# Sovereign Citizens-- Please tell me this is fake **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 24, 2016, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sovereign-citizens-please-tell-me-this-is-fake/769572 "2016-10-24T07:38:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![Daithi\_Lacha](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daithi_lacha/32/5430_2.png) [@Daithi\_Lacha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daithi_Lacha)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2023, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sovereign-citizens-please-tell-me-this-is-fake/769572/281 "2023-09-15T17:46:43Z")
I am saddened by the unnecessary death of any human, but MAN this falls squarely into ‘play stupid games, win stupid prizes’ territory. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2023, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sovereign-citizens-please-tell-me-this-is-fake/769572/282 "2023-09-15T18:25:48Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Looks like the graduated from the Hard Knocks campus. …and three gold stars from the Kindergarten of Getting the Shit Kicked Out of Me. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2023, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sovereign-citizens-please-tell-me-this-is-fake/769572/283 "2023-09-15T22:20:03Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > doing what he could to defend the people’s freedom and liberty in his community. He paid the ultimate price for his freedom with his devastating and tragic death. The “freedom” to pull a gun on a police officer at a traffic stop. Why that “freedom” is right here on page 3 of my pocket constertushun! ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2023, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sovereign-citizens-please-tell-me-this-is-fake/769572/284 "2023-09-16T17:01:00Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > The “freedom” to pull a gun on a police officer at a traffic stop. Why even stop? I wouldn’t pull over just because some Random Guy told me to, and this SovCit guy believes that cops are just random dudes with no legal authority. So why even pull over? Well, the obvious answer is, if you don’t pull over, the cops will chase you down and run you off the road, or deploy spike strips to flatten you tires. So, he acknowledges the cops physical power by pulling over. _But then he pulls a gun on them!_ Why acknowledge the cops physical power to pull you over, but not their physical power to drag you out of the car, beat you, or shoot you?!? It boggles the mind. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2023, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sovereign-citizens-please-tell-me-this-is-fake/769572/285 "2023-09-16T18:33:36Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > Why even stop? Because he was looking for a confrontation. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2023, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sovereign-citizens-please-tell-me-this-is-fake/769572/286 "2023-09-16T18:58:49Z")
Yup. What’s the point of knowing the SovCit magic words if you can’t use 'em? ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2023, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sovereign-citizens-please-tell-me-this-is-fake/769572/287 "2023-09-16T21:31:18Z")
Right. And that’s the whole point of displaying that stupid sovcit vehicle plate. It’s a guaranteed way to get the police to stop the nutter. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2023, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sovereign-citizens-please-tell-me-this-is-fake/769572/288 "2023-09-16T21:52:19Z")
The SovCits have converged with the Nationalist-Supremacists in seeing any LEO who seeks to enforce the real laws as a minion of tyranny, and needing confronting. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2023, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sovereign-citizens-please-tell-me-this-is-fake/769572/289 "2023-09-16T22:26:38Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > So, he acknowledges the cops physical power by pulling over. > > _But then he pulls a gun on them!_ > > Why acknowledge the cops physical power to pull you over, but not their physical power to drag you out of the car, beat you, or shoot you?!? Because a few decades of popular media have convinced some people that guns have magic power. When a hero points a gun at somebody, all their problems are successfully resolved. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2023, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sovereign-citizens-please-tell-me-this-is-fake/769572/290 "2023-09-17T00:39:08Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > their problems are successfully resolved. As happened in this case. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2023, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sovereign-citizens-please-tell-me-this-is-fake/769572/291 "2023-09-17T00:40:58Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > Why even stop? I wouldn’t pull over just because some Random Guy told me to, and this SovCit guy believes that cops are just random dudes with no legal authority. So why even pull over? > > Well, the obvious answer is, if you don’t pull over, the cops will chase you down and run you off the road, or deploy spike strips to flatten you tires. On some level I think a lot of them really think their magic words will work. Many of them have paid to learn this stuff, after all. What’s the point in learning the incantations if you don’t use them? I genuinely believe many of them think they can talk their way out of the legal repercussions. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2023, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sovereign-citizens-please-tell-me-this-is-fake/769572/292 "2023-09-17T00:44:58Z")
And it enrages them when their magic words are ignored. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2023, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sovereign-citizens-please-tell-me-this-is-fake/769572/293 "2023-09-17T00:47:06Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Many of them have paid to learn this stuff, after all. And part of that… stuff is that these kind of encounters are the grounds for civil lawsuits that will result in the SovCit getting lots of ‘gold coins’ deposited to their ‘strawman account’. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2023, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sovereign-citizens-please-tell-me-this-is-fake/769572/294 "2023-09-17T04:01:10Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > > > their problems are successfully resolved. > > As happened in this case. I don’t think this was the successful resolution Allan was seeking. The lesson here is that if you’re a fuck-up, getting a gun isn’t going to fix your problems. A gun isn’t going to make you competent. A gun is just going to make it possible for you to fuck things up in a more serious way. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2023, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sovereign-citizens-please-tell-me-this-is-fake/769572/295 "2023-09-17T06:10:23Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > On some level I think a lot of them really think their magic words will work. And there probably have been lots of times where the words “worked,” in that they walked away free after using the words on a police officer, just like how most illnesses will be “cured” by some homeopathic potion. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2023, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sovereign-citizens-please-tell-me-this-is-fake/769572/296 "2023-09-17T15:45:08Z")
I call this into question. If there were lots of times this approach worked, there would be lots of videos all over the place showing it, not just anonymous stories told by aspiring profiteers. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2023, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sovereign-citizens-please-tell-me-this-is-fake/769572/297 "2023-09-17T16:29:10Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Because a few decades of popular media have convinced some people that guns have magic power. When a hero points a gun at somebody, all their problems are successfully resolved. Pull a gun on a cop and you have a very good chance of never having a problem again. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2023, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sovereign-citizens-please-tell-me-this-is-fake/769572/298 "2023-09-17T16:38:17Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > And there probably have been lots of times where the words “worked,” in that they walked away free after using the words on a police officer But then they wake up. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2023, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sovereign-citizens-please-tell-me-this-is-fake/769572/299 "2023-09-17T18:12:46Z")
If the cop chooses not to write it up or tow their car (sorry vee-HICKLE) or the DA decides to drop the charges or the judge lets them off, we all know they got away with it for some stupid-ass reason but THEY believe they got off because their magic words worked. That’s why cops, DA and judges should not give them a break. saint of the family ;CAD This post does not create a contract with you Please refer to my trust for all debts private and public Should any mod react to this post under color of law, they are guilty of treason under 18 USC 242 Should anyone make negative comments to this post, you will be charged according to my fee schedule. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2023, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sovereign-citizens-please-tell-me-this-is-fake/769572/300 "2023-09-17T18:15:58Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > If the cop chooses not to write it up or tow their car I just saw this happen. First time the guy didn’t get arrested and towed because he had his kids in the car. Second time . . . not so much. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sovereign-citizens-please-tell-me-this-is-fake/769572.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sovereign-citizens-please-tell-me-this-is-fake/769572.md?page=16)