Prosecutor: Ed Brown stoking tension

Convicted tax protester Ed Brown is trying to ramp up tensions with the police through a series of threats against local law enforcement officials, the Sullivan County Attorney's office said in a statement yesterday.

The statement came after Brown said his supporters would retaliate against Plainfield Police Chief Gordon Gillens and Sullivan County Sheriff Michael Prozzo if he or his wife are harmed by authorities. Brown's comments were first reported in the New Hampshire Union Leader yesterday.

Ed and Elaine Brown were sentenced to five years in prison in April on charges stemming from their refusal to pay federal income taxes on about $1.9 million earned since 1996. The couple says there is no law requiring them or most other Americans to pay income tax to the U.S. government. They have been holed up at their Plainfield home for close to seven months, vowing to violently resist any efforts to arrest them.

"Law enforcement views Edward Brown's most recent threats as a continuation of his efforts to rally support to his failing cause," the statement from the Sullivan County Attorney's Office said.

In an interview yesterday at his home, Brown said he had not threatened anybody. He characterized his statements as justified under New Hampshire state law governing the use of deadly force, saying that the police were intent on killing him.

"It's lawful to warn, unlawful to threaten," Brown said. "If they kill me or my wife, or capture me or my wife, we will do the same to (them). We are reciprocal people. If you kill me, I'll kill you. If you hit me, I'll hit you. I'm not going to turn the other cheek."
Brown said that he was not personally aware of specific plans to attack either Gillens or Prozzo, but that supporters of his cause had told him any action against the couple would be avenged. He said the locations of Gillens' and Prozzo's homes were being shared among those supporters.

"There are millions of people who are concerned about our welfare and safety," Brown said. "You look in the phonebook and tell me who they might be or what they might do."

State Sen. Peter Burling, a Cornish Democrat whose district includes Plainfield and who has urged federal officials to bring the Brown saga to a swift conclusion, said Brown's remarks had "repugnantly escalated the violence of words." Burling said he was "personally concerned" for the safety of Prozzo and Gillens.

"They are such good, stoic people that I'm sure they shrug this stuff off, but I don't," Burling said.

Sullivan County Attorney Marc Hathaway would not comment on whether his office would bring charges against Brown as a result of his comments.

"The contingent threats by Edward Brown against local law enforcement officials have not altered law enforcement's commitment to have Edward and Elaine Brown taken into custody without injury to any member of the public, law enforcement or to Edward and Elaine Brown," the county attorney's statement read.

U.S. Marshal Stephen Monier issued a statement in which he repeated his past commitment to resolve the situation peacefully.

"We are disappointed that Ed Brown, once again, continues his tired effort of making threats towards peace officers," Monier's statement said.

Brown said yesterday that he considered himself "at war" with government authorities. He noted gunshots that he and visitors said were fired near his property late last month (neighbors denied hearing the shots, and officials involved in the case have said the shots did not come from law enforcement), as well as an incident in June in which Danny Riley, a supporter of the Browns from New York state, claimed he was shot at by police near the Brown home. Riley was detained and later released.

"We already know that they intend to use deadly force down on this land," Brown said. "So why would my rhetoric be anything other than rhetoric of war, when they've already fired the first shot? As far as I'm concerned, this is World War IV, World War III being the Cold War."