Of Guilty Pleasures: Watching Sovereign Citizens Get Their Comeuppance on YouTube
By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon
A Sovereign Citizen, sometimes called a SovCit, and the Sovereign Citizen Movement is something that has been sweeping the nation in recent years. According to Wikipedia:
To make a long story short, sovereign citizens are delusional people who believe the laws of the United States do not apply to them.
Some sovereign citizens are also known as Moorish-Americans.
You can find scores of videos of these people on YouTube. Often times they will be recording their interaction with law enforcement when they have been pulled over for a traffic violation. They usually inform the police officers they are not driving, they are travelling, and as such, they do not have to have a license to operate a motor vehicle.
Their argument behind not needing a license to operate a motor vehicle is based on an archaic law written in the 1800's that defines a driver as someone who is engaged in operating a horse-drawn carriage for commercial purposes. The law was written before the automobile was invented.
Eventually, the police officer's patience runs out and the sovereign citizen is usually dragged out of their vehicle as they scream "I do not consent," or "I am being kidnapped." Sometimes a broken window or a K-9 is involved (those are my personal favorites).
This is just the tip of the iceberg. These sovereign citizens think they can argue with judges and make up their own laws. Often times these sovereign citizens are lumped together with First Amendment auditors who like to record video in areas where recording isn't allowed and open carry advocates who think it's a good idea to walk around in public with an AR-15 strapped to their chest.
Most of these people are just attention-seekers who like to bait police into situations so they can get views on their YouTube channels.
I love watching these videos on YouTube. These people usually end up getting arrested and/or tased.
I'm surprised someone hasn't introduced legislation to ban this kind of ridiculous and cop-baiting behavior.
If I had the money, I would run for U.S. Representative. I would make my constituents a promise. I would introduce legislation to clarify the law regarding the operation of a motor vehicle. I would also introduce legislation to make cop-baiting an arrestable offense. As soon as those bills were signed into law, I would resign or refuse to run for reelection.
I guess if I did that, the videos I love to waste time watching on YouTube would go away.
Maybe I won't run for Congress, after all.
A Sovereign Citizen, sometimes called a SovCit, and the Sovereign Citizen Movement is something that has been sweeping the nation in recent years. According to Wikipedia:
The sovereign citizen movement is a loose grouping of American and Commonwealth litigants, commentators, tax protesters, and financial-scheme promoters. Self-described "sovereign citizens" see themselves as answerable only to their particular interpretation of the common law and as not subject to any government statutes or proceedings. In the United States, they do not recognize U.S. currency and maintain that they are "free of any legal constraints." They especially reject most forms of taxation as illegitimate. Participants in the movement argue this concept in opposition to the idea of "federal citizens," who, they say, have unknowingly forfeited their rights by accepting some aspect of federal law.
To make a long story short, sovereign citizens are delusional people who believe the laws of the United States do not apply to them.
Some sovereign citizens are also known as Moorish-Americans.
You can find scores of videos of these people on YouTube. Often times they will be recording their interaction with law enforcement when they have been pulled over for a traffic violation. They usually inform the police officers they are not driving, they are travelling, and as such, they do not have to have a license to operate a motor vehicle.
Their argument behind not needing a license to operate a motor vehicle is based on an archaic law written in the 1800's that defines a driver as someone who is engaged in operating a horse-drawn carriage for commercial purposes. The law was written before the automobile was invented.
Eventually, the police officer's patience runs out and the sovereign citizen is usually dragged out of their vehicle as they scream "I do not consent," or "I am being kidnapped." Sometimes a broken window or a K-9 is involved (those are my personal favorites).
This is just the tip of the iceberg. These sovereign citizens think they can argue with judges and make up their own laws. Often times these sovereign citizens are lumped together with First Amendment auditors who like to record video in areas where recording isn't allowed and open carry advocates who think it's a good idea to walk around in public with an AR-15 strapped to their chest.
Most of these people are just attention-seekers who like to bait police into situations so they can get views on their YouTube channels.
I love watching these videos on YouTube. These people usually end up getting arrested and/or tased.
I'm surprised someone hasn't introduced legislation to ban this kind of ridiculous and cop-baiting behavior.
If I had the money, I would run for U.S. Representative. I would make my constituents a promise. I would introduce legislation to clarify the law regarding the operation of a motor vehicle. I would also introduce legislation to make cop-baiting an arrestable offense. As soon as those bills were signed into law, I would resign or refuse to run for reelection.
I guess if I did that, the videos I love to waste time watching on YouTube would go away.
Maybe I won't run for Congress, after all.
These people should become parachute testers
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