Feds: Pasco man vowed to bear arms against deputies

A Pasco County man who authorities say vowed to "bear arms against" sheriff's deputies is being jailed without bail after a judge concluded he is a danger to the community.

The FBI said it found a well-used target with a bullet-pocked, crudely drawn silhouette of a law enforcement officer on the Hudson property of Josiah Fornof, 30, who was arrested on a federal charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Fornof's past convictions include two counts of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and one count of battery on a law enforcement officer, according to an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Perry told U.S. Magistrate Thomas Wilson about the homemade target, arguing that Fornof should be detained because he is a danger to law enforcement, as well as to the community at large.

Fornof didn't speak during today's brief hearing, except to tell Wilson he couldn't afford a lawyer. Wilson appointed a public defender.

Fornof lives at 18060 Owen Drive with his mother, Kimberly Blevins, according to the FBI affidavit. Neighbors reported hearing gunshots coming from the property, sometimes with bullets whizzing onto their land.

One neighbor complained last year of a homemade firing range where the shooters were not taking precautions to protect neighbors. Then authorities received a tip that Fornof's stepfather was on the property, and that there was a warrant for his arrest.

Two deputies sent by the Pasco sheriff's office were met by Fornof, who told them they were trespassing and that he wanted them to leave, the affidavit states. Fornof tried to serve the deputies with a packet of papers, including a trespass warning and a letter to the president.

"I have the right to bear arms against such unlawful entities, up to and including the President of the United States, that are coming against me unlawfully, lethally, and genocidally," the letter said.

As the deputies returned to their car, Fornof followed them with a video recorder. As they left, the affidavit states, he yelled, "Sir, if you come back, we may bear arms against you." And, he said, "We are prepared to protect ourselves."

He later posted the video, titled "Sheriff trespass," on his MySpace page, the affidavit states.

An informant told authorities Fornof, wearing a gun on his hip, talked about the confrontation with deputies and pointed out a tree with pieces of wood nailed to it, an apparent makeshift ladder.

Fornof then climbed the steps, lay across the branches and motioned as if he were pointing a rifle at the driveway's gate, the affidavit states. "They would never know where it was coming from," Fornof said.

The informant later told Fornof and Blevins he was a certified concealed weapons instructor and offered to train them to shoot.

In one recorded conversation, according to the affidavit, Fornof said, "Well, I'll tell you what. If I have to shoot somebody with a badge because they're doing something stupid ... and thinking they could do it, I'm just going to have to keep shooting them, 'cause they ain't going to stop you know?"