What you should know about 'sovereign citizens'
The strange subculture of the "sovereign citizens" movement has been growing at a fast pace since the late 2000s.
Sovereigns hold truly bizarre, complex, antigovernment beliefs that are rooted in racism and anti-Semitism.
They believe they get to decide which laws to obey and which to ignore, and they don't think they should have to pay taxes. They participate in protests against governments or use "paper terrorism" - filing bogus lawsuits and fake liens on properties - to carry out their mission of disorder. Sometimes, they get violent.
Here are our resources on the “sovereign citizens” movement:
- Extremist Profile: Sovereign Citizens Movement
- Law Enforcement video: Sovereign Citizens
- Intelligence Report: What is a Sovereign Citizen?
- Intelligence Report Special Edition: Sovereign Citizens
- Hatewatch blogs on “sovereign citizens”
