ffiMark S. JamesDirector. DPS

James F. KeathleyColonel, MSHP

Van GodseyDirectot, MIAC

Matt BluntGovefior

MlAC ALERT - Constitution RangersJune 7' 2OO7

Current Developments

Federal authorities indicated loday (June 7, 2007) that they wiil noi raid the home of lwo convicled laxevaders bul would serye a watranl. Dozens 01 heavily armed state poiice and iederal agents have as-sembled near the rural New Hampshire home ol tax proleslers Ed and Elaine Brown. The U S. MarshalsSeruice issued a briet statemenl atter neighbors reporied armed police and at least one armored vehicienear Ed and Elaine Brown's tortiJied compound eariy this morning. "We are here, in conjunction with au_

thorities, from the Department oi the Treasury, to serve thal warant," the statement said. "As we havesaid Jrom the beginning, we will continue 10 communicale with Ed and Elaine Brown io convince them iosurrerder oeacel-lly "

Aboul 50 slale toopers, some armed wilh high-powered riiles, along with a vehicle trom the explosjves!nit gathered this morning in Piainlield, a smalJ lown wbere Edward and Elaine Brown have holed up inlheir home since being convicled oi tax evasion and senlenced to lengthy federal prison terms. TheBrowns insisl tederal income lax laws are invalid and have holed up in thejr hilltop home on 1 10 acres in

Plainlield, which has a watchtower, concrele walls and the ability 10 r!n on wind and solar power' Brown

said he ha5 stockpiled food and supplies.

Ed and Elaine Brown are members ot the "Conslitulion Rangers," a group thal ascribes to the ideojogy ol

the "Sovereign Citizen." The "Sovereign Citizen" movemenl is an anli-governmenl philosophy that mani-

iesls itsell in conspiratorial, pseudohislorical, pseudolegai, and sometimes racisl language- While manygroups over the years have opposed governmenlal policies, lew have been so purely anti governmenlthal they challenged its very legitimacy.

Origins

N,4any of the groups aclive loday have their root in the phiLosophy ol the old Posse Comilatus organiza-tion, which arose on the West Coasl as a lax protesl movemenl in the 1970s. Posse lollowers, and theicurreni descendants, "believe that in the distanl pasl every cilizen was a 'sovereign' ciiizen and thal ihereused to be a utopian governmenl (the de jure government) which was subverted thro!gh conspiracy and

replaced by our tyrannical governmenl (lhe de faclo government). Ihis is their iustitjcalion fol their beliels

Altho!qh they claim to respeci the county as the highesl level ol legitimale governmenl and the countysherifi as the highesl authority, they aiso believe that law enlorcemenl should nol eniorce any laws ihal "

the people" (1.e., those willr the Posse philosophy) do nol wanl them to enJorce. Posse-like thinkers have

'a iascination wjth hidden hjstory. They wanl 10 uncover i1, reveal it, they want to iind old iaws of the dejure governmenl so they can go back 10 it."

Members ol the right'wing extremist miliUa and soverelgn cilizen movemenl engage in a variety of crimi-nal acls, mainly direcled al governmenl oificials, whom they ty to iniimidate and harass by tactics ranging

from ihreats oi violence to imposing commercia liens on their propedy and other nuisance actions Au_

thorities in Missouri have been the targets ol such harassment-

Militia and sovereign citizen hatred of laws and regulattonsleads to thejr lrequenl involvement jn Jederal lirearms andexplosives vrolatrons; redemption schemes; and the use o1

fake license plates, driver's licenses, and documents thalialsely clajm diplomatic and law entorcement privjleges (seephotos lor examples). Some oi these false documents areused to atlempl to bypass airpofr security in order 10 boardUS domestic flights and enler government tacilities.

The Posse Comitat!s was strongest in tbe'80s, ihen startedto die oul as its leaderc died violently or ot oid age or werepul in prison. But the ideology hasn't dled. it is alive and con'tinues to thrive.

Constilution Rangers

N4embers ol the US Constitution Bangers (USCR) haveshown themselves particularly willing to engage in crimina activity

USCR members talsely beljeve that they have law enforcemenl powers and

thattheyare'constiluiionalprolectors"responsibleior'policingtheofficesoipublictrust." Tosupportihisbeliel they olten wear fake sheriff's badges and place USCF banners on the sides of their vehicles to give

the appearance of being gen!ine law entorcement officers. No single commander controls ihe USCR as

members operale independently. FBI and other law eniorcement repofiing indicate that members areconcentraled in Arkansas, Colorado, idaho, Michigan, lMissouri, the New England area, and Washingtonlndividual members of the USCR have committed n!merous criminal acts, including most recently:

. ln April 2007 Edward Lewis Brown, a USCR leadel, was senlenced to 63 months ir prison aiter previously being iound guilty ol conspiring to defraud the tederal governmenl and other crimes Brown was

nol in coun Jor the sentencing as he had stopped attending his trial mohths earlier and barricaded himsel{in his Plainfield, New Hampshire home. He remains there and the ongoing publicily has causedmembers oJ the anti-government extremist community 10 ralJy to his cause (this is the indivjdual men-tjoned in the jirct paragraph).

. in Febr!ary 2007 associates of a USCR member on trial lor a lelony charge of impersonating a law en-

Jorcement olficer attempled to intimidate an Arkansas State Police trooper during the coud hearing. Threedays laler one of the associates filed an alljdavit in which he threatened the life of the same stale trooper'

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