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SUBJECT MATTER AREAS COUNTERTERRORISM TERRORISM STUDY

PERSPECTIVE: Growing Threat of Sovereign Citizen Extremism Spans Borders and Ideologies

By Christine M. Sarteschi April 19, 2022

Police remove trucks from the site of the Freedom Convoy protests in Ottawa, Canada, in February 2022. (Ottawa Police photo)

Sovereign citizens are anti-government, loosely a�liated extremists who deny the legitimacy of their respective governments. Illegitimate governments,

according to sovereign citizens, cannot produce legitimate laws and thus they claim they are immune from all laws and all government authority. They

refuse many aspects of citizenry, for instance, to pay taxes, acquire driver’s licenses, or register their vehicles, and they ignore laws requiring them to

possess car insurance.

Engaging in resistance, they often �ood courts, government o�ces and, more recently, school boards with excessive, meaningless paperwork. This tactic

has been de�ned as “paper terrorism.” Sovereign citizens also engage in real estate and mortgage fraud. They move into repossessed homes or otherwise

empty buildings, �le quick deed transfers, and then claim the property as their own. Some sovereign citizens have committed acts of extreme violence

including murder, rape, child abuse, and kidnapping, among others, although how these crimes link to their ideology is not always clear. Sovereign citizens

have been labeled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as a serious domestic terrorism threat. Estimates suggest that there are 300,000 to 500,000

sovereign citizens in the United States, and their numbers are growing.

In the United States, sovereign citizens are especially problematic for law enforcement. A 2020 analysis found 94 instances in which sovereign citizens

attempted to harm, did harm or killed law enforcement o�cers (LEOs). Since then, sovereigns have been involved in the death or critical injury of an

additional �ve o�cers. Ray Kelly allegedly killed a police o�cer when attempting to drive away from a tra�c stop. Jessica Worsham shot and killed a female

police o�cer who had been called to the shooter’s residence. Lashawn McNeil, who authorities suspect is a Moorish sovereign, shot and killed a New York

Police o�cer and critically wounded another. Ronald Troyke ambushed and fatally shot an o�cer in Colorado.

Routine tra�c stops are often especially dangerous for LEOs because sovereigns are notoriously confrontational, argumentative and combative. They

typically refuse to comply with police at even simple tra�c stops, and this behavior has led to the deaths of o�cers and sovereigns. Nevada o�cials state

that sovereign citizens are the number one threat to uniformed o�cers and have deemed them the “largest terroristic threat” facing their state.

Moorish sovereign citizens are a subgroup of the sovereign citizen movement. The Moorish Militia, much like other Moorish sovereigns, falsely believe that

the United States of America is actually the country of Morocco based on a �ctitious 1787 treaty and that they are immune from U.S. law. A group of Moors

were involved in a nine-hour police stando� that occurred over the July 4, 2021, holiday weekend in Wake�eld, Mass. The heavily armed group of 11 men

were prominently brandishing weapons while refueling on the side of a highway. They called themselves the Rise of the Moors (now the Moorish Militia).

They were arrested after refusing to put down their weapons and refusing to comply with law enforcement orders. They also attempted to escape into the

woods. None had a license to carry �rearms. As of April 2022, some members of the Moorish Militia, including the group’s leader, remain incarcerated

awaiting trial.

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has identi�ed four other subtypes of sovereigns. The �rst includes Common Law Court and National Assembly

members who hold pseudo court trials in which they formally indict the o�ending parties. More recently, some focus has been on trying and “convicting”

public o�cials associated with government COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

The second subtype consists of constitutional sovereigns who believe the federal government is illegitimate and is overstepping its bounds. For instance,

the Anti-Defamation League released a report in 2021 on the ever-expanding e�orts of the Constitutional Sheri�s and Peace O�cers Association (CSPOA),

who were founded by Richard Mack. The ADL report noted that CSPOA has e�ectively mimicked ideas from the sovereign citizen movement in their belief

that the power of county sheri� supersedes that of any other authorities, and that they can pick and choose which laws they want to enforce.

The third type is the galactic sovereigns. This is not a very common subtype but they generally believe in aliens and that a law was passed in the year 2000

that abolished the IRS and instituted maritime law. The fourth type is tax protesters, a movement that can be traced back to the 1950s. Like modern-day

sovereigns, they were known to use snippets of law and biblical quotes to justify their belief in the unconstitutionality of federal income tax.

Tax protesters might be the earliest version of the sovereign citizen movement. Various other movements hold similar beliefs and use similar tactics. These

include Posse Comitatus, Christian identity adherents, the patriot/militia movement, and anti-Federalist groups. While each of these groups have di�erent

beliefs, they share similarities – namely their anti-government attitude and their willingness to use the court system to target public o�cials with whom

they disagree.

The sovereign citizen movement’s growth is accelerating, not only in the U.S. but in other countries around the world. The spread of this movement has

coincided with the pandemic and the resultant government-imposed vaccine mandates unpopular among this group that rejects government controls and

oversight. Sovereign citizen ideology and tactics have been adopted by many anti-vax groups and QAnon supporters.

Governments are beginning to notice. For instance, news reports referring to New Zealand security intelligence assessments recently warned that there is a

“realistic possibility” of violence by anti-vaxx extremists whose rhetoric increasingly echoes QAnon and sovereign citizen ideologies.

There is evidence of the sovereign movement in at least 26 countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, England, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy,

Jamaica, Lithuania, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Republic of Ireland, Russia, Scotland, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden,

Switzerland, and Wales. Reputable researchers contend the actual number of countries involved may exceed the 26 named in this article.

Despite the movement gaining traction globally, there is very limited research documenting their international spread. To attempt to remedy this, open-

source information was searched to capture sovereign citizen movement activity outside the United States. For purposes of this article, sovereign citizens

are de�ned in the following way: any individual who is legally considered to be a citizen of their country and who simultaneously believes that their country

is not a legitimate government, and as a result of that claimed illegitimacy believes themself to be exempt from the laws of their country. Others who were

categorized as sovereign citizens were those who referred to themselves as a natural man, natural woman or natural person, free citizen, free person, or

�esh-and-blood person, among other terms commonly used by sovereign citizens to describe themselves, or if a court or public o�cials deemed them as

such because they were espousing views consistent with sovereign citizen ideology.

Cases in Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, Germany, New Zealand, and France exemplify the global spread of sovereign citizen ideology. It

should be noted that some of the named countries have had existing sovereign citizen adherents; however, their numbers have risen signi�cantly in

response to governmental pandemic measures. What follows is a review of some of the more recent, noteworthy cases.

Canada

Sovereign citizen ideology was prominently on display during Canada’s “Freedom Convoy” protests. Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s national

security advisor, Jody Thomas, has since determined that those who organized the “freedom convoy” were attempting to overthrow the government.

Videos emerged showing persons who were deputizing themselves as “peace o�cers” or naming themselves to be “constables.” Persons so designated

claimed the “legal” authority to arrest Canadian police o�cers and other public o�cials. A similar tactic has been used elsewhere. A UK group claimed to

have trained 850 “common law constables.” These types of tactics are also commonly used by sovereign citizens in the United States.

Romana Didulo, a Canadian woman who claims to be the “Queen/President of Canada” (as well as Head of State, Commander-in-Chief, and a star seed), has

been sending “cease and desist” letters to persons around the world who support vaccination. The letters incorporate sovereign citizen rhetoric, QAnon

ideology, and threats of extreme violence. In December 2021, she published on social media a series of posts encouraging her 78,000 followers to “shoot

and kill” anyone who administers vaccines to children. One of her followers was subsequently arrested for making threats to his daughter’s school.

She states that many heads of state have committed genocide and 75 have been convicted of such by the “International Criminal Court.” Though these

convictions were imaginary, the “Queen” encouraged her followers to assist “common law constables” to be appointed by the group with mass arrests. On

her social media channels, she regularly makes royal decrees, declares martial law, and reiterates her claim that Canada is a corporation. She is currently

traveling across Canada in an RV meeting with supporters and announced that she is planning a trip to the United States this month.

United Kingdom

In August 2021, a group of about 20 people entered Edinburgh Castle to try to “seize” it. They claimed sovereignty over the landmark castle under Article 61

of the Magna Carta. Invoking the Magna Carta is common sovereign citizen practice re�ecting their ideology, which has been thoroughly debunked in the

courts.

A few months later, in October 2021, a group of sovereign citizens tried to set up their own school system in the English city of She�eld. The schools were to

be guarded with self-appointed “peace constables,” who they believed could shield them from prosecution. These beliefs stem from the false idea that

common law gives them the right to overrule governmental laws, rules, policies, etc.

The Alpha Team Assemble (formally Alpha Men Assemble), a newly formed group interweaving anti-vaccine and sovereign citizen beliefs, amassed over

8,000 members in its Telegram group. They regularly hold military-style training sessions (and now boxing matches) urging their followers to “wage war”

and target individuals administering vaccines. They particularly rail against vaccines being given to children and regard themselves as “sovereign beings

under common law.”

The Alpha Team Assemble and others have been spreading claims on social media that the  Metropolitan Police of London have launched a criminal

investigation into Britian’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout and were planning to shut down vaccine centers. Individuals receiving the vaccine were encouraged to

report any supposed adverse reactions and would then be given an “imaginary” criminal reference number. This prompted visits and calls to police stations.

In a Feb. 22 statement the Metropolitan Police stated that they have not and “will not be launching any criminal investigation and no action would be taken

in relation to the allegations.”

In another instance, four members of the Common Law Information Centre, a sovereign citizen group based in Donegal, Ireland, removed a very ill man from

a hospital who later died. News reports have linked Irish Professor Dolores Cahill and anti-vaccination activist/Italian national Antonio Mureddu to this

incident. Mureddu is currently facing charges in relation to the incident. This was not a solitary event. Others have occurred in the UK.

Ireland

Angry about vaccine mandates, members of the We The Sovereign People group had been regularly protesting outside the homes of public o�cials in

Ireland. Members of this group have made threats against the president of Ireland and called for politicians to be hanged. This group regards all

governmental laws to be illegitimate, since the group never “consented” to them. In normal sovereign citizen fashion, they believe that Ireland is a

corporation.

Australia

Australia’s “Convey to Canberra” was inspired by Canadian protests. At least 10,000 protesters converged on Canberra mid-February 2022, costing police

an estimated $2.5 million. More than 20 arrests occurred during the Canberra protests, including the leader of a sovereign citizen movement. He was

alleged to have possession of a loaded sawn-o� ri�e and the �oor plans of Parliament House in his truck. As of early March 2022, approximately 500

protesters remained active.

In another instance, a group of sovereign citizen activists called the Original Sovereign Tribal Nation Federation allegedly set �re to the Old Parliament

House, a museum in Australia. The plot was to e�ectively mirror the U.S. Capitol Hill insurrection. Their goal was to “evict” the current, legitimate

government and establish a “people’s council.”

Former policeman Wayne Glew was arrested after allegedly posting videos encouraging others to “arrest” government ministers and other o�cials. Two

others were arrested for impersonating public o�cials after alleging sending “arrest warrants” to government ministers.

Of increasing concern is former Australian Army Special Forces Lieutenant Colonel Riccardo Bosi, a major �gure in the Convey to Canberra protests. Bosi

leads the “Australia One Party” and has a large Telegram following (40,000 followers). He has called for o�cials to be charged with treason, hanged and

executed. Experts believe that the intentions of these protest groups are “far less hygienic” than what they espouse publicly.

Western Australia authorities, under a rarely used incitement provision, arrested the leader of a sovereign citizen movement who had threatened Premier

Mark McGowan. Authorities reportedly are reluctant to utilize incitement laws due to a concern that it might provoke violence from extremists. The director-

general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO) warned recently “that the greatest-security threat facing the nation was from conspiracy

theory extremists and anti-government sovereign citizens.”

Germany

In Germany, sovereign citizens are referred to as Reichsbürgers (“citizens of the Reich”), or the Reich Citizens movement. Much like sovereign citizens

everywhere, they do not recognize the authority of their current, legitimately elected government. Though loosely a�liated, they do have a large network of

others on whom they can rely. Estimates indicate that there are about 21,000 Reichsbürgers in Germany, some who have committed serious o�enses

including having large caches of weapons, human tra�cking, and attacking and killing police o�cers.

In early February 2022, a Reich citizen was accused of intentionally hitting a police o�cer with his vehicle. He has since been charged with attempted

murder. Reich citizens were among the several hundred people who attempted to storm the Reichstag, the federal parliament building in Berlin, on Aug. 29,

2020. Authorities have noted that Reich citizens have shown an “increased willingness to use violence” and their numbers are growing.

Reichsbürgers are mostly male, are approximately 50 years old, are socially disadvantaged. Their ideology is a mixture of antisemitic, right-wing, and neo-

Nazi-oriented thoughts. Recent reports indicate that their followers have joined alliances with groups protesting anti-vaccine mandates. This includes the

new age, COVID-denying neo-Nazi group called the Querdenken (“lateral thinkers” or “outside the box”). O�cials report that those in the Reichsbürger

movement have been welcomed at Querdenken rallies. Because the Querdenkers have been energized by the pandemic to potentially engage in violent

actions, they are currently under surveillance by domestic intelligence o�cials.

New Zealand

Like other countries, New Zealand experienced its own version of a “freedom convoy,” populated by sovereign citizens and other far-right extremists.

Demonstrators are spurred on by Counterspin Media, a large platform for conspiracy theorists, which pushes extremist online content to a growing

audience. In what experts described as “unprecedented in the country’s conspiracy scene” an online discussion quickly descended into real life chaos,

resulting in the arrest of more than 100 people. Protesters believed that, if arrested, simply repeating the phrase “I do not consent, I do not understand”

three times would force the police to release them. That ludicrous, fallacious notion comes directly from the sovereign citizen playbook.

Well-known New Zealander sovereign citizen/anti-vaxxer Brett Power �led civil complaints against Health Minster Andrew Little, accusing him of murder.

Power subsequently attempted to storm the o�ces of the Taranaki Daily News. He was arrested in February 2022 (and again one month later) outside

Parliament after attempting to breach the police line and perform a citizen’s arrest of the health minister. Reportedly, Power had planned to put Minister

Little on trial and execute him.

In a December 2021 sovereign citizen case, “John the living man” was sentenced to seven years for aggravated robbery and intent to injure after he and

three others broke into a man’s home, assaulted and robbed him. While in court, “John” was combative, refused to be identi�ed, and claimed that the court,

the police and the prison had no jurisdiction over him. Like other sovereign citizens, he �led bogus “legal” paperwork. He told the court, “I am me, in my

natural �esh and blood and natural states.”

Another noteworthy New Zealand case involves the “Sovereign ‘Hı̄ koi’ of Truth“. In October 2021, members from the ‘Hı̄ koi’ of Truth intentionally blocked

tra�c lanes with dozens of vehicles. The ‘Hı̄ koi’ of Truth members utilized sovereign citizen tactics including the use of bogus “serving documents” in an

attempt to get past police checkpoints. The documents appeared to be issued by the “Common Law Embassy of TE IKA A MAUI AND TE-MOANA-NUI-A-KIWA

EMBASSY.” They claimed to be on a “diplomatic mission.” Members of this common law group have been known to use fake license plates and issue fake

diplomatic immunity cards. These tactics are like those used by sovereign citizens in the United States. It is not known how large the group is but their

Facebook membership exceeds 20,000. Their leader is a regular contributor on Counterspin Media.

In another instance, a man who has repeatedly called for the execution and hanging of public o�cials involved in the pandemic response was arrested in

late March 2022 after an armed stando�. Reports indicate that he had been on the police national watch list for having allegedly made death threats

against Prime Minster Jacinda Ardern. The arrest took place on property that he did not own but claimed to have possessed by “allodial title,” an illegitimate

tactic used by member of the U.S. sovereign citizen movement in the early 1980s to protect their property from creditors.

One group of sovereign citizens in New Zealand and Australia have deputized themselves as law enforcement o�cials and are in the process of recruiting

more sheri�s. To be a sheri�, they claim, one must join their Telegram group, �ll out an online form, print it out and convince a justice of the peace to sign it,

urging followers to “trick them if you must.” Observers noted that the group sometimes uses violent rhetoric, some calling for the death penalty to be used

against public o�cials. They recently held a 20-plus person Zoom “grand jury,” with the primary goal of removing those in power, and to “evict a corporate

government that have come in full tyranny and in treason.” The group believes that they have the right to arrest public o�cials under common law and have

o�cially put them on notice.

France

In France, sovereign citizen/New Age group “One Nation” was formed in 2019. It was run by Alice Marin-Pascual (aka Alice Pazalmar). Much like other

sovereigns, they regard their French government as illegitimate. In September 2021, the group tried to buy rural property in a small town of only 124

inhabitants to build a Center for Arts and Science and a research laboratory. Money was raised for the project via crowdsourcing. In only a few days, they

raised close to $250,000. The French government intervened and stopped the purchase.

Pazalmar’s legal troubles continued to mount as she refused to send her children to school and did not provide for their homeschool education. Instead of

appearing in court, she has been known to send letters and read them on her Telegram channel. In June 2022, she posted a video of herself setting her

passport on �re. She was recently convicted on tra�c o�enses and sentenced to six months in prison.

Pazalmar has also been linked to the high-pro�le April 2021 kidnapping case involving Mia, the 8-year old child of Lola Montemaggi. Montemaggi is a

member of One Nation and subscribes to the sovereign citizen ideology. Soon after joining One Nation, Montemaggi was deemed unstable and lost custody

of Mia to Mia’s grandmother. She was increasingly radicalized by online interactions, becoming convinced that there was a pedophile network operating

within the government and that Mia was in danger. Online friends advised Montemaggi to contact the former French regional councillor-turned-conspiracy-

theorist Rémy Daillet-Widermann about her custody issue. Daillet-Widermann is currently facing unrelated charges for attempting to overthrow the French

government.

Upon Montemaggi’s request, Daillet-Widermann allegedly put together a team of �ve men with the goal of rescuing Mia from alleged sexual predators. On

April 13, the men arrived at the grandmother’s home in a gray van claiming to be doing a reference check on the young girl. The grandmother allowed it but

quickly realized that they were not legitimate. It was too late. The men took Mia to the Swiss border, where her mother was waiting in an abandoned factory.

They would spend three days together. The police had been surveilling Daillet-Widermann supporters and arrested all parties involved. Mia was returned to

her grandmother. Montemaggi is scheduled for trial. She is allegedly planning a sovereign citizen defense. This is one example of the growing overlap

between QAnon and sovereign citizen ideologies.

United States

Similar child custody cases have occurred the United States. Neely Petrie-Blanchard, a woman who is both a known supporter of QAnon and sovereign

citizen ideology, is alleged to have killed Christopher Hallett, a man who specialized in teaching his followers bogus court services. She sought his advice

regarding child custody issues, with the hope of winning back her children utilizing his sovereign citizen tactics. She eventually believed that he was

working against her, trying to keep her from regaining custody of her children. She allegedly shot and killed him and has been charged with his murder.

Three other women, expressing sovereign citizen and QAnon ideology, have recently been involved with law enforcement over issues concerning their

children. Included are Emily Jolley and Cynthia Abcug, the latter scheduled for a May 2022 trial in a foiled plot to kidnap her son from foster care with the

assistance of other QAnon members. The police �rst learned of the plot from Abcug’s daughter, who felt compelled to report the planned kidnapping after

her mother acquired a gun and discussed the possibility of one or more people dying “in a raid by QAnon members.”

The third case involves Sarah Stanley, who is refusing to follow a court order to return her son to his father. The mother and young son supposedly have

been “granted sanctuary in a safe house” operated by an individual (currently wanted on a bench warrant) well-known for spreading false QAnon-inspired

conspiracy theories of child-tra�cking rings in Arizona. Consistent with sovereign citizen ideology, she says that “courts don’t have power over you” and

since she does not consent to the rulings of the court, she is not obligated to follow the law. Relatedly, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and Vice News

have documented additional instances in which QAnon supporters are adopting sovereign citizen ideology.

The aforementioned instances are only a sampling of sovereign citizen activities around the world. Certainly, their numbers and activities are increasing.

Freedom from taxes and laws is very seductive to those who get drawn in. Consider this brief account by a New Zealand journalist who described a freedom

protester named Winona. She had been participating in the “freedom village” event, outside on the lawn of Parliament. “Winona” claimed to be a sovereign

citizen but had only just learned about it on her way to the event.

Though sovereign citizen ideology seems relatively new, it is not. The phenomenon of common law among sovereigns stems back to the Posse Comitatus

groups that emerged during the 1970s and regarded the U.S. government as being illegitimate. Shared tactics include the creation of common law courts

and self-appointed judges and juries. Tribunals are created that issue ‘rulings’ based on their unique interpretation of Common Law or based on their

interpretation of the Bible, the Magna Carta, etc.

Sovereign citizens, both here and abroad, self-interpret laws and deny the legitimacy of their respective governments. Their invalid beliefs result in

disruptive and or criminal activities around the world. More must be done to rein in this ever-broadening, anti-government movement.

Though sovereign citizen beliefs are not in themselves illegal, their behaviors, as illustrated by the above examples, certainly can be. Crimes committed by

sovereign citizens should not be overlooked or minimized. Instead, they should be penalized to the fullest extent of the law.

The views expressed here are the writer’s and are not necessarily endorsed by Homeland Security Today, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints

in support of securing our homeland. To submit a piece for consideration, email [email protected].