Here are some things that you probably didn’t know about Plainfield, NH:
- It was incorporated in 1761 before the US was officially “born.”
- There are active sightings of black bears in the area.
- Three of the largest employers in Plainfield are farms.
- There were, at last count, 2,490 residents.
And here are some things that you probably do know about Plainfield, NH:
- Convicted tax evaders Ed Brown and his wife, Elaine, live there in a 110-acre hilltop compound where they are currently involved in a standoff with federal agents.
- The town has become a magnet for militia sympathetic to the Browns’ cause.
- The press has remained camped out in the town – complete with helicopters – alongside FBI agents who are monitoring the Browns’ property for months.
The people of Plainfield, NH, would rather you not associate the last few things with their town.
Ed and Elaine Brown have been holed up in their personal compound since their last court appearance on tax evasion charges. They refused to attend the sentencing, choosing instead to remain in their home. The Browns claim that they are being wrongfully persecuted for challenging the validity of the federal income tax. Throngs of supporters have followed the Browns to their compound, purporting to know better than the “millions of ignorant people who have the wool pulled over their eyes” – meaning taxpayers.
The Browns have vowed not to leave the compound alive; U.S. Marshal Stephen Monier is simply waiting him out. But the residents of Plainfield have had enough. They have asked Monier to take action. They want the Browns brought to justice.
In a letter to Monier, the townspeople wrote:
While we understand and support efforts to achieve a quiet resolution to this matter, the longer the Browns remain at large the better the chance, in our view, that our local police force will be involved in an incident with them or their group of supporters. In short, we believe that it is time that definitive action be taken.
A couple of weeks ago, it looked like an end might be in sight. Numerous law enforcement personnel, together with roadblocks and planes, descended upon the town. The Browns cried foul but agents claimed they were merely serving a warrant on the building that once housed Elaine Brown’s dental practice. Many residents of the town believe, like the Browns, that it was really a federal raid gone bad.
No matter what it was, the town wants the craziness to stop. More or less, they just want the feds to do something.
