Survivalist/conspiracy theorist says his views have made him a target

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Home News Sports Entertainment Business Food Lifestyle Health Marketplace Collections•Camden CountySurvivalist/conspiracy theorist says his views have made him a targetFebruary 21, 2013|BY JASON NARK, Daily News Staff Writer| narkj@phillynews.com, 215-854-5916ALEJANDRO A. ALVAREZ / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Fernando Antonio Salguero says police blew…

SOMEDAY, the sun will die, the Earth will ice over and civilization will disintegrate in the darkness.

Fernando Antonio Salguero will be long gone by then - we all will be - but the Montgomery County resident says there's nothing wrong with preparing today for the possibility of future catastrophes.

Salguero, 39, is the founder of Survive and Thrive, an 800-member group that meets regularly to discuss such topics as "stealth and subterfuge," "repelling home invasions" and "flexing the U.S. Constitution."

"All that I am is a kid who grew up in a very, very rough way who wants to leave the world in a better condition than I found it for my children," he said Monday, a Colt .45 on his hip, during an interview at his home in Bridgeport.

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Being prepared to survive in an emergency is just common sense, akin to carrying a spare tire in the trunk of your car, Salguero said.

But he has a lot of other survival "tools," beliefs and theories deep in the trunk that he thinks have made him a target.

Last week, police in Camden County blew open the trunk of Salguero's 2005 Ford Crown Victoria because, he says, he wouldn't let them open it without a warrant.

"I offered them a key, but they just blew it open with their robot to justify them having their toys," he said.

Police said they blew the trunk open after a Camden County Sheriff's Department K-9 detected explosive materials in the car.

Salguero is also involved with groups that aim to inform juries that they can "nullify" laws, that pledge to defend the U.S. Constitution "against all enemies, foreign and domestic," and that refuse to fly because of airport security screenings.

"It's a big deal, and we trade it [our personal liberties] away so we can go to Disneyland or go see our grandmother," he said.

Salguero also supports Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth and believes that it took more than two airplanes piloted by suicidal terrorists to bring down the Twin Towers in 2001.

"It is a taboo subject and it is very sensitive to a lot of people," he said of 9/11. "It deserves a new and unbiased investigation. There's a tremendous amount of detail and cover-up, and that's an uncomfortable pill."

One former Survive and Thrive member told the Daily News that he left the group a few years ago when it began mixing political beliefs with practical survival methods.

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