Tea party leader charged with distributing explosives, possessing illegal machine gun parts and other weapons

Montana tea party leader Bruce Boone Wann has been charged with illegal possession of firearms as well as the distribution of an improvised grenade and dynamite.

According to The Missoulian, Wann had a short-barrel rifle, stolen shotgun and two silencers, among other things. Having those weapons alone could land him in federal prison for 30 years. With the addition of the explosives, Wann could get as much as 80 years in prison.

Wann was active in the tea party movement during the 2010 election cycle. He was spotted wearing a Guy Fawkes mask from the film "V for Vendetta" outside of a mall with a handgun stuck in his belt. He held a sign saying "Nazi Checkpoint Ahead."

According to the Flathead Beacon, "Wann explained he hadn’t made the sign for the Tea Party protests, but instead regularly used it to warn motorists when local law enforcement set up checkpoints, which he believes represent unreasonable searches and seizures."

“I’m not a supporter of the Nazis, I just see where we’re going,” Wann told the paper. “We’re going back to Nazi Germany and fascism, with government running corporations.”

Wann pleaded not guilty and was given a federal public defender.