Armed U.S. tax activist barricades self in home

An armed man who has refused to pay U.S. federal taxes for a decade has barricaded himself inside his hilltop home in New Hampshire with 20 supporters for a week after resisting an order to show up in court.

Edward Brown, 64, and his wife Elaine Brown, 65, of Plainfield, New Hampshire, were found guilty by a federal jury on Thursday of owing the U.S. government more than $700,000 in unpaid taxes dating back to 1996.

Contacted by Reuters by telephone, Brown said he has paid all his taxes to his town but does not want to pay the federal government.

"The industry and the military are working together to control everything. People don't even know it. Little frogs sitting in boiling water," he said. "The United States of America now is a fascist country."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Morse said Brown and his wife were both looking at "a substantial jail sentence."

The tax bills piled up mostly because Brown's wife, who owns a dental business, failed to pay income tax and payroll taxes for her staff, Morse said.

U.S. Marshal Stephen Monier said authorities were speaking with Brown by telephone but have so far stayed away from the house.

Elaine Brown, who was in court when the guilty verdict was announced, was released to the custody of her son in Massachusetts on condition that she would have no face-to-face contact with her husband.

Copyright © 2007 Reuters Limited.

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