Convoy targets Sask. cult compound

Medicine Hat News

September 26, 2023

A criminologist who studies anti-government movements says communities and authorities need to take greater notice and action against conspiracy-fuelled groups like one setting up in a Saskatchewan village near Medicine Hat.

About 50 residents of Richmound, Sask. took part in a protest on Sunday, parading vehicles, farm equipment and honking horns around a former school where followers of “Queen Romana Didulo” have set up housing.

They told Alberta Newspaper reporters that they want her out of the village of about 150 residents, but as the group is on private property and since authorities don’t believe any crime has been committed there are few legal avenues to force them out.

The woman, who has tens of thousand online followers, claims to be the rightful monarch of Canada. For several years she has travelled across the country in an RV telling supporters she has forgiven their taxes and debts, will punish health workers for the COVID-19 response and is now the rightful ruler of Canada. Christine Sarteschi is a professor at Chatham University in Pittsburgh who has written about the rise of anti-society groups and has followed Didulo’s rise in particular.

She said that community actions like Sunday’s in Richmound and a similar event in Kamsack, Sask., last week — where 200 townspeople and members of nearby First nation ushered Didulo supporters out of town under police escort — show community action can have an effect, but tensions can arise.

“Look at how we deal with potential fraud issues — governments could warn people about these people are this type of behaviour,” said Sarteschi in a phone interview with the News on Monday.

“Too often people will laugh at people like her, or tell jokes and think it’s funny, and I understand that to the degree. But it takes away from the potential seriousness of it, and the real people who are being harmed by believing in these false ideas.”

Some current residents and former residents who now live in Medicine Hat say they are concerned the village may have too low of a population to stage a proper opposition.

The RCMP or Saskatchewan government have not issued any formal statement.

Sarteschi believes the group has been welcomed to the village by some existing residents, but only has a core group of perhaps ten individuals who are likely looking to create a base for the winter.

They typically travel in an RV to meet up with other supporters while the leader issues statements about controlling the military, promising relief payments and assuring followers that actions current government and health officials are imminent.

“They think they’re above the law,” said Sarteschi. “She does dabble in some sovereign citizen beliefs, but she’s across the board, with some QAnon, believing in a number of conspiracy theories.”

“Sovereign citizens” is used to describe those who argue against the legitimacy of courts or police authority using convoluted legal arguments and unrelated documents like the Magna Carta, Maritime Law or the Geneva Convention, among others

“QAnon” came to the forefront in Untied States prior to the 2020 U.S. presidential election when online movement argued that a second, secret government was actually control of that nation. (“Romana Didulo” is an anagram of “I am our Donald”).

Sarteschi says anti-government sentiment grew during the COVID pandemic and is now capitalizing on economic worries. That is finding a receptive audience among some people, she said.

The City of Red Deer reported in 2022 that six residents were in arrears on property taxes after arguing that as Didulo followers, their assessment were bogus.

At about the same time, several supporters were themselves arrested in Peterborough, Ont. when they attempted to enact citizen’s arrests on members of that city’s police force.

Just this weekend, Didulo declared that all MNRA technology — used to develop the COVID-19 vaccines — had been outlawed by her decree, and that all practitioners could be liable to face the death penalty.

“The attraction… is that she’s selling something to people that they want,” said Sarteschi. “If you follow her (Didulo says) you have no taxes, no mortgage, no utility bills, you’ll come into a great amount of wealth, she’s closing schools and replacing them, and curing homelessness…”

“It never occurs to some people to think that to stop paying my mortgage would be wrong. They think it’s government tyranny to have them pay a mortgage, partly because she’s telling them the government is stealing from them.”

“They’re convoluted ideas that people want to be true, so people start to hate the government or the utility company… It always surprises me, that people believe she is the new government, that she’s taken over and is the queen and the commander in chief. Things have changed.

“When the bailiff comes to the door to take their house, they are shocked by that.”

“It shows you the level of belief.”



https://medicinehatnews.com/news/local-news/2023/09/26/convoy-targets-sask-cult-compound/

Sovereign Citizens Turn on Each Other Over $200K Fake License Plates

FRENEMIES

A well-known member of the far-right movement who is known for his outlandish legal theories has been given the boot as two prominent branches turn on each other.

Will Sommer
Daily Beast

April 11, 2023

Members of the far-right sovereign citizen movement are best known for their clashes with law enforcement. In traffic stops and courtrooms across the country, sovereign citizens have tried—and failed—to implement their bizarre homemade legal theories when faced with the enforcement of legitimate laws.

But now two prominent branches of the movement have turned on one another, feuding over a lucrative scheme to sell fake license plates for a nonexistent “Republic of Texas.”

The feud pits the citizens of a fictitious entity called the “Republic of Texas” against David Straight, a so-called sovereign-citizen “guru” whose seminars on his legal theories have raked in big money across the country. Complicating the spat further, Straight’s wife was arrested Monday on a raft of charges.

In the past, Straight and the so-called “Texians” have been natural allies. They both subscribe to the eclectic ideas of the sovereign citizen movement which broadly encompasses groups of people who believe they exist in parallel legal universes and can, through elaborate legal filings and careful courtroom rhetoric, evade actual laws.

But the relationship between the Texas sovereign citizens and one of the movement’s most prominent members broke down this month, after the Texas group accused Straight of getting rich by selling fake license plates that sovereign citizens believe would help them avoid police. In total, the group claims Straight may have made nearly $200,000 off the bogus plates.

Straight and the Republic of Texas’ leadership didn’t respond to requests for comment.

For the Republic of Texas, beliefs in their own legal impunity have turned violent. In 1997, one branch of the group kidnapped two people and held them as hostages, demanding the release of a “Republic of Texas” member who had been arrested for pushing fake legal documents. After a weeklong standoff with law enforcement, one of the group’s members was killed after shooting at a police helicopter. The group landed on law enforcements’ radar again in 2015, after its members sent faux-legal documents to a judge, prompting an FBI raid on a meeting.

Straight, meanwhile, has become one of the leading figures of the sovereign citizen movement, often pushing his theories at multiple seminars a month where tickets can cost more than $150. At his well-attended events, Straight rambles for hours about his oddball legal ideas, drawing complex diagrams on a white board and claiming that the American Bar Association is responsible for most of the problems in the United States.

Straight has risen to become a “sovereign citizen guru,” according to the Anti-Defamation League, insisting that his followers can break free of the regular legal system and become free-roaming “American State Nationals” if they just buy the right forms from him.

Since at least March, Straight has been promoting another potentially lucrative plan, offering tiny, nine-foot plots in the “Republic of Texas” for $387. In the twisted logic of sovereign citizens, that would mean anyone in the country could buy a plot and renounce their American citizenship to become “Texians.”

But an add-on deal sold by Straight as part of the land deal went even further, selling a “Right to Travel” package for $512 that offered a fictitious “Republic of Texas” license plate. On his website, Straight claims any driver with the license plates couldn’t be legally pulled over for a traffic stop. Sweetening the deal, Straight claimed a holder of the plates could even sue any police officer who pulled them over for substantial damages, with Straight’s wife as their lawyer.

The license-plate deal angered the sovereign citizens in the Republic of Texas, who appear to be concerned about running. In a pop-up on their website, the group claimed they’ve been deluged with unhappy customers complaining about Straight.

On their website, the Republic of Texas claimed Straight sold the land-and-plate packages for $897 to more than 200 people, making roughly $179,400. But after running afoul of law enforcement in the past, the “Texians” say they want no part of this license-plate operation, warning that anyone with the plates does “so at their own risk.”

“The Republic of Texas will not be held responsible for the potential unlawful ramifications from the sale of these packages,” the website notes.

Amid the fight with the “Republic of Texas,” Straight’s wife, Bonnie Thomas, was arrested Monday outside of Fort Worth. She faces four charges, according to a county jail website: carrying a weapon in a prohibited place, illegal burning, resisting arrest, and assault a police officer or judge. No further details were immediately available, and it’s not clear whether her arrest is related to the fake license plates.

As of this writing, Straight hasn’t acknowledged that he’s been disowned by the fictitious “Republic of Texas” where he’s claiming to sell land. His website still offers the license plates, plus another unusual benefit: access to a future RV park open only to sovereign citizens.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/top-sovereign-citizen-david-straight-kicked-out-over-fake-license-plates

Judge blasts millionaire Calgary heiress for using fake law in attempt to get condo for free

'Her activities are not those of some misinformed and confused person.... Ms. Anderson is an unrepentant, disruptive, greedy, uncooperative, abusive scofflaw'

Tom Blackwell

Windsor Star
August 5, 2022

The Calgary condo case is the latest chapter in the court system’s running battle against litigants who cite bizarre, made-up legal principles to try to elude justice.

Sandra Ann Anderson is not exactly poor. The Calgary native recently came into a “multi-million-dollar” inheritance from her father.

But she still refused to repay the $160,000 owing on her condo mortgage, insisting Canadian laws did not apply to her.

Anderson earlier evoked similar “pseudo-law” concepts to counter fines for smuggling high-priced horses across the border from the U.S.

But his week an Alberta judge lowered the boom, calling the heiress a greedy, abusive “litigation terrorist,” handing the condominium over to the Royal Bank in a foreclosure case and severely restricting her access to the Court of Queen’s Bench.

Anderson, meanwhile, told the judge she’s moved to California, despite being wanted on several criminal charges in Canada.

“Ms. Anderson is … not a destitute, desperate person,” noted Associate Chief Justice John Rooke in his scathing, 16-page judgment. “Her activities are not those of some misinformed and confused person, stumbling through a complex, inscrutable apparatus…. Ms. Anderson is an unrepentant, disruptive, greedy, uncooperative, abusive scofflaw.”

People following ideas like the “sovereign citizen” and “freeman of the land” movements are appearing in courts throughout Canada but Alberta seems to be the “epicentre,” says one lawyer.

On Facebook, Jacquie Phoenix, aka Jacquie Robinson, refers to the COVID-19 pandemic as “nonsense,” and has posted videos promoting QAnon-type conspiracy theories.

Alberta judge bars 'pseudo law' advocate who claims Magna Carta puts her outside court's authority

It’s the latest chapter in the court system’s running battle against litigants who cite bizarre, made-up legal principles to try to elude justice.

Past cases have involved a relatively broad range of individuals, said Richard Warman, an Ottawa lawyer and online-extremism expert who tracks the “not-law” phenomenon. But this case seems exceptional, he said, because the culprit is among society’s most affluent.

“What you have is a member of the one per cent gone berserk,” Warman said Thursday. “You have people who are exceptionally wealthy and privileged … who don’t just have it all, they want the rest.”

Anderson, though, appeared unswayed by the legal smack-down, telling the National Post in a brief email exchange that she and others like her are victims of injustice as they try “to hold corrupt government agents accountable.”

She referred to the judge by a pejorative nickname and accused him of perpetrating “commercial fraud and swindles” against litigants who use tactics like hers.

The term pseudo law or “Organized Pseudolegal Commercial Arguments (OPCA)” refers to various sets of ideas and rules that are stated in legal jargon and purport to override real statutes and jurisprudence, but have no basis in actual law. They’re often used to try to avoid legal obligations like paying taxes, obeying court orders or answering criminal charges.

The phenomenon includes the “sovereign citizen” and “freeman of the land” movements, the “strawman theory” and a group that claims a section of the Magna Carta that’s been defunct for 1,000 years renders all laws in Commonwealth countries invalid.

What you have is a member of the one per cent gone berserk

A sovereign-law follower killed a tax-court judge and two other people in Ottawa in 2007.

Although Rooke did not identify Anderson’s wealthy father, a Sandra Anderson is one of the children of the late J.C. Anderson, a giant in the Alberta oil industry who sold his exploration company in 2001 for $5.3 billion before dying in 2015. His daughter Sandra was an accomplished show jumper, winning a silver medal for Canada at the 1991 Pan-Am Games.

Before the case was decided this week, the litigant Sandra Anderson was caught repeatedly trying to smuggle horses into Canada without paying the appropriate duties or taxes. She had purchased one for about $120,000, but initially told a border officer her only U.S. purchase was “six beers.” After paying fines to Canada Border Services Agency to retrieve animals the agency had seized, she sued various government entities.

In the pseudo-law documents she filed, Anderson said she would essentially take over court infrastructure and act as prosecutor and judge of the federal “trespassers,” Rooke noted. The action was struck down and the woman ordered to pay the government’s costs.

The judge documented how she follows closely the example of a sovereign-law guru in the U.S., Carl Lentz. Among other tactics, she employs the “strawman” theory, claiming she is not really Sandra Ann Anderson — who holds the condo mortgage — but other personas, such as WOMAN SANDRA OF THE ANDERSON FAMILY and sandra-ann:woman.

She claimed her mortgage with RBC was not valid because it had no “wet-ink signature,” and filed a document saying Rooke and Alberta Finance Minister Tyler Shandro were personally responsible for her debts. Anderson also claimed a British bank had paid off the mortgage with a voucher signed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the ruling said.

Her disruptive, abusive behaviour during hearings has had her thrown out of court and muted on teleconference calls repeatedly. Meanwhile, it appears she has “absconded Canada” to avoid arrest on her criminal charges, which range from impaired driving and fraud to carrying fireworks on a plane and forging COVID test results, Rooke said.

The judge said it would be a “farce” to let the foreclosure proceedings drag on any longer amid Anderson’s disruptive, threatening behaviour and ordered the condo turned over to the bank immediately.

The Alberta court, and Rooke specifically, have been a standout in dealing with the persistent, international fake-law problem, said Warman.

“They are, to the best of my knowledge, the leading court of the world in dealing with the issue in a really organized and deliberate manner.”

https://windsorstar.com/news/canada/judge-blasts-millionaire-calgary-heiress-for-using-fake-law-in-attempt-to-get-condo-for-free

 

CultNEWS101 Articles: 2/19-20/2022 (Sovereign Citizen Movement, Legal, Human Trafficking, Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Book, Podcast, Cult Recovery, Rajneesh)

Sovereign Citizen Movement, Legal, Human Trafficking, Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Book, Podcast, Cult Recovery, Rajneesh

News13: Police: South Carolina dentist found dead in apartment was member of 'potential religious cult'

" ... The victims were identified as Judy Villanyi and James Button.

According to GCPD, both Villanyi and Button "go back several years to a potential religious cult, the Sovereign Citizen Movement."

The FBI describes the Sovereign Citizen Movement as anti government extremists "who believe that even though they physically reside in this country, they are separate or 'sovereign' from the United States. As a result, they believe they don't have to answer to any government authority, including courts, taxing entities, motor vehicle departments, or law enforcement." A 2010 article by the FBI identifies the movement as a domestic terrorism threat.

Villanyi was previously sentenced to federal prison for tax fraud in connection to the movement. Chief Roscoe said that Villanyi was once again under investigation for similar charges prior to her death.

Villanyi was also a dentist at Life Smiles Dentistry in Mount Pleasant. After discovering the bodies, GCPD visited Life Smiles to gather more information about the days leading up to Villanyi's death."

Blue Campaign: What Is Human Trafficking?

Human trafficking involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act. Every year, millions of men, women, and children are trafficked worldwide – including right here in the United States. It can happen in any community and victims can be any age, race, gender, or nationality. Traffickers might use violence, manipulation, or false promises of well-paying jobs or romantic relationships to lure victims into trafficking situations.

Language barriers, fear of their traffickers, and/or fear of law enforcement frequently keep victims from seeking help, making human trafficking a hidden crime.

Traffickers use force, fraud, or coercion to lure their victims and force them into labor or commercial sexual exploitation. They look for people who are susceptible for a variety of reasons, including psychological or emotional vulnerability, economic hardship, lack of a social safety net, natural disasters, or political instability. The trauma caused by the traffickers can be so great that many may not identify themselves as victims or ask for help, even in highly public settings.

Indicators of Human Trafficking

Recognizing key indicators of human trafficking is the first step in identifying victims and can help save a life. Here are some common indicators to help recognize human trafficking. You can also download or order the Blue Campaign indicator card, which is a small plastic card that lists common signs of trafficking and how to report the crime.

• Does the person appear disconnected from family, friends, community organizations, or houses of worship?
• Has a child stopped attending school?
• Has the person had a sudden or dramatic change in behavior?
• Is a juvenile engaged in commercial sex acts?
• Is the person disoriented or confused, or showing signs of mental or physical abuse?
• Does the person have bruises in various stages of healing?
• Is the person fearful, timid, or submissive?
• Does the person show signs of having been denied food, water, sleep, or medical care?
• Is the person often in the company of someone to whom he or she defers? Or someone who seems to be in control of the situation, e.g., where they go or who they talk to?
  
• Does the person appear to be coached on what to say?
  
• Is the person living in unsuitable conditions?
  
• Does the person lack personal possessions and appear not to have a stable living situation?
  
• Does the person have freedom of movement? Can the person freely leave where they live? Are there unreasonable security measures?
  

Not all indicators listed above are present in every human trafficking situation, and the presence or absence of any of the indicators is not necessarily proof of human trafficking.

Carolyn Jessop: Escape

"The dramatic first-person account of life inside an ultra-fundamentalist American religious sect, and one woman's courageous flight to freedom with her eight children. When she was eighteen years old, Carolyn Jessop was coerced into an arranged marriage with a total stranger: a man thirty-two years her senior. Merril Jessop already had three wives. But arranged plural marriages were an integral part of Carolyn's heritage: She was born into and raised in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), the radical offshoot of the Mormon Church that had settled in small communities along the Arizona-Utah border. Over the next fifteen years, Carolyn had eight children and withstood her husband's psychological abuse and the watchful eyes of his other wives who were locked in a constant battle for supremacy. Carolyn's every move was dictated by her husband's whims. He decided where she lived and how her children would be treated. He controlled the money she earned as a school teacher. He chose when they had sex; Carolyn could only refuse at her own peril. For in the FLDS, a wife's compliance with her husband determined how much status both she and her children held in the family. Carolyn was miserable for years and wanted out, but she knew that if she tried to leave and got caught, her children would be taken away from her. No woman in the country had ever escaped from the FLDS and managed to get her children out, too. But in 2003, Carolyn chose freedom over fear and fled her home with her eight children. She had $20 to her name. Escape exposes a world tantamount to a prison camp, created by religious fanatics who, in the name of God, deprive their followers the right to make choices, force women to be totally subservient to men, and brainwash children in church-run schools. Against this background, Carolyn Jessop's flight takes on an extraordinary, inspiring power. Not only did she manage a daring escape from a brutal environment, she became the first woman ever granted full custody of her children in a contested suit involving the FLDS. And in 2006, her reports to the Utah attorney general on church abuses formed a crucial part of the case that led to the arrest of their notorious leader, Warren Jeffs."

Butterflies and Bravery: Nevertheless She Persisted and She Flourished

"Our guest this week shares her enthralling story of overcoming incredible odds. When her parents felt called to "serve the Lord" in another country, Joyce and her younger brother were abandoned in Brazil. While Joyce was able to navigate and survive the cult, her brother had a difficult time surrendering himself completely to the cult teachings. He was a rebel, and they did not like rebels. After severe and cruel punishment didn't work, he bounced around from commune to commune, eventually ending up on the streets of Brazil. Joyce shares the heart breaking story of the unforgettable events that followed and how she learned to stand on her own feet."

Sofrep: Sex, Lies, Corruption, and Salad Bar Poisoning— The Story of Rajneesh Cult

"According to him, Chandra Mohan Jain's (and later on Rajneesh) quest started on March 21, 1953— his moment of enlightenment that he called "the explosion." Like Buddha's enlightenment, he claimed that it happened under a Moulsari tree in a block-sized park in Jabalpur. He was a good speaker and gained a following in India. The majority of them were women who regarded having sex with him as "the ultimate darshan," or holy experience. His followers, called "sannyasins," grew in numbers and attracted media attention and Western followers. In mid-1981, he flew to Oregon to a huge farm that he bought. The same year, Anand Sheela became his secretary, a woman who would later act as the cult's de facto leader."

News, Education, Intervention, Recovery

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CultMediation.com   

Intervention101.com to help families and friends understand and effectively respond to the complexity of a loved one's cult involvement.

CultRecovery101.com assists group members and their families make the sometimes difficult transition from coercion to renewed individual choice.

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Please forward articles that you think we should add to cultintervention@gmail.com.

CultNEWS101 Articles: 2/14/2022 (Jehovah's Witnesses, Russia, Religious Freedom, Legal, Falun Gong, China, Plymouth Brethren, Alpha Men Assemble, Sovereign Citizens, UK)

Jehovah's Witnesses, Russia, Religious Freedom, Legal, Falun Gong, China, Plymouth Brethren, Alpha Men Assemble, Sovereign Citizens, UK

Eurasia Review: Kremlin Behind Moscow Patriarchate's Crackdown On Dissent Churchmen And Movement - OpEd

"The Kremlin is behind the Moscow Patriarchate's crackdown on dissidents among the clergy and among Orthodox social movements, Aleksey Makarkin says; but the Russian church in some cases has gone ever further than the state because it fears that the state will begin to use its organs against the church and undermine popular support for the faith.

The Russian church was enthusiastic about the state's intervention against Jehovah's Witnesses and other groups, the leader of the Moscow Center for Political Technologies says; and it welcomes the state's help against Orthodox clergy and activists who step out of line but also fears where that could lead (ng.ru/ng_religii/2021-12-14/9_521_exile.html).

What this has meant, Makarkin says, is that now "church structures try to be careful even on those issues where earlier they displayed great activity." They are uncertain just where the red lines for church behavior are as far as the Kremlin is concerned; and the most subservient are simply avoiding doing anything that might cause a problem for them.

"The government starts from the proposition that the church must control itself and not allow declarations which contradict the policies of the powers," he continues. "If these things arise, then the church itself is required to address them. And when that doesn't happen, then the state is forced to intervene and advance demands on the church leadership."

One aspect of the situation is becoming especially fraught, Makarkin says. That concerns the role of elders to whom "many people from the government and force structures go," a behavior the powers had accepted but are now seeing as a threat given the increasing outspokenness of these prominent features of the Orthodox landscape."

The Christian Post: When your faith makes you an enemy of the state

"The Christian Post's [four-part] series on China's human rights abuses under the spotlight of the Olympic Games details the accounts of Falun Gong practitioners who fled the country following the government's crackdown on the popular spiritual practice."

The Times: Billions in Covid deals given to firms linked to Plymouth Brethren sect

"Dozens of companies with connections to a tiny fundamentalist Christian sect were awarded as much as £2.2 billion in government coronavirus contracts, The Times can reveal.

Firms with links to the insular Plymouth Brethren have been handed contracts for PPE, masks, visors, aprons, tests and ventilators without other companies being given the chance to bid for the contracts.

It can be revealed that PPE worth millions of pounds supplied by firms linked to the group were cleared for use by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) despite being declared substandard by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE).

The evangelical group, likened to a "cult" by some former members, has connections with the Conservative Party, and MPs have previously lobbied for it to be given charitable status.

The first Brethren assembly in England was established in Plymouth in 1831 by a group who had become disillusioned with the Anglican church and felt it had become too involved with the secular state. The majority of members are born into the church, though on rare occasions those without a family connection have joined by meeting a local group. Members are encouraged to set up their own businesses.

This week it emerged that the DHSC had written off PPE worth £8.7 billion last year, admitting to a "significant loss of value to the taxpayer".

Unispace Global, an office interior design company that suddenly became a PPE provider at the start of the pandemic, was awarded seven PPE contracts worth almost £680 million by the DHSC in 2020.

The group that owns the company belongs to two Australian brothers, Charles and Gareth Hales, whose father is Bruce Hales, the worldwide leader of the Plymouth Brethren sect."

BBC Monitoring: Anti-vax protests: 'Sovereign citizens' fight UK Covid vaccine rollout

"Some groups have even held training camps for their members. Images have emerged of black-clad men being coached in "direct action" techniques.

No basis in law

Followers of "sovereign citizen" and "freeman on the land" conspiracy theories wrongly believe they possess the legal power to bring leading politicians, civil servants and scientists before so-called "common law courts".

They allege "crimes" over Covid restrictions and vaccinations, even though such claims have no basis in law.

But that has not deterred a newly-formed group calling itself Alpha Men Assemble, which combines anti-vaccine and sovereign citizen beliefs.

It has been holding training sessions in several UK locations where volunteers prepare for "direct action", such as breaking through police lines, marching formations and sparring.

Alpha Men Assemble members are trained in various confrontation techniques

Launched on the Telegram chat app in mid-December, the group has amassed 8,000 members, and posts footage of training sessions online.

According to the Daily Mail, at a recent training session in Staffordshire activists were urged to "hit vaccine centres, schools, head teachers, colleges, councillors and directors of public health in every area".

The group has described itself as "free thinking men and women living as sovereign beings under common law". They say that they reject violence and are in favour of "body autonomy".

Its training events, it says, are "non-combative and are in no way to be linked to any militia or extremism".

We asked the Alpha Men Assemble group for comment, but have not yet received a response."

News, Education, Intervention, Recovery

CultEducationEvents.com

CultMediation.com   

Intervention101.com to help families and friends understand and effectively respond to the complexity of a loved one's cult involvement.

CultRecovery101.com assists group members and their families make the sometimes difficult transition from coercion to renewed individual choice.

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Please forward articles that you think we should add to cultintervention@gmail.com.

Anti-vax protests: 'Sovereign citizens' fight UK Covid vaccine rollout

Alistair Coleman and Shayan Sardarizadeh
BBC Monitoring
January 18, 2022

Alpha Men Assemble members are encouraged to attend arduous training sessions dressed in black

Opposition to Covid vaccinations has come in many forms, but none stranger than the "sovereign citizen" defence.

It uses defunct ancient English law to try to challenge regulations.

Some anti-vaccination protesters outside schools and hospitals have used this to hand out fake legal documents to teachers, parents and health workers.

Others have sought to remove Covid patients from intensive care wards, citing non-existent "common law" empowering them to do so.

They also accuse the government of "vaccine genocide" in videos shared on social media.

Some groups have even held training camps for their members. Images have emerged of black-clad men being coached in "direct action" techniques.
No basis in law

Followers of "sovereign citizen" and "freeman on the land" conspiracy theories wrongly believe they possess the legal power to bring leading politicians, civil servants and scientists before so-called "common law courts".

They allege "crimes" over Covid restrictions and vaccinations, even though such claims have no basis in law.

But that has not deterred a newly-formed group calling itself Alpha Men Assemble, which combines anti-vaccine and sovereign citizen beliefs.

It has been holding training sessions in several UK locations where volunteers prepare for "direct action", such as breaking through police lines, marching formations and sparring.

Alpha Men Assemble members are trained in various confrontation techniques

Launched on the Telegram chat app in mid-December, the group has amassed 8,000 members, and posts footage of training sessions online.

According to the Daily Mail, at a recent training session in Staffordshire activists were urged to "hit vaccine centres, schools, head teachers, colleges, councillors and directors of public health in every area".

The group has described itself as "free thinking men and women living as sovereign beings under common law". They say that they reject violence and are in favour of "body autonomy".

Its training events, it says, are "non-combative and are in no way to be linked to any militia or extremism".

We asked the Alpha Men Assemble group for comment, but have not yet received a response.

• On Telegram, Alpha Men Assemble frequently reference "sovereign citizen" and "freeman on the land" beliefs
• Direct action and threats

In December, two Covid patients were taken out of hospitals in Liverpool and Milton Keynes, against the advice of doctors and nurses.

Video of the incident in Liverpool's Aintree University Hospital shows activists boasting of their presumed legal jurisdiction as "common law constables". They told staff and police they were under "open arrest". A man was later arrested in connection with the incident.

Activists filmed themselves attempting to remove a Covid patient from Liverpool's Aintree University Hospital

There was a similar incident last year in Ireland when an elderly Covid patient was removed from a hospital and taken home by a man citing a combination of anti-vaccine and sovereign citizen beliefs. The patient was returned to hospital two days later, and eventually died.

Conspiracy-laden criminal complaints have recently been filed with police in the UK and also the International Criminal Court, alleging "genocide" and "depopulation" via vaccinations.

Anti-vax activists have also picketed schools, hospitals, politicians' homes, police stations, vaccination centres and the homes of celebrities who have publicly supported vaccines. Politicians and journalists have been "served" with fake legal papers.

In August, a group attempted to "seize" Edinburgh Castle, claiming sovereignty over the landmark under Magna Carta. They told police they rejected "fake acts and statutes" that were "made up by paedophiles". One person was arrested.

Police study papers handed to them by activists who failed to take over Edinburgh Castle
What do sovereign citizens believe?

The sovereign citizen movement originated in anti-government protests in the US in the 1970s and rose in prominence along with the militia movement in the 1990s. It was in that decade that the UK version of the movement surfaced.

• What is the US 'sovereign citizen' movement?
• The mystery of 'legal name fraud'

British believers think that they can opt out of laws with which they do not agree, based on a clause - or, as they term it, Article 61 - of Magna Carta.

The clause describes a process of electing representative barons who had the power to seize property in order to redress grievances. It was struck from Magna Carta within a year of its signing and, like much of the document, has no legal standing today.

King John of England signed Magna Carta in 1215 AD

UK sovereign citizen activists often cite obscure terms such as "legal name fraud" and "wet signatures", and organise on social media.

Volunteers are encouraged to attend training to qualify as "common law constables", which they falsely believe grants powers akin to, or even higher than, the police.

Activists believe that government-issued documents such as birth certificates and driving licences are "legal fictions".

An online "common law court" allows followers to register as "living men and women". It also hands out identification documents to volunteers and provides so-called legal advice and services, for a range of fees.

An online "common law court" issues IDs and services to sovereign citizen followers

"There is no such concept in our law as a sovereign citizen," said the Law Society's Ellie Cumbo.

Some followers have learned this the hard way, finding out in court that their beliefs don't form a legal defence from criminal charges.

• Why Magna Carta won't exempt you from Covid rules
• Tax dodger's freeman on the land defence fails

Among these is a hairdresser in Bradford who was fined thousands of pounds after citing Magna Carta in an attempt to stay open during lockdown.

A tattoo artist who insisted on keeping his business open during Covid restrictions also eventually lost his case.

Some businesses have used a misleading notice found on the internet to justify staying open
What do the 'writs' contain?

Sovereign citizen activists have also issued fake legal "writs" calling for the recipient to stop promoting or administering Covid vaccines. These threaten prosecution for violating the Nuremberg Code against human experimentation.

They urge "all constables and sovereign men and women" to arrest these figures "on sight and without delay".

One sent to the BBC's disinformation reporter Marianna Spring said she was being served with a "notice of liability for harm and death".

The BBC's Marianna Spring received this bogus writ in 2021. The text baselessly threatens legal action.

Ms Cumbo said: "These bogus writs have no legal validity, and in many cases do not even seem to involve or resemble a claim that would be recognised by the courts.

"Historically, writs were used to start any civil claim against someone else, but today this has to be done via a claim form issued under the authority of the relevant court."


https://www.bbc.com/news/59870550

Boston man with anti-government ‘sovereign citizen’ ideology had chemicals to make explosives, feds say

Steph Solis

Mass Live

November 27, 2020

Federal authorities say they arrested a Boston man with extremist views who they say bought a gun, body armor and chemicals to make a bomb.

Pepo Herd El, 47, of Dorchester, was arrested Thursday night at the Ruggles Station after he got off an MBTA bus. Police found a loaded pistol, three spare magazines that were loaded, a knife and a bullet-proof vest.

El is is barred from carrying guns and ammunition because of a 2004 state conviction for possessing firearms without permits.

When he was detained, El had on a security jacket even though he’s not a security guard, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

El was charged by criminal complaint by one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. He was detained after an initial appearance until his next hearing, which is set for Dec. 2.

Authorities also linked El, who has been under police surveillance, to purchases of chemicals and four rifle-rated hard body armor plates, according to court records.

El was tied to a series of other Amazon purchases made between Jan. 5, 2019 and Oct. 20, just over a month ago. They include a pinhole security camera, spy cameras, a velcro police patch and beanies with logos from Home Depot, Amtrak and AT&T, court records say.

Authorities said he adheres to a “sovereign citizen extremist ideology.”

According to the Anti-Defamation League, the “sovereign citizen” movement refers to a loosely organized collection of groups with a right-wing anarchist ideology that seeks to implement a minimalist government. The movement dates back to the 1970s.

The FBI defines “sovereign citizens” as those who “claim to have special knowledge or heritage rendering them immune from government authority and laws,” according to court documents. While authorities not the ideology isn’t illegal, they say sovereign citizens have sometimes expressed their views through physical force or used their belief to justify fraud or theft.

Federal agents who searched El’s homes also found chemicals that were bought from Amazon or eBay, according to in court documents. On their own, the chemicals can be used for cleaning, but they could also be combined together to make a bomb.

Special agent bomb technicians who identified several chemicals didn’t immediately see any explosives or black powder. Authorities said it was difficult to immediately determine whether there was any contraband in the home, blaming El’s clutter.

“The residence is also disorganized and cluttered, making the search difficult and time-consuming, especially considering the added safety precautions that have to be taken where agents are concerned about the possibility of explosives,” the affidavit states.

https://www.masslive.com/police-fire/2020/11/boston-man-with-anti-government-sovereign-citizen-ideology-had-chemicals-to-make-explosives-feds-say.html

Sovereign Citizens Sentenced

FBI
May 9, 2017


‘Stole’ Vacant Homes and Filed False Claims to Intimidate Officials

For more than three years, a Pennsylvania group claiming to be sovereign citizens—and therefore not subject to U.S. law—schemed to “steal” dozens of foreclosed homes worth millions of dollars and sell them to unsuspecting victims.

The scheme came to light after local officials in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, received documents declaring sovereign citizen status for three residents. Alarmed, the officials contacted the FBI shortly after receiving the documents in May 2010.

Officials had good reason to be concerned: That same month, two so-called sovereign citizens opened fire on police during a traffic stop in Arkansas, killing two officers. The ambush is just one example of how members of the movement often turn to violence.

Sovereign citizens are anti-government extremists who claim the federal government is operating outside its jurisdiction and they are therefore not bound by government authority—including the courts, taxing entities, motor vehicle departments, and even law enforcement.

They also are prone to engage in numerous types of financial frauds and schemes, based on their skewed interpretation of law.

“Most of these sovereign citizens are extremists,” said Special Agent Walter Szpak, who investigated the case out of the FBI’s Philadelphia Field Office. “When they get arrested, they don’t believe they have committed a crime, and they believe they have the right to retaliate.”

Knowing the potential for criminal and even violent activity by sovereign citizens, FBI agents decided to interview the three people in Pennsylvania who signed the declarations of sovereignty: Steven Hameed, Darnell Young, and Damond Palmer. Hameed and Young were married.

“It’s not illegal to file this kind of paperwork,” explained Szpak. “This is America; they can say whatever they want. But it’s essentially a warning to law enforcement, saying, ‘We’re about to start committing criminal acts.’”

Which is exactly what Hameed, Young, and Palmer were doing. The trio scoured public records to find foreclosed houses in Delaware County, west of Philadelphia. Then they crafted jargon-laden paperwork claiming ownership on 70 properties worth more than $9 million. Most of the homes belonged to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) or Wells Fargo bank.

After staking fraudulent claims to the properties, they listed the houses as rent-to-own opportunities on Craigslist at low prices, Szpak said.

FBI agents could not find the three suspects at first to conduct an initial interview about their claims of sovereign status; they did not live at the addresses listed on their declarations. Agents kept looking, using property records to track them down.

“Every time we went to one of these addresses, someone else was living there,” Szpak said. “The tenants told us they had bought or rented the property from the people we were looking for. That’s when we realized what they were doing.”

As the scope of the fraud became more apparent, the FBI was joined in the investigation by other agencies, including HUD, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and several county and local police departments.

In the midst of the federal investigation into the fraud, Hameed, Young, and Palmer were charged by local police for offenses such as trespassing. In response, the three played another trick popular within the sovereign movement: “paper terrorism.” They filed more than 250 fraudulent IRS forms against numerous state and local law enforcement officials and judges. The fake 1099-DIV and 1099-INT forms falsely claimed that the victims had been paid hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars in dividends or interest.

Because the forms were fake, the victims did not know they had been filed and obviously did not pay any taxes on the income. In some cases, the IRS placed liens against the victims or seized tax refunds they would have otherwise been owed.

“These fraudulent tax forms can have a real impact on victims,” Szpak said. “And, even though they are fake, some of them can remain on victims’ credit reports for years.”

They also added to a growing list of federal charges the trio faced. The three were charged in December 2015 with conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States, bank fraud, and corrupt interference with Internal Revenue laws, among other crimes. All three pleaded guilty in June 2016. Hameed was sentenced to eight years in prison in February; Young and Palmer received shorter sentences in 2016.

The scam left scores of victims in its wake, Szpak said, including people who learned they were not actually home owners. Although HUD and Wells Fargo worked with the unsuspecting victims who bought homes, none were allowed to stay in the homes they thought they owned.
https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/sovereign-citizens-sentenced

'Y'all can't do nothing to me,' accused cop killer tells judge, using 'sovereign citizens' defense

Peter Holley

Washington Post
March 3, 2017


On social media, Markeith Loyd’s persona — documented in dozens of Facebook Live videos — was as fluid as his latest mood. Sometimes, he was a down-to-earth, God-fearing boyfriend who was eagerly looking forward to fatherhood. Other times, he was a weightlifting, womanizing “street legend” whose goal was to be on the television show “America’s Most Wanted.”

More than a month after he was arrested and accused of killing his pregnant girlfriend and an Orlando police officer, Loyd made a court appearance this week in which he debuted another version of himself: Markeith Loyd, apparent sovereign citizen.

A far-right, anti-government group whose adherents believe they’re constitutionally exempt from U.S. laws, sovereign citizens have killed police officers, clogged courts with paperwork and refused to pay taxes.

In 2011, the FBI labeled it a “domestic terrorist movement.”

This week, Loyd — who has been charged with first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder — appeared in an Orlando courtroom and refused to enter a guilty or innocent plea when asked to do so by Chief Judge Frederick J. Lauten of the 9th Judicial Circuit.

A heated exchange ensued, with Loyd interrupting Lauten and telling the judge that the government lacks jurisdiction to bring charges against him.

“For the record, I want to state that I am Markeith Loyd,” Loyd told the judge. “Flesh and blood. I’m a human being. I’m not a fictitious person. I’m not a corporation.”

“And therefore, I am going to tell you the fact, I am in due court, I accept the charges’ value,” he added. “And I want to use my UCC (Uniform Commercial Code) financial statement, my number, to write these charges off.”

Loyd appeared to be under the impression that the court was responsible for leveling charges against him, but Lauten told him that the state of Florida — represented by the state attorneys office — had brought the charges against him.

“For the record, Mr. Loyd wants to talk about the UCC and corporate status, which is a position that certain citizens that are sometimes called sovereign citizens take in courts of law, oftentimes misguided,” Lauten said. “But it is not the first time the court has heard that position.”

Loyd refused to enter a plea, telling the judge: “Y’all can’t do nothing to me.”

Lauten entered a not-guilty plea on Loyd’s behalf and tried to impress upon him the value of being represented by a lawyer during discovery, jury selection and “the entire trial process.” Though Loyd decided to represent himself, Lauten appointed the public defender’s office as a standby lawyer for Loyd after determining that he was competent to represent himself, according to video footage recorded at the hearing.

Loyd is due back in court on March 20 for a status hearing.

His statements in the courtroom this week — as Lauten noted — included some of the hallmarks of typical sovereign citizen speech, such as attempting to distinguish himself from his “corporate status” and trying to write the charges off using a financial statement.

Loyd’s Facebook page makes no explicit mention of the sovereign belief system, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t immersed in the movement’s ideas, according to Bob Paudert, a 35-year law enforcement veteran who trains police departments around the country on how to identify and avoid violent confrontations with sovereign citizens in their communities.

Judging the references in his statement, Paudert said, Loyd used the language of “a hardcore sovereign” and speculated that he may have come into contact with the ideology in jail.

“There’s plenty of sovereigns in jail,” Paudert said. “They’re just like gangs. They’re in prison as well, and once they get there, they try to recruit while they’re incarcerated. It’s not uncommon for people to become radicalized once they’re behind bars.”

So what did Loyd’s statements mean?

Paudert said many sovereigns believe the U.S. government sells its citizens’ future earnings to foreign investors when they are born. Adherents often believe the funds are secretly kept by the U.S. Treasury in a secret trust that is only accessible to those who opt out of their “corporate” status, which splits them off from their flesh-and-blood self in the eyes of the government and keeps them subject to U.S. and international law, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. The amount of money sovereigns believe they’re owed is based on their lifetime earning potential and can range from a few hundred thousand dollars to tens of millions, depending on the particular strain of sovereign precepts they follow, Paudert said.

“They believe that if you renounce your citizenship, then you can get into that account and draw out all the money that the government owes you,” he added. “It can all sound very unusual to people who are not familiar with their ideas.”

Using information from government reports and the trials of tax protesters, the Southern Poverty Law Center estimated in 2011 that the number of people testing out sovereign techniques nationwide was about 300,000, with one-third of those being “hardcore sovereign believers.” Among the movement’s best-known acolytes is Terry Nichols, who helped plan the Oklahoma City bombing, according to the FBI.

David Fussell, a criminal trial expert based in Orlando, told News 13 that Loyd using sovereign-citizen language in court will have no effect on his conviction or defense.

“It comes up when someone doesn’t want to pay a particular debt to the government,” he said. “And they will go into court and will say ‘I am a sovereign citizen, and you have no authority over me.’ But in criminal court, what usually ends up is they end up in jail, prison. Because there is no such thing as a sovereign citizen in the court system.”

Almost two months ago, Loyd was working at a fast-food restaurant and expecting a child with his girlfriend Sade Dixon, whom he is accused of shooting Dec. 13, police said.

Loyd’s co-workers at Texas Fried Chicken told the Orlando Sentinel in January that they never considered him violent and that there was “nothing negative” to say about him.

“He was one of those guys you wanted to work with,” a co-worker told the paper. “He was always around to give a hand. We are heartbroken about all the families who lost loved ones.”

On Jan. 9, police said, Loyd fatally shot Orlando police officer Debra Clayton as she tried to apprehend him outside a Walmart near the Pine Hills area west of Orlando.

Loyd was captured after a massive manhunt several days later, but not before a second law enforcement death.

Deputy Norman Lewis, 35, was struck and killed by an SUV while responding to the shooting, and another deputy took fire while trying to stop Loyd’s presumed getaway vehicle.

OPD @ChiefJohnMina It is with such a heavy heart that I have to tell you Master Sgt Debra Clayton a 17-year veteran of OPD, died at 7:40 am pic.twitter.com/owWHyuaOtj

— Orlando Police (@OrlandoPolice) January 9, 2017

Clayton was shot twice in the chest and once in the abdomen, WFTV reported. Her heart stopped in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. Paramedics briefly revived her, but a flag-covered gurney was later wheeled out of the hospital as police officers lined up to salute it.

Lauten said Loyd also faces charges for wearing a bulletproof vest and performing a carjacking as he ran from police.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/03/03/yall-cant-do-nothing-to-me-sovereign-citizen-accused-of-killing-police-officer-tells-judge/?utm_term=.892bc0b422fc&wpisrc=nl_most-draw8&wpmm=1

‘SOVEREIGN' KINGPIN WHO SOLD PHONY FINANCIAL SCHEME FACES MULTI-COUNT INDICTMENT

Bill Morlin
THE SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER
March 21, 2016

 

Winston Shrout

​The Justice Department's Tax Division has obtained a multiple count tax-fraud indictment against an Oregon antigovernment "sovereign citizen" considered a national ringleader possibly responsible for $100 trillion in fraudulent financial instruments.

Winston Shrout made his living teaching others how to defraud financial institutions and the United States by using fictitious instruments, federal prosecutors allege. He now faces 13 counts of making, presenting and transmitting fictitious financial instruments and six counts of willfully failing to file income tax returns.

Formerly of Santa Clara, Utah, Shrout, 68, moved to Hillsdale, Ore., a few years ago where he continued operating his "Solutions in Commerce" tax-avoidance scheme, largely over the Internet and at various seminars.

"I have to admit…there are a couple of important life concepts that took me awhile to understand," Shrout writes on his website, boldly pitched a scheme that federal authorities say is riddled with fraud.

Six years ago, SPLC identified Shrout as one of the 12 most-prominent leaders in the sovereign citizens movement, prone to pitching phony, illegal and sometimes nonsensical schemes to avoid taxes, eliminate debts and extract money from the government.

The federal indictment alleges that from February 2008 and continuing through at least June 2015, Shrout "devised and participated in a scheme to defraud financial institutions and the United States out of monies by making, presenting and transmitting fictitious financial instruments, which he variously called, among other things, "International Bills of Exchange" and "Non-Negotiable Bills of Exchange."

"Shrout claimed that these fictitious financial instruments had monetary value when he knew they were in fact worthless," the indictment says.

During the course of his scheme, Shrout produced and issued more than 300 fictitious financial instruments, purported to be worth more than $100 trillion, on his own behalf and for credit to third parties, said Acting Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo of the Justice Department's Tax Division.

Shrout is alleged to have sold recordings of his seminars, templates for fictitious financial instruments, and other materials through his website. He attempted to convince people that the fictitious financial instruments could be used to pay off debts, including federal income taxes.

The indictment alleges Shrout "willfully failed to file" tax returns on income he received between 2009 and 2014 various sources, including presentations at seminars and licensing fees associated with the sale of Winston Shrout Solutions in Commerce products.

If convicted, Shrout faces a statutory maximum sentence of 25 years in prison on each of the fictitious financial instrument counts and one year in prison for each count of willful failure to file income tax returns.

https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2016/03/21/%E2%80%98sovereign-kingpin-who-sold-phony-financial-scheme-faces-multi-count-indictment

Orange Co. couple facing fraud charges gets attention of Homeland Security

July 16. 2014

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — An Orange County couple facing fraud charges got the attention of Homeland Security.

According to reports, the couple claims to be part of a religious group called Sovereign Citizens.

It took investigators seven months to piece together the investigation against Dexter Martin and his wife, Lelawatie Sookhoo.

The investigation started when Martin got in a car accident and a Florida Highway Patrol trooper found Martin was going by the name Mushon Martin-Bey, and claimed to be part of the Moorish Religious Society.

The group’s parishioners often claim sovereign citizenship, and change their names without filing legal documents, as investigators discovered in this case.

They said Martin-Bey visited a car dealership on Orange Blossom Trail and got a fraudulent title for a car using his new name.

They also found Sookhoo used a modified version of her name to get eight different IDs from the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Reports said the couple racked up liens on three homes under their fake names, totaling nearly $25,000.
Leaders with the Moorish Science Temple of America said in a statement that radical fringe groups are giving their religion a bad name with these types of crimes.

A spokesperson said the group “is in no form or fashion a Sovereign Citizen Movement” and “all members must obey the laws of the government.”

One of the homes the couple owned is being foreclosed on.

WFTV contacted Homeland Security after investigators mentioned their assistance in the arrest reports for the couple, but officials have not commented.

http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/orange-co-couple-facing-fraud-charges-gets-attenti/ngg7h/