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Sturgeon's House

The Sovereign Citizen Movement


Brick Fight

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I've been reading up to get my mind back to finishing my Political Science degree, and one of the things to get me on a reading is when a Goon on SA was putting a report together for his law class examining the history of the modern Sovereign Citizen movement:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereign_citizen_movement#2010

 

While I'd read stories mocking their views as early as the Bush Administration, the movement was invigorated by the election of Barack Obama in 2008. Their large mainstream debut was during the FBI standoff against Cliven Bundy in regards to letting his cattle illegally graze on government land that came to a head in 2015, and the armed occupation of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge in 2016

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliven_Bundy#Standoff

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupation_of_the_Malheur_National_Wildlife_Refuge

 

There's a whole bunch of subtext to the movement, but the main gist is that they don't believe in a Federal, or sometimes even State Government. This usually results in members of the movement participating in illegal activity that they believe they can get away with. The most common illegal acts include tax/mail/financial fraud (with tax fraud numbering in tens of millions over one-to-several years in some cases), violence against police, purchasing/owning illegal weapons and explosives, conspiracy to kidnap/commit acts of violence against government employees/officials, and a host of other felonies and misdemeanors. Essentially, they believe that there are loopholes in state and federal law where if they feel they can complain about courts using the wrong flag, administering oaths more than once, or claiming themselves as certain entities, etc. will let them get out of any prosecution. For example, one of the most infamous of loopholes for SovCits deals with US Code Title 18 - Part I - Chapter 1 - Section 7:

 

 

(1) The high seas, any other waters within the admiralty and maritime jurisdiction of the United States and out of the jurisdiction of any particular State, and any vessel belonging in whole or in part to the United States or any citizen thereof, or to any corporation created by or under the laws of the United States, or of any State, Territory, District, or possession thereof, when such vessel is within the admiralty and maritime jurisdiction of the United States and out of the jurisdiction of any particular State.

 

While many would read the bold selection in Layman as "Any vessel owned by the Government of the United States or any citizen of the USA," SovCits (with varying degrees of intention) misinterpret it as "Any vessel... or citizen of the United States" is subject to Maritime Law and cannot be subject to state or federal law. So basically:

 

 

A recent case wherein the SovCit defendant claims that taking an oath twice, even under different circumstances, in unconstitutional: http://arnoldlawfirm.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/motion-to-dismiss-medenbach.pdf

 

An attempt at a psychological profile of Sovereign Citizens based on select court cases: http://www.jaapl.org/content/42/3/338.full.pdf

START report claiming Sovereign Citizens among the top concerns for law enforcement in regards to domestic terrorism: https://www.start.umd.edu/pubs/START_UnderstandingLawEnforcementIntelligenceProcesses_July2014.pdf(specifically mentioned on page 1, paragraph 4)

 

My big thing lately is tracking the history of the modern movement, which seems to go back to the Posse Comitatus movement of the '60s. I'm currently trying to find the overlapping connections between the two.

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You don't know the half of it. So much of this is not citable because they're from court records I read years ago, old news pages I read at 3am, or were relayed to me by my friend's dad who worked for the FBI. There are some who literally believe that the US went bankrupt during the depression (despite weathering it better than damned near any other country on Earth), lost its sovereignty, and something something since flags with gold trim aren't mentioned in the flag code, the only explanation can be that courts are now Maritime/Admiralty courts. This is where the "I am a vessel therefore you can't prosecute me" magic words come from. SovCits believe through their twisted logic that calling themselves boats will get them out of any legal repercussions.

 

I honestly don't remember the threads that perilously hold the logic together anymore, so take it with a grain of salt.

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I always lol when this stuff happens

 

Sometimes youtube comments are great;

"Sovereign Citizens. . .

Viewed by the world as Crazy

Viewed by the FBI as Domestic Terrorists

Viewed by Law Enforcement as a pain in the ass

Viewed by me as entertainment."

 

Fuck, I came here to post that exact video because it never gets old in these types of threads.

 

"Let the record show you're about to taze meASDNASJKDNASJDBNbjdnasbdbasnd"

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The FBI has been making arrests since the Malheur incident. Here's a graph of who and what they're getting charged with in relation to the Bunkerville and Malheur standoffs:

 

https://twitter.com/Paulmd199/status/716052148933427200

 

You'll notice Ritzheimer got a theft charge that nobody else copped. People believe it may be over these security cameras:

 

 

Some of you may notice the "SCADA" printed on the side and know what it means. They thought those were security cameras when they were just there to monitor the nearby power transformers for problems. I gotta say the biggest problem with looking these people up is their voices. It doesn't help that they're ALWAYS TALKING IN OUTDOOR VOICE, but they always hurt to listen to for some reason. Finicum in particular is a goddamned alien parasite who use sonic waves to influence all but the feeble-minded to close their browser when he starts talking.

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The FBI has been making arrests since the Malheur incident. Here's a graph of who and what they're getting charged with in relation to the Bunkerville and Malheur standoffs:

 

https://twitter.com/Paulmd199/status/716052148933427200

 

You'll notice Ritzheimer got a theft charge that nobody else copped. People believe it may be over these security cameras:

 

 

Some of you may notice the "SCADA" printed on the side and know what it means. They thought those were security cameras when they were just there to monitor the nearby power transformers for problems. I gotta say the biggest problem with looking these people up is their voices. It doesn't help that they're ALWAYS TALKING IN OUTDOOR VOICE, but they always hurt to listen to for some reason. Finicum in particular is a goddamned alien parasite who use sonic waves to influence all but the feeble-minded to close their browser when he starts talking.

My wife's brother talks like that.  At least he has the excuse of having been born with brain damage.  

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Because watching or reading too much about sovereign citizens will give me a stroke.

 

And I can only take pleasure if they get tazed or maced at the end, (and not the pussified compliant max strength pepper spray only mace, the max strength pepper spray with tear gas added mace)

 

Infact, every video with a sovereign citizen should end that way mandatory, like the judge video.

 

"Oh, and before you go, a formal parting gift... Bailiff?"

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As much of a know-it-all as I am, I can't figure their angle. I genuinely don't think that they're stupid enough to think that their Discovery consisting of a pocket Constitution with "We The People" vigorously underlined in pencil will get them out of a trial. Either they think there will be some kind of armed rescue attempt, they'll get some deal, or they're going to start their movement on the inside.

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