Federal agents found seven pipe bombs in a Tampa man's home while executing a search warrant Monday, they said.
Tampa police said they received information that Michael Ramos was in possession of between six and eight pipe bombs.
Police, along with agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the FBI, conducted an expedited investigation, during which they say they learned Ramos has expressed anti-government sentiment and acknowledged that he did have pipe bombs.
Agents executed a federal search warrant at his home at 4504 N. Lincoln Ave. N and found seven pipe bombs, an AK-47 semiautomatic rifle, a .45-caliber pistol, large amounts of ammunition and bomb-making materials, officials say.
Ramos was taken into custody and charged with possession of explosive devices.
According to the criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court, a friend who works with Ramos at Patriot Armor, a company that makes body armor for law enforcement among others, went to his house a couple weeks ago and saw a small wooden box in Ramos' bedroom filled with pipe bombs.
"These were pipe bombs constructed of PVC pope. Inside the pipe bombs was black powder and bird shot which helps with fragmentation from that," said Asst. Special Agent David C. Brown/ATF.
The man says he asked Ramos why he had them and he claims Ramos said something like "if (expletive) hits the fan, you never know if you might need it."
The friend said he told Ramos to get rid of them. He said at first Ramos refused but later he assured the man that the bombs were secured. The man decided to contact authorities anyway.
"Anytime we get a tip that someone is in possession of explosives or destructive devices, we take that very, very seriously and we will work around the clock if we have to flush it out and determine whether it's legitimate or not,” said Brown.
ATF agents and Tampa Police went to the house and found 7 pipe bombs along with weapons, a large amount of ammunition and bomb making materials.
"He lived in a duplex so if one of them had gone off anybody within a 50 foot radius would have been seriously injured or killed,” Brown said.
Ramos' landlord said she had no idea anything like this was going on inside the house.
Authorities say Ramos told them he's a part of a local militia group and that he's unhappy with the government. They say he admitted to making the pipe bombs after buying the materials online.
Ramos told authorities he had them for "preparedness and protective" reasons. They say he also claimed he never intended to harm anyone.
ATF Agents say at this point in their investigation that this appears to be an isolated incident, and they do not believe anyone else is involved.
An initial report indicated agents had found eight pipe bombs, but they later said that report was erroneous.