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Federal agents pose as supporters of Browns; infiltrate home and arrest convicted couple


By Mark Anderson

In New Hampshire, where Colonial farmers once stood their ground against trained Redcoats as anger grew over British misrule, Ed and Elaine Brown stood their ground but were tricked and arrested by U.S. marshals who entered their property October 4, posing as supporters of the Browns’ resistance to paying federal income taxes. The Browns argue that there’s no law on the books requiring payment.

A lot has changed since “the shot heard round the world” launched the American Revolution. British taxes imposed unilaterally on the colonies were among the many reasons that independence from the crown was declared. But Americans today pay a dizzying array of heavy taxes at several levels that, in retrospect, make the taxes imposed by King George III and Parliament seem quite modest.

American and British soldiers no longer face each other but instead fight side-by-side in long, unwinnable coalition “police actions” that are draining the American treasury and spilling blood the world over—which necessitate huge expenditures and the confiscatory taxes.

But many Americans are not convinced the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that ushered in the federal income tax in 1913 was properly ratified; and no one can seem to produce a copy of a statute that requires payment of such a tax. Even former IRS agents Joe Banister and Sherry Peel Jackson—before they themselves rejected the income tax—say they tried to find such a law on the books in their official capacities, to no avail.

Furthermore, amid little, if any, publicity, income tax cases are being won in court by individuals. Louisiana lawyer Tommy Cryer, who did not file income tax returns, maintained there is no law requiring payment of the federal income tax and won in court on his criminal case recently.

Peymon Mottahedeh, creator of Freedom Law School in California, teaches about the history and fraudulence of the income tax. He respects the Browns’ courage but said they are “unnecessary martyrs.” He added, “We need more victories than we do martyrs.” He also said that the Browns were “ill prepared” to go up against the government system that perpetuates the income tax. But people such as Cryer, who prepare for the fight, show that the tax monster can be slain.

“We did not have debtors’ jail in America until the income tax came into the picture,” Mottahedeh added, pointing out that the old concept of debtors prisons should not be allowed in a supposedly free country such as the United States.

Ed Brown had said that if someone would show him the law, he’d pay the tax. No one could show him the law. The feds prefer a show of force, as armed agents, including SWAT teams, had surrounded the Browns’ large home in varying degrees for months.

For a while, it looked like the worst might happen at the Browns’ home, but bloodshed did not occur even though local, state and federal police generally are showing increasingly less restraint—in shocking incidents ranging from unnecessarily rough arrests of teens to apprehending and detaining people at airports and along the nation’s roadways with excessive
force and often without probable cause.

The Browns were armed, as were some supporters, at times. A picnic and rally were held by supporters on their land in rural Plainfield in the summer. The patriotic rock band Pokerface performed, and notable speakers addressed the income tax issue, among other topics. But, with painfully few exceptions, we don’t live in an age of impartial inquiry when issues are logically and boldly discussed in official proceedings. Today, judges typically refuse to hear arguments on the validity of the income tax as the Browns found out when they first went to court over this matter.

Ed stopped attending because he saw the proceedings as a sham. His wife attended a little longer but soon followed suit. The Browns maintained that U.S. District Court Judge Steven McAuliffe in nearby Concord did not allow them to secure the witnesses and evidence they needed for their defense, to ensure a truly fair trial that would explore the income tax itself.

Activists in South Dakota, California and elsewhere in favor of doing away with judicial immunity—who instead want judicial accountability—cite this kind of behavior when making their case (see and related websites).

AFP is not aware of any independent witnesses on the scene at the time of the arrest. So it’s not known whether any degree of violence occurred or excessive force was applied as marshals entered the house at a vulnerable time when there were no supporters present, caught the Browns off guard and arrested them and removed them from a home that the big media often called a “compound,” that infamous word quickly assigned to the house of anyone, right or wrong, who resists entry by police for whatever reason.

The Browns, after keeping the feds at bay for about 10 months, are now in federal custody and have started to serve what is reportedly a 63-month sentence. Stiff financial penalties and the back taxes that the feds allege the Browns owe are likely to accompany their time in federal prison. The federal government claims income taxes were owed mainly from Elaine’s former dental business. The physical assets of that business—Half Hollow Dental Center in nearby West Lebanon— were seized by the marshals
on June 7.

Alabama-born Marshal Stephen R. Monier, who resides in New Hampshire and once served as police chief in Goffstown near Manchester, supervised the operation and commented: “Ultimately, this open door policy that they (the Browns) seemed to have, which allowed the Browns to have some supporters bring them supplies, welcome followers and even host a picnic—this proved to be their undoing. They invited us in.We escorted them out.”

The Browns may face unspecified weapons charges, too, Monier said, adding that a small team of marshals pulled off the ruse to trick the Browns. The couple, convicted Jan. 18, 2007 in Concord and sentenced in April, had initially owed $625,000 in taxes on $1.9 million in income from 1996 to 2003, according to figures from the government, which also alleged the Browns hid their income. Those amounts have varied and still are subject to change.

While the Browns’ electricity was cut off some time ago at their 100-plus acre homestead, the couple had stockpiled food and reportedly had some
solar power capability, enabling them to survive for such an extended period of time. And while some may conclude that the Browns held out in vain, the validity of the income tax system—which comes straight from the Communist Manifesto in concept—runs totally against the grain of freedom and is being exposed for what it is: a tyrannical fraud. May their arrest be the ultimate undoing of this Marxian tax.

American Free Press reporter Mark Anderson can be reached via email at

(Issue #43, October 22, 2007)

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