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'Doomsday Preppers' reality TV show participant faces gun charge
[January 17, 2014] By Jonathan Kaminsky
OLYMPIA, Washington (Reuters) — Prosecutors charged a participant in the U.S. reality television show "Doomsday Preppers" with unlawful possession of a firearm on Thursday after he was shown firing guns and describing himself as a marauder on an episode that aired in November.
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Tyler Smith, 26, was arrested in Washington state at his farm
in Buckley, 40 miles southeast of Seattle, on Wednesday, after
police ascertained that he was a convicted felon forbidden from
possessing firearms, Pierce County Prosecutor Mark Lindquist
said in a statement. "If you threaten your neighbors and commit a crime on national
TV, you're likely to be caught," Lindquist said. Smith's appearance on the television show, which runs on the
National Geographic Channel, showed him loading and firing
rifles, creating homemade body armor and making threatening
statements that caused fearful neighbors to contact authorities,
Lindquist said. On the show, which features Americans as they prepare for the
end of modern civilization and chaos they expect will ensue,
Smith explained that he was not interested in stockpiling
supplies, but instead in taking them from others by force,
Lindquist said. "There's nothing you can do to stop us. We are your worst
nightmare, and we are coming," Lindquist quoted Smith as saying.
"We are those people. We'll kick your door in and take your
supplies." Filming of the episode began in March, and it aired on November
12, Lindquist said. Pierce County Sheriff's detectives investigating Smith found
that he had been convicted of theft in 2009 and was for that
reason not allowed to possess firearms. A search of Smith's home
at the time of his arrest uncovered ammunition and a
date-stamped photo of him holding a rifle in 2012, Lindquist
said. Smith pleaded not guilty and his bail was set at $30,000,
Lindquist said. (Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Lisa Shumaker) [© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.] Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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