Sovereign Citizens
        While much of the attention has been focused on foreign terror organizations, it’s important to remember the threats posed by domestic terrorism groups
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        Attacks funded and orchestrated by a transnational terror groups such as al Qaeda, AQAP, al Shabaab, and ISIS merit consideration, but lone wolves and the grassroots Jihad remain the biggest threat
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        The drama “Sovereign” looks back at the 2010 killing of two officers by a father and son who called themselves “sovereign citizens”
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        Steven Bixby, convicted of killing two Abbeville County officers in 2003, argues his anti-government beliefs make him unfit for execution under state law
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        Learn what a sovereign citizen is, how they use fake license plates, whether they can be arrested and how U.S. courts view their legal defense
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        Supporters of the sovereign citizen movement use these plates as a form of protest against government authority, but law enforcement views them as a legal violation
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        “This is a tragic incident. None of us wanted this to happen. You can clearly see the deputies did not want this to happen,” Charlotte County Sheriff Bill Prummell said
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        At the time of the incident, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzales stated the man was a sovereign citizen, despite the man’s claims that he did not belong to that group
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        The threat to officer safety posed by sovereign citizens is well known. Here’s how to be safe and professional during an encounter
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        Sovereign citizens fancy themselves outside of the laws of the land and don’t recognize the legitimacy of the U.S. government
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        Law enforcement must understand the sovereign citizen movement, and be able to identify specific components that make up the movement, in order to protect themselves. 
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        Understanding the behavior and ideology of sovereign citizens is crucial for ensuring the safety of law enforcement officers, especially during traffic stops
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        The shooting occurred when the man, who identified as a Moorish sovereign citizen, resisted a deputy who asked him to leave a closed public park
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        The sovereign citizen movement and sovereign citizen traffic stop has become the bane of many police officers in the U.S.
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        Deputies found illegal explosives and firearms in the suspects’ vehicle and on their “remote sovereign citizen compound”
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        Several Rise of the Moors members claimed discrimination after officers arrested them during an armed standoff last month
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        Several Rise of the Moors members are seeking $70 million in damages and claim that Massachusetts courts have no jurisdiction over the case
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        A long-range acoustic device (LRAD) helped disable and apprehend nine Rise of the Moors suspects, police said
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        The men had refused to put down their weapons or comply with police orders, claiming to adhere to “Moorish Sovereign Ideology”
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        Rural cops routinely encounter violence related to anti-government sentiment
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        While attempting to handcuff the passenger, the woman pointed a gun at the trooper’s head and pulled the trigger
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        “I’m not driving, I’m traveling”
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        Gerald “Jerry” DeLemus spent more than a month in an encampment organizing armed patrols and serving as an intermediary between a self-styled militia and local authorities
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        Police in Louisiana say a Mississippi man claimed to be a “sovereign citizen” who’s immune from arrest during a traffic stop
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        The Ammon Bundy-led takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge began Jan. 2 and lasted nearly six weeks
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        Former Gilberton Chief Mark Kessler says he fed information to the FBI about people he thought were sovereign citizens
    
        
    
        
    
        
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