Brown sentencing April 24th

[Nikki]

They stay in the house FOR LIFE -- cut off from the outside world -- cut off from electricity -- cut off from food deliveries.

The arrest warrants remain open until such time as they surrender.

[LPC]

Under normal circumstances, the next step would be for the judge to set a date for the defendants to surrender to authorities to e gin serving their prison terms.

And I think that the judge should set a surrender date, and that Ed and Elaine should be informed of the date and be given an opportunity to surrender.

After that, napalm them. Or carpet-bomb them with tear-gas and let the SWAT team sort it out.

[Paul]

Schulz will know his own.

[grixit]

Can't stand Dog.

How about Stephanie Plum? It would be a lot funnier, we'd be guaranteed at least one explosion, someone would get shot, and Ed & Elaine would be taken in a really embarrassing way. That, and I would totally show up for the take down if only to get a glimpse of Ranger or Joe.

But alas, characters in books don't really exist...

Can we send them the American Idol Rejects on Tour?

[Demosthenes]

I wonder if Elaine knows that Ed is the Man, and she is his chattel?

She knows and agrees.

[TheSaint]

I've got mixed feelings on this. Part of me wants to be patient, because these operations can take a long time to set up. The chronology of Ruby Ridge on Wikipedia indicates that 18 months elapsed between Weaver failing to appear for his court date, and the actual raid.

On the other hand, I fail to see why this situation warrants the McClellanesque level of caution we've seen. These are two 60-year-olds with no meaningful military training. I'd hate to see how these Marshals would handle two dozen armed ex-Special Forces militia nuts.

[Demosthenes]

Concord Monitor
Tax protest backers vow to disobey

By MARGOT SANGER-KATZ
Monitor staff

April 26. 2007 8:00AM

For supporters of Ed and Elaine Brown, a federal judge's decision to sentence the tax-protesting couple to 63 months in prison wasn't the big news Tuesday. In part, that's because it will have no immediate effect on the couple, who remain holed up in their fortified Plainfield home. Instead, the couple's supporters are reacting to an announcement by the federal marshal that anyone who helps the Browns evade capture might be subject to arrest.

For members of the Free State Project, who see the Brown case as a classic example of government overreaching, the marshal's warning was little deterrent. On a message board frequented by Free Staters and libertarians, his message was described as an invitation to civil disobedience, the better to show the iron fist of law enforcement. One poster suggested bringing small offerings, like pieces of hard candy, to see if the bearers would be arrested.

In a press conference after the sentencing hearings, U.S. Marshal Stephen Monier said warrants for the couple wouldn't go away and said his office would begin arresting and charging supporters who provide "assistance, aid or comfort to the Browns."

"That's to be expected by the feds; they're trying to scare as many people away from supporting the Browns as they can," said Ian Bernard, a co-host of the libertarian radio show Free Talk Live, who's visited the Browns in Plainfield and speaks frequently about them on his radio show. Bernard said the prospect of arrest shouldn't scare supporters. "Bringing a cake to the Browns shouldn't be a crime."

Monier declined to specify whether bringing food qualified as a crime, but he said that simply visiting would be allowed.

Lauren Canario of Winchester, a Brown supporter who has been visiting the house since Ed Brown first stopped attending his trial, also said she wasn't worried about being arrested. She's faced arrest for other acts of civil disobedience already.

"I was expecting it from the beginning, but it won't stop me from bringing goodies out to the Browns," said Canario said.

But expert watchers of the case said that the marshal's announcement was a smart change in strategy because it would signal that although the Browns are currently free as fugitives, they are still criminals in the eyes of the law.

"I think that the authorities are right to consider charging people who are, at the end of the day, aiding someone who is a convicted felon and who has regularly threatened law enforcement agents with death," said Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks extremist groups, including militias and tax protesters. "I mean, I don't think it's jokes that this guy is sitting up there and threatening to kill people."

Several Brown supporters indicated this week that threats made by the Browns and others were meant seriously. Bill Miller, a friend of Ed Brown's, said in an internet recording yesterday that it's time for "forming posses, enacting grand juries, laying down indictments and bringing the real criminals to justice."

Bernie Bastian, another close friend of Ed Brown's, said Tuesday that statements about the hanging of judges and prosecutors might be appropriate.

"They're public servants. If they've violated their oath of office, they're treasonous. They should be hung," he said. "They don't wait for a trial. They just hang them."

Staying home

The Browns were convicted in January of conspiring to evade income taxes on nearly $1.9 million that Elaine Brown earned in her West Lebanon dental practice, conspiring to disguise large financial transactions and disguising large financial transactions. Elaine Brown was also convicted of multiple counts of tax evasion and failure to withhold employment taxes for workers in her practice.

For several months, the couple has stayed at home, warning that any attempt to arrest them will end in a violent confrontation. Monier, who is charged with arresting the Browns on bench warrants, has not been specific about possible threats at the house, but he has said repeatedly that he will not initiate a standoff or confrontation with the Browns by going to arrest them.

In interviews and a tour of the house last summer, Ed Brown said that the large, hilltop home was built with eight-inch-thick concrete walls, had a private well and could generate enough electricity to operate off the grid. A five-story-high tower was described by the prosecutor as a "turret" at Ed Brown's arraignment. (Brown calls it a "deck.")

Ed Brown has also said that the house contains a large stockpile of food, though supporters have visited regularly since January, often bringing food with them.

There have been suggestions that those visitors have also brought guns and other military supplies. The Browns voluntarily turned over all their weapons in May as a condition of their release on bail. But Ed Brown has been seen by reporters with a gun since his trial and internet postings have hinted that the Browns have received items on an internet "wish list," which called for weapons and body armor in addition to cash and paralegals. On his daily internet radio show Monday, Ed Brown told a caller that marshals had not removed all of his defensive "equipment" when they took guns in May.

Monier specified on Tuesday that supporters who brought guns or ammunition to the house would be prosecuted.

Sentence reactions

As for the prison sentences themselves, if Judge Steven McAuliffe couldn't please everyone, he at least managed to upset both supporters and critics of the couple. The Browns themselves seem unaffected: On Tuesday, Ed Brown went as far as denying the existence of the sentences, the judge and the court where he once put on his defense.

Many in the pro-Brown camp saw the sentences as unsurprising but disappointing, part of a larger pattern of injustice brought on their friends by the court.

"I think that they were railroaded," said Kat Kanning of Keene, who attended the hearings Tuesday and demonstrated outside the courthouse with a sign that said "Fed Bullies: Leave the Browns alone." Yesterday, Kanning said she left the hearings "with a profound sense of sadness at the state of our country."

Other watchers of the movement said that McAuliffe's sentences fell inappropriately on the low end of the spectrum for tax protesters, especially considering the Browns' fugitive status and threats against federal officials.

J.J. MacNab, a tax evasion expert who is writing a book about the tax protest movement and has attended several recent tax protester trials, described the sentences as "disappointing," but she too was unsurprised.

"This is the same judge who didn't see Ed and Elaine as a threat. This is a judge who didn't think Elaine would go home," she said.

[Demosthenes]

Ed's response to the Marshals. The person who posted (Cirino Gonzales) is semi-literate so the errors in grammar, sentence structure, and spelling are likely his, and not Ed's.

(the following was taken down by my own hands as Edward spoke, at his request; to be placed on the internet.

reno)

Dear Mr. Monier,

You have stated in the news paper, that the Browns are a public safety problem. Due to allege threats against federal personnel.

I Edward Lewis family Brown, have never threatened anyone in my life.

It is unlawful to threaten, however, I have warned everyone and anyone that has ever threatened me; that if they attempt to do so or will do so, I will follow the letter of the law (note criminal law, LETHAL FORCE DOCTRINE), that I will use equal or greater force as the law dictates in order to protect myself, my property, my family, my community, my county, my state and my nation at any cost.

If you feel that following the letter of the law would endanger public safety, then perhaps you should review your U.S. Marshals rules of engagement and consider who actually is conducting the danger to public safety.

It seems ever increasing that the many law enforcement agencies are creating the dehumanizing hazards to public safety. We will always remember that all government personnel are either law enforcement agents or revenue gathers. Their primary function is currently to protect their own positions, (jobs), for their own personal enrichment, that is why we always hear them say, "I'm just doing my job." It saddens me that you do not seem to understand the the higher law of man and god and elect instead to enter the snake pit.

[Imalawman]

Well, Ed Brown didn't back down. This probably comes as a suprise to the Judge and Monier. I just try not to think about it, becuase it pisses me off that they allow this couple to disobey the law. Would they be doing to same for a convicted felon of african american descent who is wanted to drug charges? I mean, since when is it ok to just say to law enforcement, "I know I'm a convicted felon, but I'd rather just sit here in my house. I hope you don't mind. By the way, I'll kill you and all like you if you try anything, so back off." I just don't get it.

[Disilloosianed]

Maybe they are waiting for the appeal period to be up. Surely when the sentence becomes final, Monier won't just sit outside the compound, waiting to see if the Browns come to him.

[.]

simply visiting would be allowed

This is ridiculous. It's the regnancy of the new-age touchy-feely Marshals. Disgusting.

[Demosthenes]

So many armchair quarterbacks...

[Imalawman]

So many armchair quarterbacks...

Hehehe, true, I'm not making the decision to risk my life over two 60 yr old curmudgeons. But come on, Demo, aren't you a little annoyed they're allowed to flout the law like this?

[webhick]

I love how he says that he's never threatened anyone, but then goes on to say how justified he is in threatening people.

[Demosthenes]

So many armchair quarterbacks...

Hehehe, true, I'm not making the decision to risk my life over two 60 yr old curmudgeons. But come on, Demo, aren't you a little annoyed they're allowed to flout the law like this?

Of course. But there are a hell of a lot of shifting factors going on and I'm not the one who will be killed if something goes wrong.

[Disilloosianed]

Oh, they didn't "threaten"......they "warned." For some reason, that is supposed to be alright. It's that belief in magic words TP share.

[.]

I'm not the one who will be killed if something goes wrong.

Neither am I. But, what's that got to do with anything?

We aren't the people who are being paid to enforce laws and warrants.

The people who are being paid to do so ought to do so. They've been playing games for 3 months. Enough is enough.

[Demosthenes]

I'm not the one who will be killed if something goes wrong.

Neither am I. But, what's that got to do with anything?

We aren't the people who are being paid to enforce laws and warrants.

The people who are being paid to do so ought to do so. They've been playing games for 3 months. Enough is enough.

Will history care whether they took four months? Five?

[TheSaint]

Will history care whether they took four months? Five?

History may not care, but other tax protestors do. At what point does the Browns' success begin emboldening other people in the movement to disregard warrants and threaten government officials? At what point does inaction do more long-term damage than "another Ruby Ridge" would?

[Demosthenes]

Come on guys, there are neighbors to consider, unknown weapons and materials in the house, and don't forget that Ed has bragged several times that he has people nowhere near the home geared up to murder the judge, the prosecution team, and their families in the event of his arrest or death.

This isn't a simple situation, and while I totally understand your point about setting a crappy example, trying to sey a good example frankly isn't worth the death or harm to neighbors or government employees.