"Sovereign citizens" run afoul of the law

[YmirGF]

I must have spent about 2 hours last night watching numerous "sovereign citizen" videos and specifically how they interacted with police during ordinary traffic stops. It was mesmerizing because the unfortunates involved had caused themselves a huge amount of duress due to an extremely superficial understanding of law and the power of authorized police officers.

Video after video, person after person, sounded like they were quoting from the same book. They all used the same weird terms (instead of "driving", they were "traveling"). Inevitably these went into similar cases before judges where the special snowflakes tried this song and dance on a judge. Let's say that, though extremely polite, strangely so, in fact, the judges were not swayed by their excuse for critical legal thought. And yes, all the folks I saw chose to represent themselves. Like, what could possibly go wrong in a court of law representing yourself?

I have selected 2 videos. The 1st is an extreme little female who is downright perky, at first... till she gets herself arrested. Her raving gives the word delusional new emphasis and meaning. The 2nd video is of some guy called Mike the Cop and he gives his 2 cents on the "sovereign citizen" phenomena.

Just when you thought you had seen and heard everything too.

WARNING!!! During her meltdown she begins swearing loudly, hysterically and repeatedly. In contrast, the police officer is so calm, cool and collected that it is amazing.

Me? I would be pistol whipping these folks much sooner, LOL. (No, you probably don't want me as a cop.)

The amusing and informative Mike the Cop explanation

My question is mainly, "Where on earth are these people getting the idea that this sort of action is reasonable or that it is a good idea to obstruct police in this way?"

As I said, they all chant the same drivel. My personal favorite is telling the police, "I do not consent!"
Yep, they really care if you want to be searched. LOL.


Any comments? @Revoltingest @Nous

And here I though my first thread of the New Year was going to be on Intersectionality. Jeeez. The plans of mice and er, um, mice.

 

[Revoltingest]

I must have spent about 2 hours last night watching numerous "sovereign citizen" videos and specifically how they interacted with police during ordinary traffic stops. It was mesmerizing because the unfortunates involved had caused themselves a huge amount of duress due to an extremely superficial understanding of law and the power of authorized police officers.

Video after video, person after person, sounded like they were quoting from the same book. They all used the same weird terms (instead of "driving", they were "traveling"). Inevitably these went into similar cases before judges where the special snowflakes tried this song and dance on a judge. Let's say that, though extremely polite, strangely so, in fact, the judges were not swayed by their excuse for critical legal thought. And yes, all the folks I saw chose to represent themselves. Like, what could possibly go wrong in a court of law representing yourself?

I have selected 2 videos. One is an extreme little female who is downright perky... till she gets herself arrested. Her raving gives the world delusional new emphasis and meaning. The 2nd video is of some guy called Mike the Cop and he gives his 2 cents on the who "sovereign citizen" phenomena.

Just when you thought you had seen and heard everything too.

WARNING!!! During her meltdown she begins swearing loudly, hysterically and repeatedly. The police officer is so calm, cool and collected that it is amazing.

The amusing and informative Mike the Cop explanation

My question is mainly, "Where on earth are these people getting the idea that this sort of action is reasonable?"
As I said, they all chant the same drivel. My personal favorite is telling the police, "I do not consent!" Yep, they really care if you want to be searched. LOL.

Any comments? @Revoltingest @Nous

I'm a fan of avoiding p1ssing off cops.
I cooperate with dang near everything they ask...so long as it's reasonable.
But I gotta guard against accidentally confessing....

 

[YmirGF]

I'm a fan of avoiding p1ssing off cops.
I cooperate with dang near everything they ask...so long as it's reasonable.
But I gotta guard against accidentally confessing....

I gotta admit you were pretty funny in that video @Revoltingest

Any idea where the lunatics are getting this kind of legal advice?

 

[Revoltingest]

I gotta admit you were pretty funny in that video @Revoltingest

A sense of humor carries us thru the dark times.

 

[Curious George]

I must have spent about 2 hours last night watching numerous "sovereign citizen" videos and specifically how they interacted with police during ordinary traffic stops. It was mesmerizing because the unfortunates involved had caused themselves a huge amount of duress due to an extremely superficial understanding of law and the power of authorized police officers.

Video after video, person after person, sounded like they were quoting from the same book. They all used the same weird terms (instead of "driving", they were "traveling"). Inevitably these went into similar cases before judges where the special snowflakes tried this song and dance on a judge. Let's say that, though extremely polite, strangely so, in fact, the judges were not swayed by their excuse for critical legal thought. And yes, all the folks I saw chose to represent themselves. Like, what could possibly go wrong in a court of law representing yourself?

I have selected 2 videos. The 1st is an extreme little female who is downright perky, at first... till she gets herself arrested. Her raving gives the world delusional new emphasis and meaning. The 2nd video is of some guy called Mike the Cop and he gives his 2 cents on the "sovereign citizen" phenomena.

Just when you thought you had seen and heard everything too.

WARNING!!! During her meltdown she begins swearing loudly, hysterically and repeatedly. The police officer is so calm, cool and collected that it is amazing.

The amusing and informative Mike the Cop explanation

My question is mainly, "Where on earth are these people getting the idea that this sort of action is reasonable or that it is a good idea to obstruct police in this way?"

As I said, they all chant the same drivel. My personal favorite is telling the police, "I do not consent!"
Yep, they really care if you want to be searched. LOL.


Any comments? @Revoltingest @Nous

Such is how most extreme libertarians are perceived. Interesting to use the word snowflake to describe them. I am happy that it is no longer just a term derogatory to the progressive left.

I am not sure when this movement took off. It has been around for several years. Apparently traveling through checkpoints without consenting to searches, trying to not pay taxes, and open carry in order to film cops is a thing and has been a thing for at least 5-10y. Surprised you haven't seen these types of videos before now.

 

[YmirGF]

Such is how most extreme libertarians are perceived. Interesting to use the word snowflake to describe them. I am happy that it is no longer just a term derogatory to the progressive left.

I am not sure when this movement took off. It has been around for several years. Apparently traveling through checkpoints without consenting to searches, trying to not pay taxes, and open carry in order to film cops is a thing and has been a thing for at least 5-10y. Surprised you haven't seen these types of videos before now.

I'm Canadian, so we don't have the same rules here. Well, we do have very similar rules, but I just cannot imagine going at a police officer this way. How can any good come from it?

 

[Revoltingest]

Such is how most extreme libertarians are perceived. Interesting to use the word snowflake to describe them. I am happy that it is no longer just a term derogatory to the progressive left.

I am not sure when this movement took off. It has been around for several years. Apparently traveling through checkpoints without consenting to searches, trying to not pay taxes, and open carry in order to film cops is a thing and has been a thing for at least 5-10y. Surprised you haven't seen these types of videos before now.

These folk have been around a long .
I know a few.
Their reading of the Constitution is....uh....interesting.
They run the gamut from conservative to libertarian to survivalist to ultra-leftie to just plain bonkers.

 

[David T]

A sense of humor carries us thru the dark times.

Indeed.

 

[Curious George]

I'm Canadian, so we don't have the same rules here. Well, we do have very similar rules, but I just cannot imagine going at a police officer this way. How can any good come from it?

Well, I imagine that many feel that they are standing up for liberty and trying to end the "nanny-State" but I suspect a handful are going after youtube ad monies.

 

[Curious George]

These folk have been around a long .
I know a few.
Their reading of the Constitution is....uh....interesting.
They run the gamut from conservative to libertarian to survivalist to ultra-leftie to just plain bonkers.

Yeah, I have to admit that I haven't met or seen too many "lefties" claim this stuff. Maybe a couple extreme anarchist of some flavor or another. They have all been extreme (not moderate) libertarians. And while I know plenty of open carry "lefties" and conservatives, I don't know anyone but more extreme libertarians who open carry just to harass the police (and their conception of "lefties").

 

[YmirGF]

They run the gamut from conservative to libertarian to survivalist to ultra-leftie to just plain bonkers.

That sums up what I was watching pretty well actually. Black, white, old, young but all with this twisted view of what their constitutional rights are... and yet they are so, so very wrong. You would think that the ones who had run afoul of the law would be a wakeup call to those who still think this is a meaningful way to approach such things.

In theory word would trickle back to folks of this persuasion making them realize they are creating a rather large and quite unnecessary problem for themselves.

 

[Enoch07]

These sovereign citizen guys always crack me up. These videos are always a good for some cringe binging. I've had my fair share of cool patient cope and a-hole cops. The best policy is just to be calm, listen, and comply, regardless of the cops attitude. The less you talk or try persuade the officer the better.

 

[Father Heathen]

Sounds like the sort who try to establish "micronations": Category:Micronations - Wikipedia

 

[YmirGF]

Sounds like the sort who try to establish "micronations": Category:Micronations - Wikipedia

Please, @Father Heathen I've had enough looniness for one day, LOL.
I wonder if micronations are like micro-aggressions?

 

[YmirGF]

These sovereign citizen guys always crack me up. These videos are always a good for some cringe binging. I've had my fair share of cool patient cope and a-hole cops. The best policy is just to be calm, listen, and comply, regardless of the cops attitude. The less you talk or try persuade the officer the better.

My parents trained me to always be compliant, extremely polite and to honestly answer their questions with no embellishments.

 

[Revoltingest]

Yeah, I have to admit that I haven't met or seen too many "lefties" claim this stuff. Maybe a couple extreme anarchist of some flavor or another. They have all been extreme (not moderate) libertarians. And while I know plenty of open carry "lefties" and conservatives, I don't know anyone but more extreme libertarians who open carry just to harass the police (and their conception of "lefties").

The lefties I cite would be anarchists.

 

[Revoltingest]

In theory word would trickle back to folks of this persuasion making them realize they are creating a rather large and quite unnecessary problem for themselves.

I find that such people are rather immune to feedback from the real world.

 

[BSM1]

These sovereign citizen guys always crack me up. These videos are always a good for some cringe binging. I've had my fair share of cool patient cope and a-hole cops. The best policy is just to be calm, listen, and comply, regardless of the cops attitude. The less you talk or try persuade the officer the better.

A while back I was pulled over because I had a headlight out. It was around 12-12:30 AM and my wife and I had been playing at an open mic a a local drinking/eating establishment (neither one of us drink or use any other mind altering substances, btw). The officer was pleasant and we discussed the burnt out light for a moment before he told me to get back in my car. As he walked by he causally asked, "Where you folks been tonight?" I remained quiet. He asked again to which I replied, "Respectfully Officer, but I am not going to answer any questions." Long story short, another officer showed up, asked the same question, to which I gave the same answer (during the whole time I kept my hands on the steering wheel my demeanor non-confrontational). Well they acted hurt gave me my ticket and we all went our separate ways. My wife thought I had lost my mind. "If you had answered their questions I don't think he would have given you a ticket," she fumed. I pulled over, looked her in the eye, and said gently, "What do you think would have happened if I told the cop that I had been in a bar for the last five hours?" You have the right not to answer any questions and in most cases you should exercise that right.

 

[Curious George]

The lefties I cite would be anarchists.

Ok as long as they are not one of us sjw types.

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

I first encountered this kind of argument back in the 1980s, when I worked as a reporter, and encountered a surprising number of them working for state government in Illinois during the later 1980s through 2003...

In a nutcase, I mean nutshell, the argument boils down to: I am a sovereign citizen, and since I am one, I decline to pay taxes because I don't use government services, and the police don't have the right to stop me because I'm sovereign...etc, etc...

There were a couple of these that I worked with...you're supposed to send a letter to the IRS explaining the fact that you won't be paying taxes any longer...let's just say things did not work out well...

And nowadays I see commercials on TV: "Do you owe $10,000, $20,000, even $100,000 in back taxes...avoid garnishment, etc., by calling for our services and the IRS will settle for pennies on the dollar..."