# 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:** 81
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2025, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sovereign-citizens-please-tell-me-this-is-fake/769572/1601 "2025-10-29T21:33:13Z")
So what happens if a relative of the reckless homicide victim demands weregild? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2025, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sovereign-citizens-please-tell-me-this-is-fake/769572/1602 "2025-10-29T21:57:57Z")
Might be fun if the Feds just put a bounty on SovCits. $10K each, dead or alive. Must be a US citizen, but not a LEO of any description, to collect the bounty. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2025, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sovereign-citizens-please-tell-me-this-is-fake/769572/1603 "2025-10-30T22:36:34Z")
If you’re gonna claim that the law doesn’t apply to you, then it doesn’t protect you, either. If you wanna be an outlaw, then _own_ it, mofo! ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2025, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sovereign-citizens-please-tell-me-this-is-fake/769572/1604 "2025-10-30T22:44:57Z")
A slow speed chase at night on I-84 in Connecticut ends after sov cit (who was traveling, not driving) opens fire on pursuing officers. The shooting starts a bit after 2:45 on the video. [https://www.ctpost.com/journalinquirer/article/samuel-lee-machester-ct-warrant-i-84-shootout-21126685.php?utm\_campaign=CMS%20Sharing%20Tools%20(Premium)&utm\_source=t.co&utm\_medium=referral](https://www.ctpost.com/journalinquirer/article/samuel-lee-machester-ct-warrant-i-84-shootout-21126685.php?utm_campaign=CMS%20Sharing%20Tools%20(Premium)&utm_source=t.co&utm_medium=referral) ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2025, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sovereign-citizens-please-tell-me-this-is-fake/769572/1605 "2025-10-31T06:35:18Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > opens fire on pursuing officers They didn’t open fire. They refused to create joinder with the officers with maximum prejudice. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2025, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sovereign-citizens-please-tell-me-this-is-fake/769572/1606 "2025-10-31T13:22:35Z")
Joinder _this_, Copper! ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2025, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sovereign-citizens-please-tell-me-this-is-fake/769572/1607 "2025-10-31T13:50:23Z")
Go ahead, make my joinder. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2025, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sovereign-citizens-please-tell-me-this-is-fake/769572/1608 "2025-10-31T16:13:14Z")
I’m not dying, I’m expiring! ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2025, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sovereign-citizens-please-tell-me-this-is-fake/769572/1609 "2025-10-31T17:51:41Z")
He should have refused joinder with those bullets. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2025, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sovereign-citizens-please-tell-me-this-is-fake/769572/1610 "2025-11-03T21:23:56Z")
They didn’t pursue him; they co-traveled with him (at a high rate of speed and with lights and sirens, but still…). ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2025, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sovereign-citizens-please-tell-me-this-is-fake/769572/1611 "2025-12-17T23:29:46Z")
I don’t think I ever get tired of hearing these stories about them and seeing the video footage. It’s total schadenfreude. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2025, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sovereign-citizens-please-tell-me-this-is-fake/769572/1612 "2025-12-18T14:56:33Z")
Hard labor prescribed for the man of God. > **[‘Cat And Mouse’ Pursuit: Louisiana ‘Sovereign Citizen’ Loses Appeal After 92...](https://www.tampafp.com/cat-and-mouse-pursuit-louisiana-sovereign-citizen-loses-appeal-after-92-mph-chase/)** > > A Louisiana motorist who led police on a bizarre 13-minute chase—claiming he was a "sovereign citizen" and a "man of God" who was simply too afraid to ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2025, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sovereign-citizens-please-tell-me-this-is-fake/769572/1613 "2025-12-18T21:27:30Z")
Every freakin’ day. He should serve every. Freakin’. _Day_. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2025, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sovereign-citizens-please-tell-me-this-is-fake/769572/1614 "2025-12-18T22:53:13Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > I don’t think I ever get tired of hearing these stories about them and seeing the video footage. It’s total schadenfreude. For me it’s a total mystery why ANYONE would get sucked into believing this shite. I don’t feel recreational outrage, just deep and baffled puzzlement. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2025, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sovereign-citizens-please-tell-me-this-is-fake/769572/1615 "2025-12-19T00:12:57Z")
Some people are stupid & highly suggestible. Lotta people desperately want to believe they don’t have to pay taxes or deal w government bureaucracy. They stumble on a slick sales pitch telling them what they want hear and soon they’re buying the scripts and reading the websites & going down the rabbit hole to SovereignLand. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2025, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sovereign-citizens-please-tell-me-this-is-fake/769572/1616 "2025-12-19T01:13:00Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > They stumble on a slick sales pitch telling them what they want hear and soon they’re buying the scripts and reading the websites & going down the rabbit hole to SovereignLand. This is what happens to a lot of people for many things. Not just sov cits. But the sov cit nonsense is one that will get you into jail. I watch the videos sometimes and it’s amazing how many people turn tickets or even warnings into silver bracelets. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2025, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sovereign-citizens-please-tell-me-this-is-fake/769572/1617 "2025-12-19T01:23:53Z")
I can only presume that Sovereign Citizen doctrine appeals to a certain aberrant neurology, the way conspiracy theories and Flat Earth beliefs appear perfectly rational to people with a quasi-paranoid mental state. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2025, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sovereign-citizens-please-tell-me-this-is-fake/769572/1618 "2025-12-19T01:29:51Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Some people are stupid & highly suggestible I think most people have blind spots for various reasons. Otherwise intelligent people making really stupid decisions in relationships, for example. People who are in a vulnerable situation and get caught up in romance scammers, etc. I agree that a lot of these people want to believe that they don’t have to listen to _the man_ and they are particularly susceptible to this nonsense. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2025, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sovereign-citizens-please-tell-me-this-is-fake/769572/1619 "2025-12-19T01:33:24Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > I can only presume that Sovereign Citizen doctrine appeals to a certain aberrant neurology, the way conspiracy theories and Flat Earth beliefs appear perfectly rational to people with a quasi-paranoid mental state. I don’t know if they are the same. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2025, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sovereign-citizens-please-tell-me-this-is-fake/769572/1620 "2025-12-19T01:42:14Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > I watch the videos sometimes and it’s amazing how many people turn tickets or even warnings into silver bracelets. And they’re always so surprised when it happens. Some are tearful and regretful, but many of these yokels are simply indignant and threaten to sue. Some of the ones who do take it to court end up with additional charges, like contempt of court. To those who wonder how the hell someone like Trump could possibly get elected to the presidency, these videos help to clarify things. There is a large population of losers who hate the established power structure, because they’re always on the losing end of it. They just put the blame in the wrong place. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sovereign-citizens-please-tell-me-this-is-fake/769572.md?page=80) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sovereign-citizens-please-tell-me-this-is-fake/769572.md?page=82)