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Show Tax-Protest Movement Getting Bigger, Bolder While they fend to be nonviolent, tax protesters By Tony Semerad ‘THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE Claiming his life was ruined five years ago by federal agents who accused him of dodging $50,000 in taxes, Albert E. Carter of Provois a one-person crusade against the Internal Revenue Service(IRS). From hisself-styled American Institute for the Republic, he spreads virulently anti-federal views typical of Utah's tax protesters, a movementthat tax officials say has grown so large they barely can keep pace The IRS “is wicked and corrupt from top to bottom. side to side, and if they are corrupt, we the people have the responsibility to fire them,” says Carter. His name heads a list of more than 400 people whose federal lawsuit against the agency recently was tossed out of Utah's U.S. District Court. “Our goalis their total and complete destruction,” Carter adds. “We don’t need a Gestapo-type organization whosetactics are intimidation and invasion of privacy.” Tax protesters deny most forms offederal jurisdiction over them, basing their beliefs on oblique interpretations of the U.S. Constitution and out-ofcontext snippets of federal law. In Utah,taxresisters are morelikely to use religion to argue why they are above paying. employ rhetoric tnt bears a close resemblari¢e to that of fringe growps vowing armed insurrection. And in the eyes ofthe Paes ment, their tak-evading behavior amounts to plain lawbreaking. “The rest of us who are honest and paying our taxes are paying more because they aren’t paying any,” says Michelle Bush, a lawyer in the Utah attorJohn Benson ney general’s revenue and taxation division. Tax evaders costthe state “several millions of dollars” annually, Bush estimates. Once concentrated in regional pockets centered around neighborhood and church networks, the movement now is driven by individuals. Spread in so-called “untaxing” seminars that exploit deepseated frustration with government red tape, tax protesting in Utah now cuts across all lines of age, locale and employment. A leading Utah figure, John Benson, ran for the county jail sentence. In doggedly detailed court filings, the employee of Union Pacific Motor Freight claimed that state and federal tax agencies have no legal authority, that W-2 forms are meaningless, and that the “TP” code on his file was a secret message between state officials and the judge. And in language borrowed from far-right constitutionalists, Kaplar claimed requirements for filing a tax return violated his Fifth Amendment right against possible self-incrimination. Such rules also run afoul of the Fourth Amendmentright to have one’s papers protected against “unreasonable” searches and seizures, he insisted. Others employ a racially tinged argument against taxes. Because the Constitution’s 16th Amendment creating the income tax was passed with the 15th Amendmentfreeing slaves, they reason, taxes apply only to African Americans. Using this logic, some havesent lengthy genealogical recordsto state officials, seeking to prove they have no black ancestry and therefore are tax-exempt Kaysville resident and pharmaceutical salesman Todd Spotz claimed in court documents to have “revoked” all governmentobligations — including his marriagelicense, birth certificate and driverlicense — in preference for “God’s law.” And that, he argued, freed him from havingtofile state-tax returns Spotz denounced his Social Security number as “the mark of the beast,” saying that recognizing it threatened to deprive him of the “33 articulabie benefits of the law of God.” U.S. Senate in 1994 as a Democrat — until the campaign faltered under IRS claims his group, Association De Libertas, was under federal investigation and displayed violent tendencies. “Many of these peopie are cordial, intelligent people,” says a senior federal law-enforcementofficial, “Butit becomes a kind ofreligion to them. They lose all perspective.” Today, state enforcement auincrities file as many tax-protest cases in one month as they did in 12 months only a few years ago.“It’s everywhere and it's growing,” says Bush. The most common tactic is trying to snow tax agents with a blizzard of computer-generated court filings and rehashed arguments circulated in national newsletters and fax networks. Some use money laundering and offshore shelters — long employed by drug kingpins — to hideill-gotten assets. Mosttax protesters are commoncitizens for whom the stakes are matters of principle, not money. “They pay court costs and attorney fees, plus pay tax penalties andinterest, so they end up furtherin the hole than if they just filed a tax return,” says Mericia Milligan, a compliance auditor for the Utah Tax Commission. Brown Kaplarof Provodelayedfiling his 1991 and 1992 state returns until he was threatened with a Are Militias Utah Activism H e a din g D e ep er 9 GROUP WHAT THEY BELIEVE @) DANGEROUS TAX PROTESTERS:Actively opposed to paying state and federal taxes. Some deny that the federal government has rightfuljurisdiction over them as Underground . “sovereign citizens.” Some argueallegiance to God supersedesfederaltaxing TAX By Tony Semerad APPROX. SIZE} ARMED Ti Thousands AFew Generally not PROTESTERS ma bombing, have a long and honorable history in America, Utah membersinsist. Miceeines cotepmendinent calling them “necessary to the security of: BOeaeogGy Pdae these armedcitizen groupsto place them. from federal taxes. Their usual battleground: federal and state courts. driver licenses, U.S. currency, zip codes and other symbols of state and federal cgysTiTUTIONALISTS authority, Seek return to a barter economy based on gold and silver standard Someconcerned that authorities are forming a national police force under a i Beli United Nations-quided ‘ ‘world order.” * Believers often are tax protesters, too. fr By Jim Woolf homeor within compound, someunder ‘united order’ communal philosophy. RELIGIOUS SKINHEADS:Includes rural groups and street youth gangs. Most shave their heads, share separatist views and show violent tendencies. La Verkin and Salt Lake County groups believe Utah is the land of Zion and seek a white-only SKINHEADS Beeeg Lave operated pack : ets across Utah for years, law-enforce- suspected of killing cattle, burning ranchers’ cabins and attempting to block timber sales by di , which makes harvesti eisiyGFWMetal apis) Hee, Wealee PaNVESHD brushed with groups the public perceives ENVIRONMENTAL dangerous, Anti-environmentalists have sent threatening messagesto leaders RADICALS training to stockpiling weapons, main- xs and national guard during state emergencies. Devoted to the right to bear arms — including automatic weapons — and maintain militias. If necessary, some say they will use force to defend personalrights from government interference or a CITIZEN MILITIAS clothing or scientific research. They have firebombed a laboratory at Utah State le movement makes heavy use of an electromlc-tetwork-tunned-rumor-inil} University, attempted to bomb a Sandy mink farm, and have been linked to me of sath Front ies zaling meat, v eggs and leather ‘ Before the Oklahomaincident, militias enjoyed mainstream popularity in Utah, particularly among state residents outraged about Congress’ passageofa fiveday waiting period on handgun purchases and bans on semiautomatic weapons. During a February gun debate in the Legislature, House Majority Whip Michael Waddoups, R-Taylorsville, circulated a handout to colleagues likening President Clinton to Adolf Hitler. The document later was traced to a publication edited from Blackfoot, Idaho, by M. Samuel Sherwood, headof the U.S. Militia Association — which also drew a personalvisit last September from Utah Sen. Brent Richard, R-Riverton. But that has changed. Already paranoid, many groups are being driven further undergroundby publicity, says state Department of Public Safety Commissioner Doug Bodrero. Reached in Blackfoot, Sherwood says he expects half the nation’s militia members to leave their groups out of discouragement. But others leery of a federal backlash, he adds, “will see this [the bombing] as one more symptom of government gone mad,” an ee a a USU peteeae bes coyoteaneeee cae fect ‘ ae Damage ; i a was estimated at Hundreds Afew ea No one has been arrestedfor the at- Most Netaaelcrtn en ee ara i ‘ ore wherein the country. USU Police Chief Steve Mecham says the man has been eee in the Utah case. Theinves- No reliable estimates AFew Occasional threats, arson, tree spiking and nan vandalism Hundreds ANIMAL-RIGHTS Individuals supporting these groupsare scattered aroundthe state. A Salt Lake County street any gang with as many See as 200 CEng muttiracial members recently joined ight. recently jo RADICALS this fig Source: Law-enforcement agencies, court documents, Tribunefiles and interviews By Jim Woolf THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE Someviolent Frequently embers and driving metal spikes into treesin attempts to block timber sales. Inspiration for these attacks appears to be Edward Abbey's popular 1975 novel, The Monkey Wrench Gang, the story of environmentalists who use tactics to interfere with development on the Colorado Plateau. f Such attacks were championed by the defunct Earth First! orgahizatioh, which urged concernedindivi Is alone and tell no one what they taieNtone. En- ity Wasatch Front selling meat, eggs and leather have reported ay sk ee ee We rae rh Ati. facidedsabeeneteto ALF andat Oe i called Vegan Revolution. A “ “vegan”ap is a vegetarian who eats no animal products including milk end eggs. : mereete ti estimates ee no! 3 ave onigage inisolated bombings and vandalism ‘TheSalt Lake Tribune vironmentalists appear to have takenthis advice to heart, because thereis little evidence of organizedactivity. “We've hada little bit here anda little bit there,” says Lt. Monte Dalton of the San Juan County Sheriff's Office. The scattering of incidents leads him to believe they areisolated and carried out by individuals. Radical environmentalist are believed responsible for five arson fires in Garfield County since 1990, and the shooting of cattle in various parts of southern Utah. They also are suspected of cutting fences, slashing tires and other action against ranchers. The livestock industry has beensingled out because someenvironmentalists believe overgrazing by cattle is damaging the desert. This spring, Forest Servicesofficials in Wayne County found that a second timber sale on Thousand Lake Mountain had Bandy More. recsntty; businesses Aionenthe Nature Lovers Wage Stealthy War on Development Frustrated by the ene loss of naturalareasin Utah,a few environmentalists have resorted to vandalism and sabotage in an attempt to slow development. They are suspected of shdvting cattle, burning ranchers’ cabins,’ potiring sand into engines of earth-maving equipment, oa ob a Git ata aeeraD ee Soe farm in 1991, butit did not explode. A spray-painted sign on a wall attributed the attack to ALF. ANIMAL-RIGHTS RADICALS: Contend its immoral to kill animals for food, aneSoece A a Utah ane ciesounese compuits on ue global Internet. . en Some foreign invasion, , County; and the Culpepper Minutemen that extends to thousands of phones; fax Afew hundred (0 act alone,rather than in organized groups. CITIZEN MILITIAS: Groups of nonmilitary citizens assembledto assist police the . Constitutional Rangers and : the Utah Civil Defense League, both in Salt Lake Occasionally On Oct. 24, 1992, ALF members fire- of ecouen a eee Alliance. ne on both sides are belit taining links with racist groups and dis- i aie bombed the Loganoffice and Millville re- uted to the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), a militant group of animal-rights caine angry ence what W cules inhumane research on coyotes a State University. y spawned extremists on the right and the left. Radical environmentalists are Sate daeMuneeeWa oCyee tributing information on bombbuilding. Names reported by authorities include , violent members i ‘i i ji Nak howigtnd inion National Park, Thelr origins Vis with British neo-Nazi ENVIRONMENTAL RADICALS:Debate over environmental protection has Militia membership in Utah probably Some Frequently Eschew public schoolsandoften build bomb sheltersfilled with food supplies, in preparation for armed resistance to government intrusion. SEPARATISTS says Christiansen, rather than be broad- mentofficers say. Hundreds formed after schisms with organizedreligions. Many practice their beliefs at they might otherwise do as individuals,” says Doug Christiansen, a former state norganize ilitia. ie +Tremontonbased group disbanded a few weeks ago, 1 10 ent One of the most destructive terrorist attacks in recent Utah history was attrib- RELIGIOUS SEPARATISTS: Believers in divine law, not that of men;Y often x enforcementand the governor,in case of Pooper a ores He senees ae Vi THESALT LAKE TRIBUNE CONSTITUTIONALISTS:Defenders of a literal reading of U.S. Constitution Manyare ultraconservatives,including somepolygamists, whoavoid using selves at the beck andcall ofofficial law emergencies. “Historically, militias people dairrea taal cesine foldo are lial just teaag wid 4 urning authority while others claim that constitutionally, ‘pure white people’ are exempt THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE Citizen militias, now under intense scrutiny after being linked to the Oklaho- For Anim al S been “spiked” by someone trying to discourage timber harvesting. A tree with a spike in it can damage saws at lumber mills and endanger millworkers. David Griffel, special agent for the Forest Service, says more than 100 spikes found in the area make him suspect more than one person wasinvolved. Yetit cuts both ways. Peoplefrustrated by the success of the environmental movement have threatened leaders of groups that do not advocate eco-terrorism. “T have received a death threat on the office answering machine and another of physical violence on my home answering machine," says Ken Rait, issues coordinator for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. “These are the extremists, the anti-environmental extremists who are resorting to the politics of hate and intimidation.” Z J iAnathes acimalsighte group ou the at c ; : eaea street oe ape ered gang.Cosinty. also ls: conic # *: + peepee Crsweeny eeres * : ae first appeared in Utah in 1988, look like skinheads but claim notto be racially motivated, says Layton police Det. Kurt Cottrell Yet violence and vandalism are a part of theirlifestyle, police say. The group has developeda no-alcohol, no-drugs philosophy and reportedly has harassed people who drink liquor in clubs. The gangalso is suspected of jumping and stabbing a concertgoer for smoking pot at the Utah Fairpark. Now, many have becomeanimal-rights activists and have been responsible for vandalism against butcher andfur shops, evena yogurt stand, police say. “They're suspected whenever we see some graffiti and vandalism at butcher shops,” says Murray Assistant Police Chief Paul Forbes. “Other sources said they have had somepretty confrontational things with other gangs."" @ Clinton targets anti-terrorism laws MLowyers step up In Oklahoma case MAre we obsessed with security? Wide webof Intemationalterror lacism,bigotry thriving In Ulah A A AA AA He able ary Some Fear a StrongerFBIWill Become a Federal Bureauof Intimidation By Ted Cilwick more mi needed to counter terrorists such as those who bombed the federal building in Oklahoma and New York's World Trade Center. Someof the proposals enhance law officers’ abil. ity to track down Neaahedad @ Expand the number offensesfor which wire- taps can be Bcive international governments authority to , ta ee in the United States. . tags on boxes of explosives. Hire more agents and buy more technology. But others sai ticklish because they rub up civil Wrensthe FBI wants motels, car rentals, shipping firms and other businesses to cough up data about their clients more quickly. Agents are seeking wider access to credit-card information. ene And Freeh is “uct 4 6 thd increased latitude to con- lance and gather intelligence against ot ye immigration- Bid of “suspect” groups, keep better track of ‘THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE The FBI is demanding more powerin the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing. But don’t bet that the .|.. agency will get all it wants. In a long list of requests, FBI Director Louis Freeh and supporters, including PresidentClinton, ni- eee tonsfront pired and why. The FBI visitors whose visas have ex- :} individuals without revealing Utah and Washington refusedto dis- cuss the pro. wending through Congress. The FBI would only a copy of a month-old statement that Freeh gave the Senate Judiciary Committee. | Critics to the proposals span the political land- scape, Yor instance, the Utah Republican Party formally has urged the state's congressional delegation to resist any expansion of federal powers. Many conservatives fear the net effect would threaten their ability to possess guns and erode other longstanding rights, “The ly opposes any federal legislative prooe it seek to exploit the Oklahoma City bing so as to further infringe on the constitutional safeguards contained within the Bill of Rights," according to a draft resolution at Utah's Republican convention earlier this month. berals are attacking the FBI demands, They are mindful of the FBI campaign of politically motiv: break-ins, iliegal wiretaps, and o1 iticit and minated in 1976 gress itself, through the Senate Intelligence Committee. “Someof this reminds me of(J. Edgar] Hoover,’ Teresa Hensley, a Salt Lake City immigration attorney for Catholic Community Services, says of the new FBI proposals, The broad, unusual coalition — encompassing both ends ofthe political spectrum — is leery of the FBI requests, “There is enough legitimate opposition to expanding the FBI's ers that reasonable voices probably will be heard on this,” says Salt Lake City criminal-defense attorney Ron Yengich, who has vented his opposition in letters to Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch. In fact, the Clinton administration already has withdrawn one proposal that drew criticism. The president has conceded that it would be more prudent to allow courts to review any finding that an international groupis a “terrorist organization.” And Friday, the Senate shot down attempts to expand the government's wiretapping authority, As other measures come up for debate, some probably will be modified or dropped as Congress weighs the wisdom and political risks of investing more authority in an agencywhose abuses still are fresh in memories. enough to assuage lawmakersonall the points. “I do not support broad and undefined intelli- gencecollection efforts," Freeh declared April 27. “I do not want my remarks to be interpreted as advocating investigative activity against groups exercising their legitimate constitutional rights.” Beyond the political rhetoric and the recent FBI history, the agency's demands have provoked one commonreaction detractors, Yengich, Hensley, Los Angeles immigration attorney Linton Joaquim and others told The Salt Lake Tribune that for much of what the FBI wants, laws already are on the books. For example, current immigration law allows for deportation ofillegal immigrants sucpected of terrorist activities, says Joaquim, And there already are procedures for government agents to take action against foreigners with expired visas. Some also warn against rep! review the courts with arbitrary conclusions the FBI and other agencies, “Someof these things reek of Star Chamber tac- tics," says Hensley, Adds Yengich: “When we look at it rationally and without the emotion we have from the Oklaho- ma City bombing, we'll see that the is alduring the Vietnam War Tony Nets. fie: Toe FRE He 8 an) Sey ts movement. Those breaches cul¢" with a scathing report from ConSE MARRS PNTSATAN F AURIS AOES Se Sy ag eee And Freeh’s charm and disclaimers will not be |
