http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/2126185<snip>
In the beginning, Gray never came to the gate to talk to reporters and other curiosity seekers. Now he occasionally makes an appearance to share, in disarmingly laconic terms, his Bible passages and apocalyptic vision of a world menaced by Masons, terrorists, the United Nations, politicians, judges and Satan worshipers.
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On Christmas Eve 1999, state troopers in Anderson County stopped a car for speeding near Palestine. Inside were the driver, a passenger, high-caliber pistols and assault rifles.
The passenger, John Joe Gray, was wearing a gun in a shoulder holster. He refused to get out of the car and, when the troopers forcibly removed him, he bit one on the hand and tried to take the trooper's weapon.
He was charged with two felonies, released on bond and failed to appear in court. Instead, he fortified his fenced property with bunkers and, in case lawmen planned to root him out, he sent them a warning: "Bring body bags."
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It was here that the mingling of fundamentalist religion and militia foreboding (he was a leader in the Texas Constitutional Militia and often held training on his property) spun into a dark world view and outright rejection of civil authority.
"We are remnants of God ... people who trust in the Lord," he says.
He and his family began refusing to register their cars, opting instead for plates issued by the Embassy of Heaven, an Oregon-based sect that also rejects government authority. They refused to obtain driver's licenses or to recognize the authority of courts.
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