The majority of sovereign citizens are not violent. They may not pay taxes or have a driver’s license, but they do not engage in threatening or violent behavior. However, some sovereign citizens are domestic terrorists. They act out in furtherance of their viewpoint.
In 2020, there were several instances in which identified sovereign citizens threatened or were violent. This list was put together from multiple sources, including Stareschi (2020).
3 January. Dayton, Ohio’s Derrick Lewis was arrested for shooting at police officers and engaging in a 13-hour standoff. He identified himself as a sovereign citizen.
30 January. Justin Higdon, a New Orleans, Louisiana, man, was arrested for making a threat on social media that he would shoot police officers at Carnival.
22 May. Caleb Zink of Oregon was arrested after attacking law enforcement. He was livid about Oregon’s Department of Human Services (DHS) involvement in the welfare of his partner’s children. Zink was a fugitive until he was picked up in Fort Smith, Arkansas. This was not until after he bit an officer’s hand.
21 July. Monica Greer Justice from Ohio shot two police officers and engaged in a standoff with police. The officers were attempting to serve a warrant that appears to have stemmed from Justice refusing to wear a mask.
(EDIT thanks to Dr. Sarteschi) 15 November. A Ocala, Florida, woman, Neely Petrie-Blanchard, shot and killed 50-year old Christopher Hallett because she accused him of keeping her from seeing her children. She espoused sovereign views.
26 November. A Boston man, Pepo Herd El a/k/a Pepo Wamchawi Herd (El), was arrested for being a felon in possession of a weapon. When arrested, he was wearing a “Security” jacket (even though he was not employed as a security guard). Law enforcement found El had a gun, body armor and chemicals to make a bomb at his home.
It is likely the list is nowhere near complete: Please comment if I overlooked something.
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