father of four children, all under the age of 11 years, Gonzalez is the son of Jose M. Gonzalez, also of Alice.

Cirino Gonzalez joined the Navy in 1995 and received an honorable discharge in 2003. Following his return to Alice, he accepted a job with a civilian contractor working in Iraq, where he repaired weapons for the military before returning to Alice, his father said.

Asking Questions

Cirino Gonzalez said Tuesday the journey that brought him to New Hampshire began in 2005, when he started questioning the reasons behind the war in Iraq. Questions about funding for the war led him to investigate the federal tax system, and in particular the operation of the federal reserve.

During the course of researching those issues on the Internet, Gonzalez found information that led him to believe the government does not have the legal authority to collect federal income taxes. Gonzalez said although he found many like-minded people on the Internet, that belief has cost him in his relationships with friends and family.

"Most people do not want to deal with this initially. I've lost a lot of friends because they just turned tail while I was talking to them, and they went away," Gonzalez said. "Later, they came to me and told me that what I was saying was true."

Gonzalez compared the government to a Mafia organization, and said people continue to pay income taxes because they either do not understand the "truth" or they are afraid of reprisal.

"Why are so many people put in jail, having their families destroyed, their homes taken away, their land ripped away from them when there is no law stating they are required to pay protection money to the government?" Gonzalez said.

Although Gonzalez said his primary question is "where is the law?" related to federal income tax, he took issue with many other legal questions during a phone interview Tuesday.

Over the course of more than an hour, Gonzalez questioned the legality of free speech zones, the purpose and effectiveness of the Department of Homeland Security, the need for banks to obtain Social Security numbers, the wording of firearm laws, the effectiveness of the United States military and the legality of seat belt ordinances.

Joining The Browns

In January, Gonzalez saw a short news story related to the Browns' case on television and followed up that story with research on the Internet, including reading blog sites set up by the Browns and their supporters.

After communicating with them for some time, Gonzalez made the decision to drive to New Hampshire the weekend before Easter to give them his support.

"It takes your personal integrity to stand up and stand with the people who are being unjustly accused of things," said Gonzalez from the Browns' New Hampshire home. "I caught hell from all of my family. Basically I tried to tell them something that they initially couldn't grasp."

The Home

The Browns' home is located on a hilltop in a 110-acre, heavily wooded estate. The large home was reportedly built with 8-inch thick concrete walls, has a private well and has the capacity to generate some electricity. A five-story-high tower sits atop the home, with a 360-degree view of the surrounding area. Ed Brown has told reporters the home has a large stockpile of food, and supporters have reportedly brought more supplies in recent weeks.

A Supportive Father

Jose M. Gonzalez, Cirino's father, is a strong supporter of his son's decision to move to New Hampshire, and has been following the case.

Jose M. Gonzalez served in the U.S. Army for six years, and has a bachelor's degree from Texas A and M Corpus Christi in psychology and sociology. He is working on a master's in counseling, with an emphasis on family counseling, and currently works as a counselor at the Alice Counseling Center.

Jose M. Gonzalez said he believes actions by the U.S. Marshals last week, in which they reportedly used armored personnel carriers to execute a warrant on a business owned by the Browns, are signs the confrontation might be moving toward violence.

"Our primary goal is to inform the American public of the truth, which is there is no federal income tax in America," Jose M. Gonzalez said. "Personally, I don't want my son to die trying to get this message across. So I will drive to New Hampshire to protect him, if I have to."

Jose M. Gonzalez, who has not paid income taxes since 1997 he said, empathizes with the Browns' situation and agrees with their cause.

Moving Toward Violence?

The Browns and Cirino Gonzalez have informed law enforcement officials that if any move is made on their home, they will use lethal force against the federal agents.

Gonzalez brought several weapons with him to the home, and announced on his myspace.com page that he had recently purchased a .50-caliber rifle.

When asked why they would choose to fight against federal agents, Cirino Gonzalez said they were "taking a stand" to protect other Americans.

"If we don't stand now, while it is at our doorstep, if we don't stop it here, it's going to be at your doorstep," Gonzalez said.

Jose M. Gonzalez said he was afraid for his son's safety, and was considering driving to New Hampshire to join Cirino. Although his occupational speciality in the Army was as a truck driver, Jose M. Gonzalez said he is reluctant to join the group in New Hampshire because he might be compelled to use other information he learned in the service.

"I had trained as a...[I'm not supposed to say it, but I guess I've been out long enough]...as a specialist in nuclear, biological and chemical warfare," Jose M. Gonzalez said. "This is what scares me. I know how to kill people in mass quantities. I don't want to go up there."

A Waiting Game

U.S. Marshal Stephen Monier, who has been charged with the arrest of the Browns, said Wednesday the Browns are attempting to work outside the law.

"They had a trial in front of a jury of their peers, and they were convicted on all counts," Monier said. "No man is above or below the law, and they don't get to decide what the rules are."

Monier also discouraged anyone from joining the Browns, and warned Cirino and Jose could face separate criminal charges.

"Aiding and abetting people in their continuing obstruction of justice, in this case the Browns' refusal to surrender and submit to authorities, is a separate felony offense," Monier said. "Bringing them weapons, they are convicted felons, is a separate criminal offense.

"Reno is not helping the situation, he is hurting it."

Although he acknowledged that he had cut power and phone lines to the house, Monier said he had "no intention of storming the house," and was prepared to take as long as necessary to resolve the situation peacefully.

"If I wanted to kill Ed Brown, I would have done it a long time ago. But that's not our objective. Our objective is to take them into custody without causing any harm," Monier said. "The Marshal Service has been around 216 years. Do you think we're going anywhere?"

The Concord Monitor in New Hampshire contributed to this report

http://www.aliceechonews.com/articles/2007/06/13/local_news/news00.txt