FBI Terrorizing Citizens on "Man Hunt" for "Prepper" over Straw Purchases

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Resist The Tyranny

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Published June 17,2014

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/pr...Nw=w426-h240-n FBI Terrorizing Citizens on "Man Hunt" for "Prepper"

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Martin Howard Winters: FBI searching for suspected doomsday prepper wanted on federal charges

WFTS Webteam, Alex Hobson 3:10 PM, Jun 16, 2014
4 hours ago

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The FBI is searching for a Valrico, Florida man it says was leading a group preparing for the end of the world by hoarding illegally-purchased assault rifles and building homemade destructive devices.

Martin Howard Winters, 55, forced a lockdown of Durant High School on Monday after he ran from investigators who approached him in Plant City, according to authorities. He got out of his car and ran into a wooded area.

"He could probably have been home by now if he just complied with law enforcement today, but now he has made the situation worse," said FBI spokesman Dave Couvertier.

A document laying out reasons the FBI wanted to search his property shows agents have been investigating him since as early as September.

In October, Winters was indicted on four counts of making a destructive device.

In the report, agents accuse him of designing traps and hiding weapons around his property specifically to target government agents.

Winters was known as the leader of the River Otter Preppers, a group preparing for an “end-of-times event as prophesied by the Book of Revelations,” the report says.

The report says he used “straw buyers,” a person who purchased the guns on his behalf, to obtain numerous AR-15s. He also fashioned destructive devices from metal tube pipes designed to fire 12-gauge shotgun shells.

Winters detailed his plans to an undercover agent, the report says, including a scenario that involved releasing propane gas in his home and setting it ablaze while he shot at agents from concealed positions.

He said 40 armed men in his neighborhood would be willing to participate in what he called his “last stand,” the report says.

He spent $200,000 in his preparations, which included burying AR-15 rifles – 50 of them, by his count – in barrels around his property, the report says.

A 2012 YouTube video specifically named in the report shows a man believed to be Winters digging up 50-gallon drums filled with food and supplies.

"We are still in the manhunt mode," Couvertier said.

But neighbors of Winters call it one big misunderstanding. They say Winters is known for his community fridge, which you can see sitting in his yard from the street. He's also known for having a giant flag dedicated to those who served our country.

ABC Action News spoke with Winters and aired a story about this flag in 2011.

"He's not armed and dangerous. He's a very caring man. He's a very loving man. He protects his family, his friends. He's not like how they're portraying him," neighbor and longtime friend Rene Leach said. "I'm scared my friend is going to get shot with no chance."

The FBI is hoping for a peaceful resolution. Anyone who has seen Winters is being asked to contact the FBI Tampa Office at 813-253-1000.

Copyright 2014 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

http://www.wptv.com/news/state/marti...ederal-charges

Valrico doomsday prepper plotted confrontation with government agents, FBI says

Patty Ryan, Times Staff Writer

Monday, June 16, 2014 9:31pm

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Martin Howard Winters, 55, remained at large late Monday.

A federal gun probe erupted into a manhunt in a rural stretch of Valrico on Monday, as authorities attempted to arrest a man accused of building unregistered destructive devices as part of an end-of-times plan to kill government agents.

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Martin Howard Winters, 55, remained at large late Monday. He and five other people were indicted June 5 by a federal grand jury on sealed charges that arose from an investigation of a group called the River Otter Preppers, which Winters headed, according to court records.

The destructive devices — metal tubes designed to fire 12-gauge shotgun shells — were intended to function as booby traps, according to a 24-page search warrant affidavit that lays out the government's case.

Winters and the River Otter Preppers "are preparing for an end-of-times event as prophesied by the Book of Revelations in the Bible which he believes will occur in the near future," the affidavit states, "which will require individuals to rely on themselves for food and protection from other individuals and the federal government."

Last October, Winters told an FBI undercover employee that he had spent $200,000 on his preparations and that he had buried 60 AR-15 firearms in four barrels in the ground, the record states. They toured the neighborhood, and Winters pointed out bunkers that he keeps on three east Hillsborough County properties, two on Williams Boulevard and one on Spring Road.

He talked about shooting government agents in the back, first snagging them with fishhooks that would pop out of air-pressured pipes mounted on the eaves of porches. "Winters will then shoot the agents while they are entangled in the hooks," Special Agent Ronald Monaco wrote in the affidavit.

An unidentified FBI employee spent months in talks with Winters and wrote that he also talked of shooting tanks of propane gas to kill government agents as they entered his property.

The indictments, kept secret until Monday, also name Michael Bonta, 49; Jason Swain, 33; Nicholas Hall, 23; James Beebe, 56; and Desiree Beebe, 23. Bonta, like Winters, was charged with crimes related to the homemade destructive devices. The others were charged with being felons in possession of firearms and making false statements.

Only Winters was still free late Monday. He fled in his vehicle when agents arrived, and he then disappeared into a wooded area, the FBI said.

"We're hoping for a peaceful resolution to this," said FBI spokesman David Couvertier. "Nobody's looking to do him any harm."

In 2011, Winters was featured in a Tampa Bay Times story about a 130-foot flagpole he had erected on his 10-acre Valrico homestead. At the time, Winters said residents in his Williams Boulevard neighborhood supported the project and that many volunteered time and labor. He said he was motivated to complete the project out of respect for soldiers serving overseas.

"I did it because I have respect for the people who die for you," Winters said.

News researcher John Martin contributed to this report. Patty Ryan can be reached at (813) 226-3382 or pryan@tampabay.com.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/...i-says/2184656

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