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BACK AT THE NEW HAMPSHIRE STANDOFF

July 30, 2007

The LA Times visited convicted tax evaders Ed and Elaine Brown at the fortified house where they are holed up, refusing to report to federal prison to serve their sentences.

"Show me the law!" says Ed, a trim 64-year-old with a silver mustache, whose forehead crinkles when he gets heated. The Browns stopped paying income taxes in 1996. They say the Constitution and Supreme Court decisions support their claims that ordinary labor cannot be taxed. But a judge ruled against them in January, convicting the Browns of conspiring to evade paying taxes on $1.9 million in income from Elaine's dentistry practice.

Now, the Browns say they're in a battle for freedom, and it just might end in bloodshed right here, in a towering turreted house with 8-inch-thick concrete walls and an American flag fluttering over the double-car garage. They have garnered national support, with blogs devoted to news about the standoff and supporters regularly showing up on the couple's doorstep with groceries.

Government and law officials have cut off power, Internet, house phone, cell phone, television and mail service to the couple's 110-acre compound. But their house is equipped with solar panels, a watchtower, a satellite dish and a stockpile of food.

They cut off their internet? Well that explains everything. We showed them the law back in January, but their lack of internet access must have kept them from reading the Tax Update. They say they'll end the standoff if someone will just show them the law requiring them to pay income taxes. We hope one of the people dropping off groceries will print out our post and deliver it to the Browns; that should clear up this whole misunderstanding.

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