Jan. 6 rioter who used sovereign citizen 'gobbledygook' at trial is found guilty

Rapidcreek@reddthat.com to News@lemmy.world – 392 points –
Jan. 6 rioter who used sovereign citizen 'gobbledygook' at trial is found guilty
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Following that logic if you’re sovereign then it’s not really a riot or insurrection. It’s another nation engaging in war with another nation. The election wasn’t any of their business to begin with since they’re sovereign.

That “sovereign citizen” just lost a war against arguably the most powerful nation on the globe.

Fucking moron. I hope he’s able to grow and learn from this experience in a positive way. 🤷‍♂️

I've never heard of a SovCit that isn't a fucking moron unless they're a grifter. Anyone with a lick of sense would be able to figure out their beliefs are all silly.

The whole thing started as a mail order scam targeting poor black communities, especially obviously people charged with crimes, who are desperate enough to believe this stuff will work. They think they are buying legal magic words that will make courts do whatever they want.

There's a seminal case from Canada that lays out their history and categorizes their arguments, it's worth the read just for the great research and writing, but it provides a playbook for judges and lawyers to properly dispose of these cases. They used to be a nightmare when they first came around because they would grind things to a halt. Now courts know how to handle it and they are some of the easier cases to dispose.

Here's the case: only 200 pages, ha! https://www.canlii.org/en/ab/abqb/doc/2012/2012abqb571/2012abqb571.html

Calls them OCPA litigants: Organized Pseudolegal Commercial Argument.

SovCits are what happens when people are willing to believe anything that makes their opinion right, and ignore anything that proves them wrong.

They use the law as a shield, but the second they want to break the law, they say it doesn't matter.

If someone showed up at their house and claimed it was now their house due to annexation, they'd be on the phone to the cops faster than you could imagine.

They want everyone else to follow the rules, and for them to do anything they want.

If someone showed up at their house and claimed it was now their house due to annexation, they’d be on the phone to the cops faster than you could imagine.

They actually have tried that (more than once) and it was harder to evict them than you would think.

Police had tried multiple times to get the squatters to leave the home, including using a helicopter and armored vehicles, The Sun reported. They were able to get a search warrant after pulling over Michael Lawrence Warren, one of the squatters, for a traffic stop and discovering his identity and criminal history, which included sex offenses.

https://www.insider.com/sovereign-citizens-moved-into-15-million-mansion-in-maryland-2021-7

That's different. That's squatters rights. All you have to do to claim squatters rights is occupy the home to the exclusion of the true owner under a claim of right. Bam, it's instantly a matter of landlord tenant law and you're entitled to summary process (eviction proceedings). Sometimes they can jam that up but it eventually goes through. Then the sheriff or whoever has to serve the eviction. They often combine their squatting with false entries into the land records. That's when it gets hard.

In the United States, squatting is illegal and squatters can be evicted for trespassing.[36] Real estate managers recommend that vacant properties be protected by erecting "no trespassing" signs, regular checks, tenant screening, and quickly finding new tenants.[45] In Miami, municipal ordinance requires that property owner exercise all legal means to remove squatters and police are empowered to take actions to remove squatters from private property and then bill the owner or lessee.[46]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squatting_in_the_United_States#Legal

There is no such thing as squatter's rights in the United States.

Yeah, I don't know why people keep posting that on Reddit and Lemmy. Having been a former landlord, eviction is not difficult, it's just that some inexperienced landlords are not aware of the laws. You own the property, If someone moves in without an agreement from you, you evict them, or more accurately, you have them charged with breaking and entering, plus trespassing.

I once rented to a couple where the boyfriend became verbally abusive and would throw things at his girlfriend during arguments. The thing is, he wasn't on the rental agreement, she was. He refused to leave, I laughed and had his ass out within 3 hours.

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Sounds like the reason it was hard is because of our own existing laws and not anything they're claiming with their sovereign citizenship stuff.

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I hope he’s able to grow and learn from this experience…

That’s some heroic optimism right there

Yeah, but according to the article he apologized to one of the officers he attacked, so they should just let him go.

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