Brown supporter arrests (continued)

[Demosthenes]

Brown allies found support from families

By Margot Sanger-Katz
Monitor staff

September 23. 2007 12:10AM

On the June day when Cirino Gonzalez learned that U.S. marshals and police SWAT teams were surrounding the fortress-like home he'd sworn to protect, he called his father in Texas.

Gonzalez, who goes by the nickname Reno, had spent nearly two months living in the Plainfield home of Ed and Elaine Brown, a retired exterminator and dentist who have been convicted of multiple tax-related offenses but have refused to surrender to authorities. Gonzalez joined the Browns a few months after he returned from Iraq, where he worked as a military contractor. He made the couple and their anti-tax views his cause, vowing to die in their defense if necessary.

Jose Gonzalez had listened as his son shared newly-acquired anti-government views. He had given his blessing when Reno left to go help the Browns. He read his son's blog, and learned when he'd bought a military sniper rifle. After learning about the newly-intensified danger, Gonzalez decided to join his son in Plainfield.

Reno Gonzalez was one of four core Brown supporters who were arrested by marshals last week in a multi-state sweep, and charged with federal felonies for helping the tax-protesting couple. Three of the four men had family members who shared their deep commitment to their ideological cause. Jose Gonzalez, who is studying to become a family counselor, has been saddened by his son's detention but is also enraged by his arrest. He believes, like his son and the Browns, that government officials are conspiring to keep the truth about the federal income tax from ordinary Americans.

"We're doing this because we want to inform the American public that there is no law requiring Americans to pay a federal income tax and therefore all this coercion that the IRS and the federal marshals have practiced on American citizens amounts to terrorism," Jose Gonzalez said in an interview shortly after his son's arrest.

In online videos, blog posts, interviews and court records, a picture of the support system for the Browns' supporters becomes clear. Gonzalez, Danny Riley and Robert Wolffe all had family members who stood firmly behind them, embracing their political views and lionizing the Browns. Fewer details have emerged about the family of the fourth man, Jason Gerhard.

'A truth movement'

Jose Gonzalez, 48, said he came to share his son's view about the income tax readily. Both Gonzalezes were upset about the war in Iraq, but felt their war protests were having little impact on the conflict. When Reno told Jose that income taxes were a fraud, Jose Gonzalez said he was heartened, even though he personally earns so little that he does not pay any income taxes.

"We are part of a movement - we call ourselves a truth movement. That is the bigger picture. The real picture is Cirino and I are trying to bring the war in Iraq to an end. Demonstrating with billboards on the street didn't work. Calling our congressman didn't work," he said. "When we figured out this is what's feeding the war machine - we've got to stop the food - this is how we got involved with Ed and Elaine."

Reno Gonzalez packed his subcompact car and drove to Plainfield in April, bringing weapons with him. Once he arrived, he offered the Browns his military training and advised them on security. He also posted frequent, sometimes incoherent updates on their MySpace blog, describing visitors to the house and his own evolving political views.

When he purchased a high-powered .50-caliber sniper rifle in late April, he wrote a post celebrating his new weapon. "I get sad knowing not everyone has one," he wrote.

Jose Gonzalez said his son's venture forced him to go online. He did research on "patriot" themed websites and established his own MySpace page, which is now filled with tax protest theories and videos. Jose Gonzalez said he had concerns about the Browns from the beginning. As he describes it, he had hoped to find a more appropriate "Rosa Parks" for the tax protest movement. But he said he was persuaded by his son that the Browns' wealth, celebrity and willingness to die for their cause made their case an unusual opportunity to bring attention to their anti-tax views.

Jose Gonzalez brought along his son Romeo, a police officer in Texas, and he nearly lost his job after the local paper ran an article highlighting Jose Gonzalez's own military experience working with chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. The Gonzalez family did not stay at the Browns' home long.

According to a blog post, Jose Gonzalez and Ed Brown clashed nearly immediately, after the father and son suggested security measures for the house that Ed Brown rejected. Now, Gonzalez describes Ed Brown as a racist with political ambitions, but he still believes the Browns are the best vehicle for spreading the truth.

"We cannot be picky about who's going to help us topple the IRS," Jose Gonzalez said. "After this cause is done, we will choose another cause and focus on it."

Regular visitors

Robert and Valeri Wolffe knew the Browns long before their recent clash with authorities. Robert Wolffe and Ed Brown were both leaders in the U.S. Constitution Rangers, a national anti-government organization, which Brown has described as responsible for holding law enforcement officials accountable for constitutional violations.

According to court documents, the Wolffes, who lived in nearby Randolph, Vermont, visited the Browns regularly since they began their standoff, frequently towing their camper along so they could spend nights on the property. They loaned the Browns a car, prosecutors alleged, and offered their home as a transfer point for supplies after the marshals cut off mail delivery to the Browns' home.

Like the Browns, who had 30 weapons in their home at the time of their arrest last May, the Wolffes owned a variety of guns, including assault rifles. Prosecutors allege that Ed Brown and Robert Wolffe would shoot guns together on the property when Wolffe visited.

Valeri Wolffe was not a member of the Constitution Rangers, but her allegiance to her husband's views became clear after his arrest. After marshals visited her home, she immediately called the host of a "patriot" radio station to ask for advice.

Following his recommendation, she swiftly packed two suitcases with clothes for her and her husband and moved all their weapons into the rear hatch of her SUV, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Arnold Huftalen at a court hearing Monday.

When investigators returned with a search warrant for the house, the weapons were gone. Valeri Wolffe ultimately led them to the car, which contained rifles and handguns, boxes of ammunition, noise protection earmuffs and the suitcases, the prosecutor said. Huftalen focused on the earmuffs as evidence that Wolffe was not merely hiding her guns, but packing them with intent to use them.

Lawyers also disclosed this week that Valeri Wolffe videotaped a conversation between her husband and an investigator. Wolffe's lawyer said he planned to use the tape as evidence that the government had "totally misconstrued" the nature of Wolffe's statements, but he abruptly decided to abandon his argument before the video could be shown.

A search of Valeri Wolffe's workplace found further evidence of her ideological orientation. On her computer at the U.S. Department of Transportation, Huftalen said, investigators found a document that he said "could best be described as a manual on how to kill federal agents."

She has attended both of her husband's court hearings since his arrest, but has refused to speak with reporters.

'A life cycle'

Watchers of extremist groups said that it's not unusual for family members to sympathize with a relative's tax protesting or militia membership. Families often share values that may underlie their interest in the movement. But it's also common for fringe views to splinter a family, especially when those views begin to have consequences.

"Usually, what you see is kind of a life cycle of a tax protester. A husband gets involved, husband gets excited and wife doesn't really pay attention. But a little later on, wife really has to pay attention as notices come in from the IRS," said J.J. MacNab, a tax evasion expert who is writing a book on the tax protest movement. "Usually what you see in the life cycle is it ends in a divorce."

But when families or close groups all embrace the same ideology, their solidarity can become a strong force against outside influence.

"Once you're in a group that has views that are outside the mainstream, you develop a sense of being the truth tellers against the false information in the outside world, and that binds you even closer to the group," said Chip Berlet, who studies the psychology of conspiracy theories, and who interviewed Ed Brown several times in the 1990s for a book. "The more people dismiss you, the more you're convinced you're right."

'They're true patriots'

Daniel Riley, an electrician from Cohoes, N.Y., lived in the home of his father, a retired state worker. Riley was charged with four felonies last week, and he is accused of helping the Browns install motion-sensing lights and fire extinguishers and bringing them weapons.

Riley became involved with the Browns this spring but became famous among their supporters in June. He was briefly detained by marshals after stumbling upon a surveillance team while walking the Browns' dog near the Browns' driveway. In the days and weeks after the incident, Riley told various versions of the story. In each, he claimed he'd been shot at and Tasered by marshals.

That alleged assault fueled the sympathy of Riley's 73-year-old father, who described on a long video interview how he felt his son has been mistreated by authorities. He compared the marshals' recent arrest of Daniel Riley with the actions of Nazi Storm Troopers in World War II.

"I can't understand why they're treating him (this way) - it hasn't deterred him from going up to Ed Brown's. He'll go up there and support him any day," he said on the video. "They're true patriots. They're my heroes."

As he weeps on the video, Bill Riley proudly holds up a photograph of his son posing with Ed Brown and Randy Weaver, who survived the deadly Ruby Ridge standoff with marshals in 1992 and visited the Browns this summer. "I back my son, 100 percent. I'm proud of him," he said.

Daniel Riley's brother, also named Bill Riley, drove from Albany to attend his brother's detention hearing this week, but said little to reporters. He also appeared in the internet video, interviewing his father.

Shared distrust

The strong family support the three men have received could hurt them, experts say, because it may embolden them to continue fighting the system, even if cooperating would be in their best interest.

"My experience has been that when the families are all in it and all supportive of an extreme position, it does tend to reinforce intransigence," said Mark Pitcavage, the director of fact finding at the Anti-Defamation League, which tracks tax protest and militia groups. "So it could theoretically tend to make their situation worse."

MacNab agreed that family support for the Browns' allies is unlikely to help their cases, because they all share a distrust for the federal government and the court system.

"If the family is supportive, chances are the defendant is going to fight rather than work with his attorney. If the family's saying, 'You are a hero, you went and defended Ed Brown,' you are less likely to cut a deal," she said. "And the evidence in this case appears to be pretty straightforward."

[Imalawman]

"Usually, what you see is kind of a life cycle of a tax protester. A husband gets involved, husband gets excited and wife doesn't really pay attention. But a little later on, wife really has to pay attention as notices come in from the IRS," said J.J. MacNab, a tax evasion expert who is allegedly writing a book on the tax protest movement. "Usually what you see in the life cycle is it ends in a divorce."

Error corrected. Just kidding.

Good work Quatloosians!

[silversopp]

Reno wants to stop the Iraq war by protesting the Income Tax?

For someone who has done so much research on financial matters, you'd think he would have stumbled upon the terms "budget deficit" or "Government bonds."

The government can, and does, wage war without the Income Tax.

I noticed that Jose said it didn't work when he called his Congressman. Apparently it never occured to Jose to find out what these things called "elections" are, and to use them to replace his unresponsive Congressman.

[grammarian44]

"We cannot be picky about who's going to help us topple the IRS. After this cause is done, we will choose another cause and focus on it."

If Ed and Elaine are the "cause" to which Jose refers, he is admitting that the Browns are going to be "done" without significant consequence to the IRS. In other words, he knows it's a matter of time before E&E will be taken down.

[webhick]

Actually, Imalawman, I'm surprised that you didn't pick up on them calling Demo a "tax evasion expert." I wonder when the jack-boot thugs are going to knock down her door

[ASITStands]

Reno wants to stop the Iraq war by protesting the Income Tax?

For someone who has done so much research on financial matters, you'd think he would have stumbled upon the terms "budget deficit" or "Government bonds."

The government can, and does, wage war without the Income Tax.

I noticed that Jose said it didn't work when he called his Congressman. Apparently it never occured to Jose to find out what these things called "elections" are, and to use them to replace his unresponsive Congressman.

Is he within the district represented by Ron Paul?

[Demosthenes]

Actually, Imalawman, I'm surprised that you didn't pick up on them calling Demo a "tax evasion expert." I wonder when the jack-boot thugs are going to knock down her door

But first, they'll have to get past my vicious attack animal.

[buck09]

"Usually, what you see is kind of a life cycle of a tax protester. A husband gets involved, husband gets excited and wife doesn't really pay attention. But a little later on, wife really has to pay attention as notices come in from the IRS," said J.J. MacNab, a tax evasion expert who is allegedly writing a book on the tax protest movement. "Usually what you see in the life cycle is it ends in a divorce."

Error corrected. Just kidding.

Good work Quatloosians!

[webhick]

But first, they'll have to get past my vicious attack animal.

Let me know if Attila wants reinforcements. Peanut is preparing her arsenal as we speak...

[.]

Brown allies

Them what ain't in jail seem to have disappeared.

No more yakking about "concerts" or going to NH, not much yakking at all. Libertypost dot org and freedumb4um dot com, two sites with lots of looney tune TP-types and TP/militia wannabes, both of which had a bunch of posters who had previously evinced a lot of support, have gone silent on ol' Ed for the last couple of weeks.

Used to be threads with hundreds of posts. Perhaps the appeal of a 25-year sentence isn't all that's it's cracked up to be. The silence is deafening.

[ErsatzAnatchist]

Brown allies

Them what ain't in jail seem to have disappeared.

No more yakking about "concerts" or going to NH, not much yakking at all. Libertypost dot org and freedumb4um dot com, two sites with lots of looney tune TP-types and TP/militia wannabes, both of which had a bunch of posters who had previously evinced a lot of support, have gone silent on ol' Ed for the last couple of weeks.

Used to be threads with hundreds of posts. Perhaps the appeal of a 25-year sentence isn't all that's it's cracked up to be. The silence is deafening.

A bunch of Summer Soldiers and Sunshine Patriots.

Prison Sucks. Based upon the whining I used to hear from clients (back in the day when I did a little federal criminal work), the food is terrible (too many baloney sandwiches), the cable is not really free, and the housing situation is pretty poor too. A crappy roommate can really ruin your time at Casa Fed.

I wonder how the patriot posse is liking their time in prison scrubs?

[Imalawman]

One of the supporters' supporter made this insightful remark

You know, I was thinking, once the other inmates find out what these four stood for, and were arrested for, they're going to be held in high regards by the other inmates. These four could, without trying, revolutionize these criminal minds in the pen to stop misdirecting their anger on one another and focus on the stimulus for most all criminal behavior in the united states of America, the 'Money Masters'.

Maybe it wasn't so smart that they locked up these four. Maybe they made a big mistake. Cause those guys (inmates) on the inside, got friends on the outside.

[ErsatzAnatchist]

One of the supporters' supporter made this insightful remark

You know, I was thinking, once the other inmates find out what these four stood for, and were arrested for, they're going to be held in high regards by the other inmates. These four could, without trying, revolutionize these criminal minds in the pen to stop misdirecting their anger on one another and focus on the stimulus for most all criminal behavior in the united states of America, the 'Money Masters'.

Maybe it wasn't so smart that they locked up these four. Maybe they made a big mistake. Cause those guys (inmates) on the inside, got friends on the outside.

Imalawman,

I think your definition of "insightful" is different than mine. Very Different. I might have chosen "witless" as a more apt choice.

[Evil Squirrel Overlord]

You know, I was thinking, once the other inmates find out what these four stood for, and were arrested for, they're going to be held in high regards by the other inmates. These four could, without trying, revolutionize these criminal minds in the pen to stop misdirecting their anger on one another and focus on the stimulus for most all criminal behavior in the united states of America, the 'Money Masters'.

Maybe it wasn't so smart that they locked up these four. Maybe they made a big mistake. Cause those guys (inmates) on the inside, got friends on the outside.

And do you think most of those guys on the inside ever really cared about things like taxes in the first place, let alone steady employment. "I payed 30% of my armed robbery and drug profits to the IRS!"

[Demosthenes]

Update from Reno's daddy:

Jose M.
Sep 30 2007 12:28A

The cost of a real attorney starts at $50,000.00 so a court-appointed attorney will have to do.
I know.
Everyone says that is a mistake.
However, I feel the real mistake was trusting latté-sipping keyboard clickers to give up their air-conditioning & cable television to make a real stand.
No.
They have disappeared like rats in a sinking ship.
It appears that the cynical Jessica was correct all along.
Except for Donna VanMeter, my children and I stand alone in TRULY supporting Cirino; investing our time, efforts, and complete finances.
WE suffer sleepless nights after waiting all day for a call from our beloved in hopes that he is well in his confinement.
To my knowledge ONE supporter has continued contributions; in fact it has always been ONE.

At the request of his attorney we are limiting our online postings on the matter of the case against Cirino (Reno).
In a recent telephone conversation, Cirino has requested that any funds (HA!) on his behalf be sent to me for accountability & to insure he receives them when/if he is moved again.
I will not tell him that it has really been ME (and one supporter) sending money all along.
Is it asking too much that people send letters to my son?
I will forward them to him myself IF any arrive.

PO Box 4183
Alice, TX
78333-4183


STAND FOR FREEDOM
keep the faith

:{ jmg

[Imalawman]

Boy, you'd think he'd trusted in a bunch of losers and is surprised that they let him down when it really mattered. Oh wait, that's exactly what happened.

I really don't believe the whole, "real attorneys start at $50,000.00". Who was he calling, Billy Martin? I'm sure he could find an attorney who would work off a $10,000.00 retainer. As for belittling his attorney in print, well, that's not the way to encourage your public defender to do his/her best.

[webhick]

Ick, I'm no lawyer, but $50k does sound awfully high.

I once knew a guy who tried to shoot his neighbor. Okay, allegedly. According to him, he fired a gun in the air to break up a verbal argument between his girlfriend and the neighbor. According to what I heard elsewhere, they retrieved a slug out of the tree behind where the neighbor was standing at the time. And he ditched the gun, and the cops retrieved many others from the home, and the dorky little pudge-monster was standing 5 feet away from the neighbor when he fired.

IIRC the charges were attempted murder and a bunch of little related items - retainer was $10k.

[webhick]

However, I feel the real mistake was trusting latté-sipping keyboard clickers to give up their air-conditioning & cable television to make a real stand.

I contest that description. I highly doubt a lot of E&E's supporters are latte-sipping keyboard clickers with A/C and cable.

Why? First, I don't want to see what E&E's supporters are like on the amount of caffeine in a latte. Second, given how many liens or levies might be against these people, I truly wonder if they can afford A/C and Cable. Thirdly, does he really think that they aren't contributing because they're lazy and all-talk?

Oh no, Jose, that's not why. The primary reason why a lot of these people aren't paying their taxes is because they want to keep all their money in their pocket. The stuff they spew about the government and non-existent laws is only how they justify their actions to themselves.

So, if their motivation is that they want to keep their money....why should they give it to you? Also, having E&E badmouth Reno is not helping him with his legal fund. If anything, Jose should be superpissed at E&E for leaving Reno hanging.

[Demosthenes]

Please Show Your Support.
Monday, October 1, 2007
Hi Voterescuers!

As some of you may know, one of our longest-standing and most dedicated members of VoteRescue, Terry Melton, recently underwent a trauma when he was arrested in a raid in New York related to his work on a video about Ed and Elaine Brown. The Browns are tax protesters in New Hampshire whose home is surrounded by federal agents; they will not surrender to authorities to serve their sentences for non-payment of income tax because...there is no law that says we really have to pay income tax.

Terry courageously took several trips to the Browns before access to their home was blocked by "authorities" and videotaped interviews with them and is working on a film about their situation.

Just after 9/11, Terry was with a friend of the Browns and was caught up in a raid of that person's home, abusively treated, and had his life threatened by a federal marshall. He was literally told that if he ever told anything about the Browns or their story, let alone make a film about them, the agent would hunt him down and kill him even if it took 15 years.

As you can imagine, this has had a traumatic effect on Terry. He did, however, immediately come back and get on the radio and tell the entire story, and continues to work on the film about the Browns. A true patriot, he "will not stop" in his quest to get the truth out about the Browns, just as he does for us at VoteRescue with election fraud issues.

Terry is struggling financially at the moment and is in the process of looking for regular employment. In the meantime, if you could help him out with a donation to help him pay his rent & bills for October, any contribution would be appreciated. This assistance is needed IMMEDIATELY, however. Please send whatever you can, $10, $25, or (or whatever you can afford, in a check made out to Terry Melton. His address is below:

9807 North FM 620 #20202
Austin, Texas 78726

Many thanks to you!

Vickie and Karen

[The Observer]

[Terry] was literally told that if he ever told anything about the Browns or their story, let alone make a film about them, the agent would hunt him down and kill him even if it took 15 years.

As you can imagine, this has had a traumatic effect on Terry. He did, however, immediately come back and get on the radio and tell the entire story, and continues to work on the film about the Browns.

It is always amusing to see that despite the amount of "trauma" inflicted by the minions of the NWO TPs somehow manage to force themselves to go before the camera and get their Warhol-quota of fame.