f it were up to local officials, Ed and Elaine Brown wouldn't be holding press conferences in their driveway.
On Friday, the Plainfield selectmen mailed a letter they had been discussing for a month. In it, they asked U.S. Marshal Stephen Monier to hasten his approach to arresting the fugitive couple. Monier's wait-and-see strategy, the letter said, may endanger residents and Plainfield's small police department.
"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," the letter says.
Town administrator Stephen Halleran said the selectmen's letter was not designed to encourage a violent or rash confrontation. It was intended to remind the marshals that while they wait, local officials will be responsible for any skirmishes with the Browns' supporters.
The Browns have been holed up in their Plainfield home for nearly five months, evading arrest on bench warrants. They each have been convicted of several federal felonies and have been sentenced to prison terms of more than five years.
The local police have been called to the Browns' road at least three times since the Browns took to their home this winter. They arrested a man in January, after he wandered onto a neighbor's property carrying a stolen gun. More recently, they were called out to assist an ambulance picking up a cancer patient the couple were treating and to escort a Fox News truck off the property.
Halleran also said that the town office and local police station have been flooded with calls from supporters.
"Every time Ed gets publicity, gets a little flare up, gets a little press, our town gets people who think Ed's cause is worth jumping on, and they may or may not be reputable people," Halleran said. "It puts our police officers in some jeopardy."
Selectmen wrote and signed the letter one day before marshals and state police surrounded the property with SWAT teams and police vehicles earlier this month. Because of that effort, Halleran said, the town did not immediately send the letter. After it became clear that marshals were returning to a hands-off strategy, they put the letter, dated June 6, in the mail.
In a written statement yesterday, Monier did not specifically address the content of the letter. But, he reiterated that the marshals would continue to be patient.
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By MARGOT SANGER-KATZ
Monitor staff
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