- Dec 17, 2010
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Hi guys,
I've not bumped into the Sovereign Citizens conspiracy movement before but it appears to have followers here in Australia. Have you encountered it in real life or on the net? What do the people or online persona's you've met claim? The Guardian describes it below - but for all I can tell - half the TEA party I speak to sound a bit like this as well?
I've not bumped into the Sovereign Citizens conspiracy movement before but it appears to have followers here in Australia. Have you encountered it in real life or on the net? What do the people or online persona's you've met claim? The Guardian describes it below - but for all I can tell - half the TEA party I speak to sound a bit like this as well?
Described by the Southern Poverty Law Centre in the US as an extremist group, the sovereign citizen movement is a haphazard collection of pseudo-legal beliefs broadly coalesced around the notion that modern government is illegitimate.
“Sovereign citizens believe that they get to decide which laws to obey and which to ignore, and they don’t think they should have to pay taxes,” the SPLC says.
In extreme cases, sovereign citizens in the US have been linked to violence. In 2010 a father and son linked to the movement shot to death two police officers in West Memphis, Arkansas, who had pulled them over in a routine traffic stop. The two men were later killed in a shootout with police.
The movement is rooted in racism and antisemitism, though, as the SPLC acknowledges, many followers are unaware of its origins. Acts of deadly violence have usually directed against government officials.
The threads that don't connect: Covid gives Australian conspiracy theorists a common home
“Sovereign citizens believe that they get to decide which laws to obey and which to ignore, and they don’t think they should have to pay taxes,” the SPLC says.
In extreme cases, sovereign citizens in the US have been linked to violence. In 2010 a father and son linked to the movement shot to death two police officers in West Memphis, Arkansas, who had pulled them over in a routine traffic stop. The two men were later killed in a shootout with police.
The movement is rooted in racism and antisemitism, though, as the SPLC acknowledges, many followers are unaware of its origins. Acts of deadly violence have usually directed against government officials.
The threads that don't connect: Covid gives Australian conspiracy theorists a common home