Breaking: Doomsday Prepper Sought by Federal Authorities for Bomb Making: Last Seen in Tampa Bay, Fl

www.tampabay.com...

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.

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.

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."

Tampa Bay may soon be getting a taste of a Boston, MA style lock down...

What proof do they have that this man is trying to fashion "end times" bombs on the feds?
And since when does being a prepper tie into being a terrorist?
This double speak is killing me.

originally posted by: ArchPlayer
What proof do they have that this man is trying to fashion "end times" bombs on the feds?
And since when does being a prepper tie into being a terrorist?
This double speak is killing me.

Yeah, that's what I was pondering.

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 charges are sealed? So if you are part of the FBI crew trying to nab this guy, are you given privy to the evidence or do those agents simply follow orders? If they simply follow orders, how do they know what they are doing is constitutional and not violating this man's rights?

They only evidence cited in the article is testimony from an under cover FBI agent:

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.

a reply to: GenerationGap

Sounds like another Ruby Ridge in the making if the charges are sealed. Normally sealed charges come from AFTER you commit the crime, made your deal, and have them vaulted, not before.

The fact they are tying this into prepping (which the FBI says anyone that stores more than 2 weeks of food is a terrorist) is suspicious.

a reply to: ArchPlayer

He is accused of building bombs, not of being a prepper. I don't know how you could have missed that.

He's probably in an underground bunker in the woods.

Real time Google Monitor:

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Youtube Video of the preppers working:



www.wtsp.com...

Neighbors are weighing in:

Other tenants and neighbors tell 10 News there's no way Winters is guilty of setting booby traps or experimenting with explosives and teaching others how to do it, as the FBI says. It's just not in his character, they say. Vincent Bernard says, "He does a lot for this community. That produce stand that ya'll see over here? He fills that produce stand every day for low income families and for those who can't donate money to it ... he says, 'Take enough for a week for your family.'"

And as usual, the US domestic military placed an innocent family at gun point:

Casey Kendell is one of Winters tenants, who says FBI agents stopped her and her boyfriend, Jason Swain, at gunpoint with her three small kids terrified in the back seat as they were heading out of town for a birthday party. Kendell says, "Why is my car getting smashed? They pulled me over and slammed my car with no sirens on, broke the windows out of my car. [They] threw flash bombs in the windows with my kids sitting right there, put guns to my temple and my chest and my neck."

Welcome to Boston, Tampa.

This is a developing story.

a reply to: GenerationGap

The guy 'purportedly' buried 60 AR-15s? Yeah ... right. If he did he's looney-tunes. So, why the FBI and not the guys in white coats?

Like you, I'm wondering why the charges are sealed. They've obviously picked up everyone else already, so where's the beef? Do you think they're worried a bunch of militia guys are going to spill out of the woodwork in support?

Don't know much about the Tampa Bay Times. Though I read the article and browsed the front page of the site it's pretty hard to figure out if this is balanced reporting. What do you think?

a reply to: GenerationGap

What I also find odd about this article is that they say "destructive devices" and not explosive devices. Exactly what type of devices did he make and why did they need to be registered? Did he actually cause harm to anyone or is it just because he didn't "register" the devices? I'm sure he'd just get a fine if it was a simple case of not registering some explosives, so I don't know why he'd run or why they'd need any type of man hunt to catch him. I some how doubt they will find him if he's any good at surviving in the wilderness, which I assume he is.

a reply to: ManFromEurope

The article title says he is a prepper and he is a member of a group called "River Otter Preppers". That would make it appear as if he is a prepper.

a reply to: GenerationGap

Other tenants and neighbors tell 10 News there's no way Winters is guilty of setting booby traps or experimenting with explosives and teaching others how to do it, as the FBI says.

So many questions. Since when is setting "booby traps" actually illegal? Was he doing it on his own property or someone else's? And since when is experimenting with explosives actually illegal? I don't think it is unless you're building a cache of high powered explosives and you don't register them, even then I'm not exactly sure about the legality of it. And teaching others certainly isn't illegal... suspicious yes, but not illegal. They taught me how nuclear bombs work in high school.

a reply to: ChaoticOrder

I think Patriot Act and Homeland Security Act make all that illegal now. Hell, saying Obama sucks donkey balls can get you arrested these days.

originally posted by: Snarl
a reply to: GenerationGap

The guy 'purportedly' buried 60 AR-15s? Yeah ... right. If he did he's looney-tunes. So, why the FBI and not the guys in white coats?

Like you, I'm wondering why the charges are sealed. They've obviously picked up everyone else already, so where's the beef? Do you think they're worried a bunch of militia guys are going to spill out of the woodwork in support?

Don't know much about the Tampa Bay Times. Though I read the article and browsed the front page of the site it's pretty hard to figure out if this is balanced reporting. What do you think?

The Tampa Bay Times is a mainstream high market share local and nationally syndicated newspaper.

a reply to: ChaoticOrder

Since when is setting "booby traps" actually illegal?

Well, that one, sorta-kinda really is.

Was he doing it on his own property or someone else's?

It doesn't matter. I can't speak for every state, but I do know it doesn't float in Florida.

And since when is experimenting with explosives actually illegal?

You've gotta be licensed to mess around with explosives. Not sure what the threshold is, but it's not far past a firecracker.

I believe the Tampa Bay Times (formerly the St. Petersburg then St. Pete Times) has largely endorsed Florida Democratic candidates; not that that matters as it's all one party with two names in Florida anyways.

Edit: I won't be surprised if this gets mass media attention tomorrow. So the credibility of these sources will likely be "out shined" by more known sources soon.

originally posted by: Snarl
a reply to: ChaoticOrder

Since when is setting "booby traps" actually illegal?

Well, that one, sorta-kinda really is.

Was he doing it on his own property or someone else's?

It doesn't matter. I can't speak for every state, but I do know it doesn't float in Florida.

And since when is experimenting with explosives actually illegal?

You've gotta be licensed to mess around with explosives. Not sure what the threshold is, but it's not far past a firecracker.

Totally agree with your response Snarl.

originally posted by: ArchPlayer
What proof do they have that this man is trying to fashion "end times" bombs on the feds?
And since when does being a prepper tie into being a terrorist?
This double speak is killing me.

The FBI has printed a sheet with the type of people to look at, when considering what terrorist could be. Preppers are one, if you tell anyone anywhere you're prepping your crazy. I had that darn list for months on my computer now that it comes up I don't have the PDF as source proof. I am sure google can find it for you.

The riverotterpreppers youtube page:
www.youtube.com...

Someone may want to cache those videos/download them if they know how. Youtube tends to blank videos during times like this.

The dude is a serious prepper and devout religious type from the few videos I've skimmed through.

a reply to: GenerationGap

They also have a web page:
www.riverotterpreppers.com...

Other links:

riverotterpreppers.blogspot.com...

plus.google.com...

www.facebook.com...

Again, people might want to save these off if they know how in case they get scrubbed.