On the June day when Cirino Gonzalez learned that U.S. marshals and police SWAT teams were surrounding the fortress-like home he'd sworn to protect, he called his father in Texas.

Gonzalez, who goes by the nickname Reno, had spent nearly two months living in the Plainfield home of Ed and Elaine Brown, a retired exterminator and dentist who have been convicted of multiple tax-related offenses but have refused to surrender to authorities. Gonzalez joined the Browns a few months after he returned from Iraq, where he worked as a military contractor. He made the couple and their anti-tax views his cause, vowing to die in their defense if necessary.

Jose Gonzalez had listened as his son shared newly-acquired anti-government views. He had given his blessing when Reno left to go help the Browns. He read his son's blog, and learned when he'd bought a military sniper rifle. After learning about the newly-intensified danger, Gonzalez decided to join his son in Plainfield.

Reno Gonzalez was one of four core Brown supporters who were arrested by marshals last week in a multi-state sweep, and charged with federal felonies for helping the tax-protesting couple. Three of the four men had family members who shared their deep commitment to their ideological cause. Jose Gonzalez, who is studying to become a family counselor, has been saddened by his son's detention but is also enraged by his arrest. He believes, like his son and the Browns, that government officials are conspiring to keep the truth about the federal income tax from ordinary Americans.

"We're doing this because we want to inform the American public that there is no law requiring Americans to pay a federal income tax and therefore all this coercion that the IRS and the federal marshals have practiced on American citizens amounts to terrorism," Jose Gonzalez said in an interview shortly after his son's arrest.

In online videos, blog posts, interviews and court records, a picture of the support system for the Browns' supporters becomes clear. Gonzalez, Danny Riley and Robert Wolffe all had family members who stood firmly behind them, embracing their political views and lionizing the Browns. Fewer details have emerged about the family of the fourth man, Jason Gerhard.

'A truth movement'

Jose Gonzalez, 48, said he came to share his son's view about the income tax readily. Both Gonzalezes were upset about the war in Iraq, but felt their war protests were having little impact on the conflict. When Reno told Jose that income taxes were a fraud, Jose Gonzalez said he was heartened, even though he personally earns so little that he does not pay any income taxes.

"We are part of a movement - we call ourselves a truth movement. That is the bigger picture. The real picture is Cirino and I are trying to bring the war in Iraq to an end. Demonstrating with billboards on the street didn't work. Calling our congressman didn't work," he said. "When we figured out this is what's feeding the war machine - we've got to stop the food - this is how we got involved with Ed and Elaine."

Reno Gonzalez packed his subcompact car and drove to Plainfield in April, bringing weapons with him. Once he arrived, he offered the Browns his military training and advised them on security. He also posted frequent, sometimes incoherent updates on their MySpace blog, describing visitors to the house and his own evolving political views.

When he purchased a high-powered .50-caliber sniper rifle in late April, he wrote a post celebrating his new weapon. "I get sad knowing not everyone has one," he wrote.

Jose Gonzalez said his son's venture forced him to go online. He did research on "patriot" themed websites and established his own MySpace page, which is now filled with tax protest theories and videos. Jose Gonzalez said he had concerns about the Browns from the beginning. As he describes it, he had hoped to find a more appropriate "Rosa Parks" for the tax protest movement. But he said he was persuaded by his son that the Browns' wealth, celebrity and willingness to die for their cause made their case an unusual opportunity to bring attention to their anti-tax views.

Jose Gonzalez brought along his son Romeo, a police officer in Texas, and he nearly lost his job after the local paper ran an article highlighting Jose Gonzalez's own military experience working with chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. The Gonzalez family did not stay at the Browns' home long. According to a blog post, Jose Gonzalez and Ed Brown clashed nearly immediately, after the father and son suggested security measures for the house that Ed Brown rejected. Now, Gonzalez describes Ed Brown as a racist with political ambitions, but he still believes the Browns are the best vehicle for spreading the truth.

"We cannot be picky about who's going to help us topple the IRS," Jose Gonzalez said. "After this cause is done, we will choose another cause and focus on it."

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