Plainfield, NH not the new Waco? - Updated
Thu Jun 07, 2007 at 11:01:08 AM PDT
Apparently this is happening right now in New Hampshire:
Authorities Converge On Ed and Elaine Brown's Home
Plainfield, New Hampshire - June 7, 2007
State and federal authorities have converged on the home of a New Hampshire couple involved in a tax standoff.
People are being kept several miles away from the Center of Town Road in Plainfield, where Ed and Elaine Brown live. Neighbors, including some who have been evacuated, reported police SWAT teams, a helicopter and at least one armored vehicle converged on a field near the home Thursday morning.
This could get interesting:
Authorities have not said if they were moving in to arrest the fugitives
The Browns have been barricaded inside their home for several months, after being convicted of tax evasion. They did not even attend their sentencing hearing, in which they were sentenced to five years in prison. The couple has not paid their taxes in more than a decade and owe nearly a quarter of a million dollars in back taxes.
Elaine Brown once had her own dentist office in Lebanon.
Ed Brown says he is armed and has promised a Waco like ending, saying he will not be taken alive.
Here's another article on the same subject.
The funny thing about this is that there is a strong libertarian streak in New Hampshire. I've love to know how Bush thinks he's helping Republicans there by going into this situation guns blazing. This does have a hint of Waco but without the cult followers:
On April 14, 2007, the Concord Monitor reported that Ed and Elaine Brown "recently ordered the clerk of the court to close their case, citing themselves as 'the court' and 'judge.'" The Browns reportedly signed their filings with the court using new names: "Edward, a Living Soul in the Body of the Lord, of the House of Israel," and "Elaine, a Living Soul in the Body of the Lord, of the House of Israel." The Monitor also reported: "The Browns changed their names in late March after converting to a non denominational form of Christianity they learned from a man named Sonny. According to friends of the Browns, Sonny, who wears a long beard, all-white attire and sandals, flew from Hawaii to New Hampshire to visit the Browns and shared his religious and legal teachings over several days."[9] The court rejected the filings, ruling them frivolous.
Thanks to Ivy of Tidewater for Democracy for the heads up via their email list.
Update
Feds Say They Won't Raid N.H. Tax Evaders Home
ederal authorities indicated Thursday they would not raid the home of two convicted tax evaders but did serve a warrant to seize property they own in a neighboring town.
The warrant was served in Lebanon and authorities had no contact with Ed and Elaine Brown at their fortified hilltop compound in rural Plainfield, U.S. Marshal Stephen Monier said.
Neighbors had reported heavily armed police and at least one armored vehicle near the 110-acre property Thursday morning. Reporters were kept away from the scene and a plane carrying an Associated Press photographer was ordered out of the airspace.
"We are here ... to serve that warrant," Monier said in a statement to calm speculation that a raid was imminent.
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