Originally published March 8 2015
Man arrested for legally trying to pay taxes with folded-up dollar bills
by J. D. Heyes
(NaturalNews) "This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private." That's what it says on all U.S. paper currency, but the principle applies as well to coined money. But in recent days, a Texas man was arrested for "criminal trespass" after attempting to pay his tax debt with folded $1 bills.
According to an arrest affidavit, Timothy Andrew Norris, 27, was arrested in January after refusing to leave the Witchita County tax office after attempting to pay his property taxes with "tightly folded" dollar bills, Fox News reported.
The Witchita Falls Times Record News further reported that Norris was trying to pay a $600 property tax tab. The paper said the bills were so tightly folded that it "required tax office personnel approximately six minutes to unfold each bill."
According to the affidavit, Norris pulled away from a deputy who was trying to place him in handcuffs. Eventually, officers wrestled him to the ground and placed him in custody, charging him with criminal trespass (on public property) while resisting arrest.
Witchita Falls is located northwest of Dallas; as of Feb. 9, the local paper said, Norris was no longer being held in the Witchita County jail.
While it seems obvious that Norris was attempting to make a political statement about paying taxes, the fact is that the money he was using was legal tender and he had a right -- indeed, an obligation even, to be in the public county tax office, which makes the criminal trespass charge seem ridiculous on its face.
Also, it appears as though Norris was forced to leave without getting a receipt for his tax payment, which he is owed (though he may have since gotten one).
The point is, as federal, state and local governments become more authoritarian and stake ever-larger claims on Americans' private property (which includes assets like our cash), the anti-establishment mentality is only going to grow.
Americans are generally a patient lot, but even we can be pushed too far, eventually.
Sources:
http://www.foxnews.com
http://www.timesrecordnews.com
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