Community Reacts to Release of Anti-Semitic Preacher Gordon Winrod
An anti-semitic preacher who caused a lot of ruckus near Gainesville was scheduled to be released from prison Friday.
Gordon Winrod, 85, was sentenced to 30 years after kidnapping six of his grandchildren and brainwashing them on his farm in Ozark County.
A lot of the people KOLR/KOZL spoke to Friday didn’t want to go on camera, but they all describe Winrod as being very different from most.
His newsletter “The Winrod Letter” is one thing that sticks out in their minds. The letters were full of anti-semitic comments and he often referred to law enforcement and local government leaders as Jews.
One woman recalled post offices being filled with people throwing the letters away.
Winrod kept the six grand children he was brainwashing in a compound and they would take turns guarding it with a gun.