Jul 30, 2007 6:03 pm US/Eastern
Supporters Of N.H. Tax Evaders Flood 911 Lines
PLAINFIELD, N.H. (AP) ―
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Ed and Elaine Brown spoke to reporters from the steps of their home June 18.
WBZ
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SkyEye4 over the Brown's compound in Plainfield, N.H.
WBZ
Police say supporters of convicted tax evaders Ed and Elaine Brown clogged emergency phone lines after the couple's web site claimed shots had been fired behind the house.
Police Chief Gordon Gillens said about 60 calls from all over the country came into the emergency lines in Hanover late Saturday night until about 6:30 a.m. Sunday.
"This totally disrupted emergency services by putting all that stuff on the Internet and giving out all these phone numbers," Gillens said.
Gillens called the postings "a complete fabrication."
"There was absolutely no report from anyone up there that there were fireworks or firearms or anything like that," he said.
Callers claimed gunshots were fired in the woods by the Browns' house and someone had physically shaken a trailer on the property. They were reacting to postings on the Browns'
web site.
U.S. Marshal Steve Monier said no law enforcement were at the Browns' house over the weekend.
"I don't know anything about it," Monier said. "It's not us; we're not there."
Monier has said repeatedly he hopes to resolve the situation peacefully.
Police are investigating whether disrupting the emergency dispatch center was a crime.
The Browns were convicted and sentenced to more than five years in prison for failing to pay their income taxes. They fled to their Plainfield home, which Ed Brown describes as a castle. Their cause has rallied anti-government and militia activists to their 110-acre home.
(© 2007 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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