LEBANON – Police have arrested an Ed Brown sympathizer who sent a potentially threatening e-mail to Lebanon city councilors last Friday.

A longtime anti-government activist, Joseph Haas, 54, of Concord, sent the e-mail to all nine Lebanon city councilors, several state officials and New Hampshire State Police personnel.

"You all live in a dream land of lies, the father of which is the devil himself," Haas wrote in a section of the e-mail titled "city corruption." " Either you do your job, or get out of the way. WISE UP OR DIE. If the latter be your choice, then BE GONE with you NOW!"

Haas was arrested on his way to the town selectboard meeting Wednesday night on charges that he threatened a Lebanon city councilor by e-mail. He was released on personal recognizance bail

Haas claims the city and state are corrupt because paperwork relative to the federal seizure of the Browns' property in West Lebanon wasn't filed with the Secretary of State's office.

The property was seized June 7 to supplement Ed and Elaine Brown's unpaid federal income taxes while the convicted couple continues to defy federal authorities by refusing to surrender and serve prison time.

Haas, who was indicted in 2005 on allegations that he sent a threatening letter to Attorney General Kelly Ayotte, says he was exercising his right to free speech by writing the e-mail.

"There's no case here," he said in a voicemail left for a reporter yesterday. "It's just like our state slogan, 'Live Free or Die.' When you say that to somebody, do they take it like you're going to kill them? Of course not, so when I say, 'Wise up or die,' there's a similar common denominator there."

Haas indicated that he would attend the city council's July 18 meeting, "where and when you can talk this over to correct your misdeeds," he wrote.

Haas said Lebanon police should be investigating whether state law was violated during the seizure of the Browns' property. The law he cites in the e-mail, RSA 123:1, deals with the procedure for ceding land within the state to federal authorities for uses such as post offices, military bases "or other public buildings."

In the e-mail, Haas also requested information about the Lebanon Police Department's role in arresting Ed Brown in May 2005 and the activities of federal authorities in Plainfield and Lebanon on June 7, when another Brown supporter was detained for hours after inadvertently discovering federal agents near the Browns' house.

Much of Haas' e-mail is indecipherable in that it doesn't follow basic rules of grammar, but it was clear enough to alarm some of those who received it.

Haas submitted a comment to UnionLeader.com's this morning on its earlier version of this article. His statement appears below.

"It's the first time that I've encountered something like this," City Councilor Karen Liot Hill said. "These are threats, and I strongly believe in democracy. We should be arguing about ideas, and the best ideas should be winning, and I don't think there's a place for threats in a democracy."

Liot Hill said the city has handled the situation involving the Browns' case in a responsible manner.

Lebanon police Cpl. David Young said Detective Michael Roberts is investigating whether Haas committed a crime by sending the e-mail.

Haas, in a recent post to a Web forum about Ed and Elaine Brown, wrote that Roberts called him to ask how one of the city councilors would die.

"I said: I don't know how she's going to die! That's up to her and her God or god, or goddess, etc. under her own Article 5 religious rights. He thinks I KNOW something beyond belief, and wants to charge me with Criminal Threatening, but has to get me to fill in the blank. What does he think I am, a fortune teller?"

Young said police department policy prohibits Roberts from discussing the investigation.

The Browns sequestered themselves in their Plainfield home after a federal court jury convicted them in January on multiple felony charges of tax evasion. They were both sentenced in absentia to serve 63 months in federal prison April 24. They have said they will not be taken by the government.

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