Has anyone ever heard of Sovereign Citizens?

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Kon1

Sicc OG
May 17, 2002
9,537
1,662
113
#1
My cousin was over here at my place telling me about all this crazy sovereign citizen shit (he's not an active sovereign). But some of the shit he was saying sounded ridiculous until I actually looked it up. The right to travel was a real interesting one. Below is an example where the right to travel was exercised in court with a unrelated video for proof that it is an actual law and link to more info about YOUR right to travel. The video is pretty fucking funny, dude tells the cops they're harassing him and some more shit lol.

http://www.famguardian.org/Subjects/Freedom/Rights/Travel/RightToTravel.htm

"The right of a citizen to travel upon the public highways and to transport his property thereon in the ordinary course of life and business is a common right which he has under his right to enjoy life and liberty, to acquire and possess property, and to pursue happiness and safety. It includes the right in so doing to use the ordinary and usual conveyances of the day; and under the existing modes of travel includes the right to drive a horse-drawn carriage or wagon thereon, or to operate an automobile thereon, for the usual and ordinary purposes of life and business. It is not a mere privilege, like the privilege of moving a house in the street, operating a business stand in the street, or transporting persons or property for hire along the street, which a city may permit or prohibit at will."
[Thompson v. Smith, 155 Va. 367,154 SE 579 (1930)]



So then my cousin starts telling me about his buddy that has been studying law books and discovering all these things, got his back taxes totally wiped out for ZERO $$$'s. He also tells me that the same method his buddy used for the IRS will work for debt collectors and credit bureaus. Here are the letters he sent to my e-mail this morning. I'm seriously going to read up on it more and if the shit works I'm clearing some fucking debt lol.

HERE is an example of a letter you would send to a debt collector.

Date May 17, 2012
Your Name
And
Adress
PIONEER CREDIT RECOVERY, INC.
26 Edward Street
Arcade, NY 14009
Re: Validation of Debt for Ref # XXXXX
TO: CFO, CEO or AUTHORIZED AGENT
I am sending this letter to you in response to a notice I received from your corporation on April 17, 2012. Be advised, this is not a refusal to pay, but a notice sent pursuant to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 USC 1692g Sec. 809 (b) that your claim is disputed and validation is requested.
This is NOT a request for “verification” or proof of my mailing address, but a request for VALIDATION made pursuant to the above named Title and Section. I respectfully request that your office provide me with competent evidence that I have any legal obligation to pay you.
Please provide me with the following:
Provide the ORIGINAL contract, deed, promissory note or the like, with my wet ink signature (a copy is not proof);
Provide a verification or copy of any judgment if applicable;
Identify the original creditor.
If your offices have reported invalidated information to any of the three major Credit Bureau’s (Equifax, Experian or TransUnion), said action might constitute fraud under both Federal and State Laws. Due to this fact, if any negative mark is found on any of my credit reports by your company or the company that you represent I will not hesitate in bringing legal action against you for the following:
Violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act
Violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
Defamation of Character
If your offices are able to provide the proper documentation as requested, I will require at least 30 days to investigate this information and during such time all collection activity must cease and desist.
Also during this validation period, if any action is taken which could be considered detrimental to any of my credit reports, I will consult with my legal counsel. This includes any information to a credit reporting repository that could be inaccurate or invalidated or verifying an account as accurate when in fact there is no provided proof that it is.
I would also like to request, in writing, that no telephone contact be made by your offices to my home or to my place of employment. If your offices attempt telephone communication with me, including but not limited to computer generated calls or correspondence sent to any third parties, it will be considered harassment and I will have no choice but to file suit. All future communications with me MUST be done in writing and sent to the address noted in this letter.
Without Prejudice and Without Recourse,
By: Name
Authorized Representative of legal fiction, ALL CAPS XXX-XX-XXXX (SS# w/ dashes)
PS As ignorance of the law excuses no one, I have become learned in the law. If you produce the alleged instrument and it in fact has my signature, the following is true: As the authorized representative of legal fiction, ALL CAPS, my signature authorizes the monetization of my credit in good faith and my obligation to pay is perfected upon the acceptance of the instrument for value. If the original so called “creditor” negotiated (i.e. sold) the instrument without disclosure to me, I will file a lawsuit for fraud through omission among other reasons, all supported by law.

AND here is a sample of a letter you would send to the credit bureau to restore your credit so it isn't fucked off.

May 13, 2012
Name
Address
RE: Credit Dispute
EQUIFAX INC.
1550 Peachtree Street, N.W.
Atlanta, Georgia 30309
ATTN: CEO, CFO or AUTHORIZED OFFICER
As ignorance of the law excuses no one, I am now learned in the law. As the maker, my signature on a Negotiable Instrument authorizes the creation of credit and thus new money. Upon acceptance, the instrument is perfected. The moment said instrument is sold, the terms listed on the instrument are perfected a second time. Perfection also happens when fraud is involved. As none of my so-called creditors disclosed to me the instrument I signed would be sold time and time again, this constitutes fraud by omission, not to mention violates Generally Accepted Accounting Principles and numerous banking regulations. Now that I know I am the creditor and that my debt instruments have been perfected, I have contacted all of the corporations that are listed on my credit report and demanded the validation of debts in pursuant to 15 USC 1692g. I am also filing lawsuits against every party involved for fraud and extortion.
The purpose of this letter is to give you two options, lest you be named in the lawsuits as well:
1) Within 3 business days of receiving this notice, restore my credit rating to the highest rating by updating the information to reflect that the “loans” were perfected and were never in default.
Or
2) Validate the debts. The only acceptable proof is the original contract/instrument with my wet ink signature. Under federal law, you have 30 days (from receipt of this notice) to complete your investigation. Be advised that the description of the procedure used to determine the accuracy and completeness of the information is hereby requested as well. This is to be provided by certified mail postmarked within 3 business days of the completion of your investigation.
I suggest you choose option 1 as you and I both know that the so-called creditors will not be able or willing to produce the instruments as they have been negotiated possibly numerous times. If you disagree, then, by all means choose option 2. If you choose to ignore this letter, be advised of my intent to file a lawsuit.
Without Prejudice and Without Recourse,
Name
Authorized Representative of legal fiction, ALL CAPS NAME 123-45-6789 (ss# w/ dashes)

My cousins buddy also told him that the wet ink contracts you request from these people WILL NOT be able to be provided to you because the original debt collector doesn't have them. He was explaining how they sell the contracts and some crazy weird shit like that. But he has said it worked for him with the IRS. Just thought I'd post this up for anyone interested in testing it out. Kind of like the File Some Claims thread only here's the CLEAR YOUR NAME thread lol.
NOW GET THE FUCK OUT THERE AND SIDESHOW WITH NO L'S AND GOOD CREDIT! lmao.
 

Kon1

Sicc OG
May 17, 2002
9,537
1,662
113
#4
I'm considering doing it to one of the collection agencies I have an outstanding emergency bill with.
 
Aug 6, 2008
10,132
195
0
38
#7
black people have been doin that shit for a long ass time, thats how theyve been able to squat in houses and not drive with license plates and shit

[video=youtube;rSd2Bkfn_G4]rSd2Bkfn_G4[/video]

[video=youtube;ed2IQS-Hv_E]ed2IQS-Hv_E[/video]

[video=youtube;NM8pzgvTkQY]NM8pzgvTkQY[/video]

[video=youtube;wOy6IjXpD9Q]wOy6IjXpD9Q[/video]

its kool if you do it right with the correct paper work and all that, but not for crazy niggas runnin around actin a fool
 

R

Sicc OG
Dec 7, 2005
7,629
1,807
113
34
#8
you know these governments who make these laws and shit to try and make life in general hard for the average citizen

fuck them and i hope god or some less pussy ass muthafucka than god sends a plague upon their penises
 

Kon1

Sicc OG
May 17, 2002
9,537
1,662
113
#9
I would never want to be fully sovereign but I would like to see if u can actually get away with some of the shit.
 
Jun 23, 2005
3,860
2,929
113
34
#10
yeah i suggest you do a shit load of research before attempting this, or maybe you dont have too. but im definitely going to read up on those debt cases and laws and see if this is legit. then ill try it.
 

BUTCHER 206

FREE BUTCHER206
Aug 22, 2003
12,316
109,200
113
Seattle, WA
#11
why not just pay what you owe


smh people these days always looking for a way to scam the system or skirt their debts and responsibilities, always looking for the easy way out and a free ride, so they can have some extra money for drugs or alcohol and they can continue to live in some alternate reality where they dont have to grow up. a real man pays what he owes and accepts no welfare
 

Kon1

Sicc OG
May 17, 2002
9,537
1,662
113
#12
Why doesn't the government provide everyone with free medical treatment? I pay my debts, but I think it's wrong to charge somebody thousands of dollars if they don't have insurance to go to the ER, get shitty treatment and not get your condition fixed whatsoever. FUCK THAT. If I can get out of paying for that I'd be happy.
 

BUTCHER 206

FREE BUTCHER206
Aug 22, 2003
12,316
109,200
113
Seattle, WA
#13
we do have free medical basically, because if you did pay thousands of dollars in medical, you report it in your taxes and its written off in your taxes. so you get that money back by not having to pay it in taxes. your taxes paid your medical bills

taxes = government = government paid your medical bills

Topic 502 - Medical and Dental Expenses
If, for a taxable year, you itemize your deductions on Form 1040, Schedule A, you may be able to deduct expenses you paid that year for medical and dental care for yourself, your spouse, and your dependents. You may deduct only the amount by which your total medical care expenses for the year exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income. For years beginning after December 31, 2012, you may deduct only the amount by which your total medical expenses exceed 10% of your adjusted gross income. You figure the amount you are allowed to deduct on Form 1040, Schedule A.
IRS Publication 502, Medical and Dental Expenses, contains additional information on medical expenses including who will qualify as your dependent for purposes of the deduction and how you figure and report the deduction on your return.
Medical care expenses include payments for the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease, or payments for treatments affecting any structure or function of the body.
Medical care expenses include the insurance premiums you paid for policies that cover medical care or for a qualified long-term care insurance policy covering qualified long-term care services. If you are an employee, medical expenses do not include that portion of your premiums paid by your employer under its sponsored group accident or health policy or qualified long-term care insurance policy. Further, medical expenses do not include the premiums that you paid under your employer-sponsored policy under a premium conversion policy; for example, a federal employee, participating in the premium conversion program of the Federal Employee Health Benefits (FEHB) program, may not include the premiums paid for the policy as a medical expense.
If you are self-employed and have a net profit for the year, you may be able to deduct (as an adjustment to income) the premiums you paid on a health insurance policy covering medical care including a qualified long-term care insurance policy covering medical care including a qualified long-term care insurance policy for yourself and your spouse and dependents. You cannot take this deduction for any month in which you were eligible to participate in any subsidized health plan maintained by your employer, your former employer, your spouse's employer, or your former spouse's employer. If you do not claim 100% of you self-employed health insurance deduction, you can include the remaining premiums with your other medical expenses as an itemized deduction on Form 1040, Schedule A. You may not deduct insurance premiums paid by an employer-sponsored health insurance plan (cafeteria plan) unless the premiums are included in Box 1 of your Form W-2.
Deductible medical expenses may include but are not limited to:

  • Payments of fees to doctors, dentists, surgeons, chiropractors, psychiatrists, psychologists, and nontraditional medical practitioners
  • Payments for in-patient hospital care or nursing home services, including the cost of meals and lodging charged by the hospital or nursing home
  • Payments for acupuncture treatments or inpatient treatment at a center for alcohol or drug addiction, for participation in a smoking-cessation program and for drugs to alleviate nicotine withdrawal that require a prescription
  • Payments to participate in a weight-loss program for a specific disease or diseases, including obesity, diagnosed by a physician but not ordinarily, payments for diet food items or the payment of health club dues
  • Payments for insulin and payments for drugs that require a prescription
  • Payments for admission and transportation to a medical conference relating to a chronic disease that you, your spouse, or your dependents have (if the costs are primarily for and essential to medical care necessitated medical care). However, you may not deduct the costs for meals and lodging while attending the medical conference
  • Payments for false teeth, reading or prescription eyeglasses or contact lenses, hearing aids, crutches, wheelchairs, and for guide dogs for the blind or deaf
  • Payments for transportation primarily for and essential to medical care that qualify as medical expenses, such as, payments of the actual fare for a taxi, bus, train, or ambulance or for medical transportation by personal car, the amount of your actual out-of-pocket expenses such as for gas and oil, or the amount of the standard mileage rate for medical expenses, plus the cost of tolls and parking fees
You may not deduct funeral or burial expenses, over-the-counter medicines, toothpaste, toiletries, cosmetics, a trip or program for the general improvement of your health, or most cosmetic surgery. You may not deduct amounts paid for nicotine gum and nicotine patches, which do not require a prescription
You can only include the medical expenses you paid during the year. Your total deductible medical expenses for the year must be reduced by any reimbursement of deductible medical expenses. It makes no difference if you receive the reimbursement or if it is paid directly to the doctor, hospital, or other medical provider.
See Publication 502, Medical and Dental Expenses, for additional information. IRS Publications may be downloaded from the IRS.gov website, www.irs.gov, or ordered by calling 800–829–3676.



 
Apr 25, 2002
15,044
157
0
#15
Anti-government 'sovereign movement' on the rise in U.S.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation...-government-militia-groups-freeman/53873496/1

TRINIDAD, Texas – Gary Thomas will never forget the letter he received in early 2000. It was from John Joe Gray, a suspect in a felony assault case, offering a not-so-subtle warning to the area's chief criminal investigator: He had no intention of answering charges that he had attacked a state trooper.

"What he said was this: 'If y'all come to get me, bring body bags,' " said Thomas, now a local justice of the peace.

Thomas remembers the message clearly, not because of its unvarnished threat, but because — after 12 years — Gray, who doesn't acknowledge the authority of any government, continues to dare police to come and get him.

PHOTOS: John Joe Gray's isolated compound
Sequestered on a 50-acre, wooded compound in East Texas since jumping bail more than a decade ago, Gray and his clan have effectively outlasted the administrations of four local sheriffs, all of whom have decided that John Joe's arrest is not worth the risk of a violent confrontation.

"The risk of loss of life on both ends is far too great," said Anderson County District Attorney Doug Lowe, who first sought to prosecute Gray for the alleged Christmas Eve 1999 assault of Texas Trooper Jim Cleland. "I believed it then; I still feel that way."

The stalemate, perhaps the longest-running standoff in the U.S. between law enforcement and a fugitive living in plain sight, is also emblematic of what the FBI believes is a troubling re-emergence of an anti-government movement that vaulted to notoriety in 1995. Then, one of its disaffected sympathizers, Timothy McVeigh— angered by the government's botched 1993 raid of the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas — detonated a truck bomb outside the Oklahoma City federal building, killing 168 people in what was at the time the deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. soil.

In the past three years, there has been growing concern over activities of so-called "sovereign citizens," who like the Grays and many of their anti-government predecessors "claim to exist beyond the realm of government authority," according to a January FBI bulletin to state and local law enforcement officials warning of the potential for violence.

The sovereign movement, estimated by the Southern Poverty Law Center to number 100,000 ardent followers and about 200,000 sympathizers across the country, is rooted in an ideology that rejects government authority at its most basic levels, from its power to tax to the enforcement of criminal laws, including common traffic regulations. The law center, which tracks extremist groups in the USA, based its estimates partly on its reviews of tax disputes and court documents involving people who do not recognize government authority.

Although the FBI does not track sovereigns by number, the bureau does not dispute the law center's estimates, which have swelled dramatically within a national anti-government network of related "patriot" and "militia'' groups. Since 2008, the number of groups surged from 149 to 1,274 in 2011, the law center reported this month.

The rapid growth, according to the law center, has been fueled by a collision of factors, from the troubles related to the struggling economy and foreclosure crisis to the election of President Obama, the nation's first black president. Obama's election prompted a "backlash" from extremist groups who were further angered by decisions to provide government assistance to Wall Street banks and automakers, the law center found.

Stuart McArthur, deputy assistant director of the FBI's Counterterrorism Division, said the sovereigns have become more active in seeking retaliation against government officials by filing fraudulent lawsuits and liens, seeking billions of dollars in judgments. The actions often follow arrests, evictions, court rulings and other interactions with authorities.

At its most extreme, McArthur said, sovereigns have been linked to threats of violence and the murders of six police officers since 2002, including the slayings of officers Brandon Paudert and Bill Evans in West Memphis, Ark., in 2010.

"There are people at war with this country who are not international terrorists," said Robert Paudert, the former chief of the West Memphis Police Department and the father of one of the slain officers. "I had never heard of the sovereign citizen movement before May 20, 2010 (the day of his son's murder). But these are people who are willing to kill or be killed for their beliefs."

At Gray's property line

At the end of a rutted, dirt-gravel road, about 70 miles southeast of Dallas, sits John Joe Gray.

It doesn't take long to learn that Gray and his family, after more than 12 years of living in isolation without electricity and modern plumbing, have no intention of surrendering to local authorities or engaging in much discussion about their plight.

A heavily armed patrol of three men — each carrying holstered handguns, knives and rifles — meets visitors one late February afternoon at the family's property line, a fence line festooned with weathered placards bearing anti-government slogans.

"When people fear the government, there is tyranny. When government fears the people, there is freedom," reads one. Another: "Vaccinations equal Annihilation."

Although the three confirm to USA TODAY during a recent visit that they are members of the Gray family, they refuse to provide their full names. The oldest — a bearded man with a mane of long, wiry hair who most resembles Gray's 12-year-old booking photo — said the family is not interested in discussing why they continue to defy authorities. Nor are they inclined to say how long they can hold out.

"We're doing all right," the older man said curtly, adding that the family tends a sizable garden on the property that yields much of their food. A herd of goats, fish from the adjacent Trinity River and wild game help fill their pantry.

For the duration of the brief exchange, a stilted conversation at the fence line, the older bearded man does much of the talking as the others look on, their weapons hanging from worn gun belts and shoulder slings. The weapons, he said, are necessary to keep "trespassers" off their land, suggesting that would include unwelcome visits from law enforcement. He is most adamant, though, in his refusal to discuss the circumstances that have resulted in his unusual standoff with local law enforcement.

"Everybody knows the government controls the media," he said.

Gray fled here, according to Thomas, Lowe and Henderson County Sheriff Ray Nutt, after the now-63-year-old man was released on bond in connection with the 1999 alleged assault on Trooper Cleland.

During a routine traffic stop in neighboring Anderson County, Thomas said Cleland saw a .357-caliber handgun in the car and reached for it, sparking a struggle with Gray that spilled onto the roadway. During the struggle, Thomas said, Gray "bit a plug" of flesh out of Cleland's arm.

A search of the vehicle produced some rambling anti-government writings, including references to setting off a bomb on a highway overpass near Dallas.

Gray denied any part in a bomb plot; he was indicted, instead, for the alleged assault. Gray was released on bond, partly on his promise that he would have no access to weapons while free awaiting a hearing. Gray never returned to answer the charge.

Nutt, the fourth sheriff to hold office in the county where Gray is holed up, said he is comfortable not forcing Gray's hand. That decision, he said, is largely informed by the consequences of the federal raid on a Waco compound housing the Branch Davidian religious sect and its leader, David Koresh. Federal agents stormed the property in search of weapons in February 1993, leading to a 51-day standoff, ending in a conflagration that left 80 dead and inspired McVeigh. The specter of that tragedy still looms large here, where the Gray property lies about 80 miles east of Waco.

"I'm reluctant to talk about (the Gray case) much," said Nutt, a former Texas Ranger who was dispatched to Waco at the time. "I just don't want to stir things up."

That's not to say Nutt has ignored the current standoff. A thick file holds a pile of documents related to the Grays. It's believed that seven children live among the 15 people on the property, the sheriff said. Nutt won't discuss any law enforcement surveillance of the compound, although they know sympathizers occasionally drop off food and supplies. The sheriff also believes the family has access to a ham radio, maybe a generator.

The sheriff is not comfortable discussing much more, except to emphasize the strong belief that his department would not have the "firepower" to sustain a prolonged siege to forcibly remove Gray.

"Some of our officers would be killed, mostly likely," he said.

No taxation

Mark Potok, editor of the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Report, which has closely examined the Gray case, said the family adheres to sovereign beliefs, an ideology that is attracting an increasing number of followers in the U.S.

The sovereigns are regarded as a subset of the patriot groups and share much of the same ideology, including a rejection of the government's taxing authority. The Grays, according to local court records, owe nearly $20,000 in back property taxes. Citing the same fears expressed by law enforcement officials, the county has stopped attempts at collection.

"This is a widespread ideology," the FBI's McArthur said.

Potok and other analysts believe the financial crisis, triggered partly by the collapse of the housing market, is chiefly responsible for the movement's expansion.

This notion is based on a flurry of federal prosecutions against so-called "tax defiers," suspects in debt elimination schemes and others who have sought to enrich themselves or retaliate against local government officials by filing false property liens and lawsuits seeking outrageous monetary judgments.

Last summer, two New York men, Ed Parenteau, 54, and Jeffrey Burfeindt, 48, pleaded guilty in federal court to attaching fraudulent liens against personal and public property, totaling $135 billion. The motive, according to court records: The pair was "displeased" after local police arrested them on simple trespassing charges.

This week, David Stone, 47, and his son, Joshua Stone, 23, both members of the Hutaree militia, pleaded guilty in a Michigan federal court to possessing illegal machine guns, after a judge dismissed more serious charges that they and other militia members had plotted to attack federal government officials.

The danger ahead

In wake of his son's murder, Paudert, the former West Memphis police chief, is now assisting the Justice Department in a national campaign to prepare law enforcement officials for potential violent encounters with sovereign followers.

Had such information been available in 2010, Paudert said his officers might have recognized the looming danger when avowed sovereign Jerry Kane and his son, Joe, presented them with unusual paperwork indicating the vehicle was registered to the "Kingdom of Heaven."

Minutes later, the Kanes opened fire on the officers and sped away, leaving young Paudert's body on a freeway exit ramp and Evans in a nearby ditch. The Kanes were later killed in a confrontation with police.

"I wish I could have done more to prepare them for what they faced that day," Paudert said.
 

BO$$

Sicc OG
Mar 15, 2011
716
578
93
#16
Anti-government 'sovereign movement' on the rise in U.S.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation...-government-militia-groups-freeman/53873496/1

TRINIDAD, Texas – Gary Thomas will never forget the letter he received in early 2000. It was from John Joe Gray, a suspect in a felony assault case, offering a not-so-subtle warning to the area's chief criminal investigator: He had no intention of answering charges that he had attacked a state trooper.

"What he said was this: 'If y'all come to get me, bring body bags,' " said Thomas, now a local justice of the peace.

Thomas remembers the message clearly, not because of its unvarnished threat, but because — after 12 years — Gray, who doesn't acknowledge the authority of any government, continues to dare police to come and get him.

PHOTOS: John Joe Gray's isolated compound
Sequestered on a 50-acre, wooded compound in East Texas since jumping bail more than a decade ago, Gray and his clan have effectively outlasted the administrations of four local sheriffs, all of whom have decided that John Joe's arrest is not worth the risk of a violent confrontation.

"The risk of loss of life on both ends is far too great," said Anderson County District Attorney Doug Lowe, who first sought to prosecute Gray for the alleged Christmas Eve 1999 assault of Texas Trooper Jim Cleland. "I believed it then; I still feel that way."

The stalemate, perhaps the longest-running standoff in the U.S. between law enforcement and a fugitive living in plain sight, is also emblematic of what the FBI believes is a troubling re-emergence of an anti-government movement that vaulted to notoriety in 1995. Then, one of its disaffected sympathizers, Timothy McVeigh— angered by the government's botched 1993 raid of the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas — detonated a truck bomb outside the Oklahoma City federal building, killing 168 people in what was at the time the deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. soil.

In the past three years, there has been growing concern over activities of so-called "sovereign citizens," who like the Grays and many of their anti-government predecessors "claim to exist beyond the realm of government authority," according to a January FBI bulletin to state and local law enforcement officials warning of the potential for violence.

The sovereign movement, estimated by the Southern Poverty Law Center to number 100,000 ardent followers and about 200,000 sympathizers across the country, is rooted in an ideology that rejects government authority at its most basic levels, from its power to tax to the enforcement of criminal laws, including common traffic regulations. The law center, which tracks extremist groups in the USA, based its estimates partly on its reviews of tax disputes and court documents involving people who do not recognize government authority.

Although the FBI does not track sovereigns by number, the bureau does not dispute the law center's estimates, which have swelled dramatically within a national anti-government network of related "patriot" and "militia'' groups. Since 2008, the number of groups surged from 149 to 1,274 in 2011, the law center reported this month.

The rapid growth, according to the law center, has been fueled by a collision of factors, from the troubles related to the struggling economy and foreclosure crisis to the election of President Obama, the nation's first black president. Obama's election prompted a "backlash" from extremist groups who were further angered by decisions to provide government assistance to Wall Street banks and automakers, the law center found.

Stuart McArthur, deputy assistant director of the FBI's Counterterrorism Division, said the sovereigns have become more active in seeking retaliation against government officials by filing fraudulent lawsuits and liens, seeking billions of dollars in judgments. The actions often follow arrests, evictions, court rulings and other interactions with authorities.

At its most extreme, McArthur said, sovereigns have been linked to threats of violence and the murders of six police officers since 2002, including the slayings of officers Brandon Paudert and Bill Evans in West Memphis, Ark., in 2010.

"There are people at war with this country who are not international terrorists," said Robert Paudert, the former chief of the West Memphis Police Department and the father of one of the slain officers. "I had never heard of the sovereign citizen movement before May 20, 2010 (the day of his son's murder). But these are people who are willing to kill or be killed for their beliefs."

At Gray's property line

At the end of a rutted, dirt-gravel road, about 70 miles southeast of Dallas, sits John Joe Gray.

It doesn't take long to learn that Gray and his family, after more than 12 years of living in isolation without electricity and modern plumbing, have no intention of surrendering to local authorities or engaging in much discussion about their plight.

A heavily armed patrol of three men — each carrying holstered handguns, knives and rifles — meets visitors one late February afternoon at the family's property line, a fence line festooned with weathered placards bearing anti-government slogans.

"When people fear the government, there is tyranny. When government fears the people, there is freedom," reads one. Another: "Vaccinations equal Annihilation."

Although the three confirm to USA TODAY during a recent visit that they are members of the Gray family, they refuse to provide their full names. The oldest — a bearded man with a mane of long, wiry hair who most resembles Gray's 12-year-old booking photo — said the family is not interested in discussing why they continue to defy authorities. Nor are they inclined to say how long they can hold out.

"We're doing all right," the older man said curtly, adding that the family tends a sizable garden on the property that yields much of their food. A herd of goats, fish from the adjacent Trinity River and wild game help fill their pantry.

For the duration of the brief exchange, a stilted conversation at the fence line, the older bearded man does much of the talking as the others look on, their weapons hanging from worn gun belts and shoulder slings. The weapons, he said, are necessary to keep "trespassers" off their land, suggesting that would include unwelcome visits from law enforcement. He is most adamant, though, in his refusal to discuss the circumstances that have resulted in his unusual standoff with local law enforcement.

"Everybody knows the government controls the media," he said.

Gray fled here, according to Thomas, Lowe and Henderson County Sheriff Ray Nutt, after the now-63-year-old man was released on bond in connection with the 1999 alleged assault on Trooper Cleland.

During a routine traffic stop in neighboring Anderson County, Thomas said Cleland saw a .357-caliber handgun in the car and reached for it, sparking a struggle with Gray that spilled onto the roadway. During the struggle, Thomas said, Gray "bit a plug" of flesh out of Cleland's arm.

A search of the vehicle produced some rambling anti-government writings, including references to setting off a bomb on a highway overpass near Dallas.

Gray denied any part in a bomb plot; he was indicted, instead, for the alleged assault. Gray was released on bond, partly on his promise that he would have no access to weapons while free awaiting a hearing. Gray never returned to answer the charge.

Nutt, the fourth sheriff to hold office in the county where Gray is holed up, said he is comfortable not forcing Gray's hand. That decision, he said, is largely informed by the consequences of the federal raid on a Waco compound housing the Branch Davidian religious sect and its leader, David Koresh. Federal agents stormed the property in search of weapons in February 1993, leading to a 51-day standoff, ending in a conflagration that left 80 dead and inspired McVeigh. The specter of that tragedy still looms large here, where the Gray property lies about 80 miles east of Waco.

"I'm reluctant to talk about (the Gray case) much," said Nutt, a former Texas Ranger who was dispatched to Waco at the time. "I just don't want to stir things up."

That's not to say Nutt has ignored the current standoff. A thick file holds a pile of documents related to the Grays. It's believed that seven children live among the 15 people on the property, the sheriff said. Nutt won't discuss any law enforcement surveillance of the compound, although they know sympathizers occasionally drop off food and supplies. The sheriff also believes the family has access to a ham radio, maybe a generator.

The sheriff is not comfortable discussing much more, except to emphasize the strong belief that his department would not have the "firepower" to sustain a prolonged siege to forcibly remove Gray.

"Some of our officers would be killed, mostly likely," he said.

No taxation

Mark Potok, editor of the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Report, which has closely examined the Gray case, said the family adheres to sovereign beliefs, an ideology that is attracting an increasing number of followers in the U.S.

The sovereigns are regarded as a subset of the patriot groups and share much of the same ideology, including a rejection of the government's taxing authority. The Grays, according to local court records, owe nearly $20,000 in back property taxes. Citing the same fears expressed by law enforcement officials, the county has stopped attempts at collection.

"This is a widespread ideology," the FBI's McArthur said.

Potok and other analysts believe the financial crisis, triggered partly by the collapse of the housing market, is chiefly responsible for the movement's expansion.

This notion is based on a flurry of federal prosecutions against so-called "tax defiers," suspects in debt elimination schemes and others who have sought to enrich themselves or retaliate against local government officials by filing false property liens and lawsuits seeking outrageous monetary judgments.

Last summer, two New York men, Ed Parenteau, 54, and Jeffrey Burfeindt, 48, pleaded guilty in federal court to attaching fraudulent liens against personal and public property, totaling $135 billion. The motive, according to court records: The pair was "displeased" after local police arrested them on simple trespassing charges.

This week, David Stone, 47, and his son, Joshua Stone, 23, both members of the Hutaree militia, pleaded guilty in a Michigan federal court to possessing illegal machine guns, after a judge dismissed more serious charges that they and other militia members had plotted to attack federal government officials.

The danger ahead

In wake of his son's murder, Paudert, the former West Memphis police chief, is now assisting the Justice Department in a national campaign to prepare law enforcement officials for potential violent encounters with sovereign followers.

Had such information been available in 2010, Paudert said his officers might have recognized the looming danger when avowed sovereign Jerry Kane and his son, Joe, presented them with unusual paperwork indicating the vehicle was registered to the "Kingdom of Heaven."

Minutes later, the Kanes opened fire on the officers and sped away, leaving young Paudert's body on a freeway exit ramp and Evans in a nearby ditch. The Kanes were later killed in a confrontation with police.

"I wish I could have done more to prepare them for what they faced that day," Paudert said.
WHERE'S RANGER WALKER WHEN YOU NEED HIM?
 
May 14, 2002
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#17
Here is some more info for the people who do not like to read

[video=youtube;uliLfykURYo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uliLfykURYo[/video]
 

28g w/o the bag

politically incorrect
Jan 18, 2003
21,669
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metro's jurisdiction
siccness.net
#18
we do have free medical basically, because if you did pay thousands of dollars in medical, you report it in your taxes and its written off in your taxes. so you get that money back by not having to pay it in taxes. your taxes paid your medical bills

taxes = government = government paid your medical bills


yeah, i was able to write off some kaiser permanente ass shit when i did my taxes this year

::
 
Aug 13, 2009
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#19
[video=youtube;wOy6IjXpD9Q]wOy6IjXpD9Q[/video]
Watched this video around 1am, been up ever since just looking at cops making a fool of themselves and random people defending themselves in court.

Oh and watched all 4 parts of this just to further educate myself, lol.

[video=youtube;gmrbNLt7Om8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?src_vid=z-Bmb4ZgU34&annotation_id=annotation_139120&v=gmrbNLt7Om8&feature=iv[/video]