Ben Fields: Sovereign citizens: Exercising confident stupidity (ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä)

License, registration and proof of insurance? Not a problem. Here it is. The officer takes it, sits in his cruiser for a bit, then comes back. He might have a warning in his hand. Ah, feel those endorphins flooding the body with relief?

Of course, he might also return with a ticket, which earns an internal "Damn it," and an external nod or verbal acknowledgement in an even and measured tone. Sometimes I even say "Thanks," which is kind of weird if you think about it, but no harm in being polite, I figure.  

We go our separate ways from there. End of transaction.

I'm not driving, I'm traveling

I bring this up because I went down a rabbit hole recently, examining cases of self-proclaimed "sovereign citizens" getting arrested when they could've easily gotten away with a ticket or a warning. 

The "sovereign citizen" thing has a long, convoluted history, but there are now millions of Americans who believe they are not subject to state or federal law because, at some point anywhere from 50 to 80 to more than 100 years ago, the Unted States stopped being a country and is now a corporation, or a legitimate government was replaced with an illegitimate one. 

The views of sovereign citizens are all over the place, and it's hard to pin down when this whole thing even started.  

One thing that is undeniable is that the concept was growing in the 1990s and 2000s, and really took off around 2020, when anti-vaxxers, aluminum-foil hatted QAnon-ers and election conspiracy theorists entered the chat.

These people might have wildly varying views, but a few things on which they seem to agree involve not paying taxes and refusing to maintain vehicle registrations or a valid driver’s license. 

As the Anti-Defamation League points out, many are engaged in "magical thinking," believing their knowledge of certain terms means they can't be held accountable for illegal actions, because they are not subjects of the current, apparently illegitimate U.S. government.  

One of the most common examples of this you'll see is someone who's been pulled over saying they're not "driving," but "traveling." Driving — to a sovereign — implies commerce and a contract with the federal government. Traveling, however, is a right protected by the Constitution. U.S. citizens do indeed have the right to travel between states, but that obviously does not mean the laws concerning operating a motor vehicle don't apply. 

As soon as a cop hears "I'm not driving, I'm traveling," I'll bet they sigh or groan on the inside, knowing this is going to be an ordeal. 

Sovereigns will often refuse to provide any documents to officers or even give their name. Sometimes, they'll produce papers or identification they bought from some scam group that profits off gullibility but has no real value or practical purpose. 

Watching these people — believing they have some sort of superior knowledge — interact with police is equal parts fascinating and annoying. Officers are often patient and will even get a supervisor that's been requested. But, eventually, the patience runs out.

The unearned confidence a sovereign displays typically lasts up to the point that a window gets smashed and they get yanked out of the car. I noticed in several incidents, once this happens, the driver suddenly wants very much to comply and would like to negotiate. Sorry, but that window — no pun intended — is gone once it's gotten that far. 

Why I care, and you should, too

Police officers never know what they're walking up to when they pull someone over. And once they know they've got a sovereign on their hands, they have to be cautious, because sovereign ideology has been tied to some nasty violence in the past. Reasons abound to criticize the government, but someone who doesn't even believe laws apply to them could be dangerous. 

Another thing that irks me is that you'll sometimes get the argument from a sovereign — once they've been detained — that police should be out there stopping "real criminals."

I agree. The arresting officer probably does, too. Refusing to comply during a traffic stop, demanding superior officers be called to the scene and engaging in a protracted, farcical debate wastes time and resources officers could be directing toward more pressing matters. 

Look, there are times to question law enforcement motives and tactics. A great example would be asking why billions of dollars are spent to put federal agents with face coverings but no badges or ID on the streets of American cities, where they proceed to detain individuals with no due process — sometimes beating them or even killing them — in the name of deporting undocumented immigrants. 

But getting pulled over for speeding, not having a license plate on a car or having an expired registration? That's not the time to pretend you're Clarence Darrow if he had suffered a concussion or regularly listened to Alex Jones. 

I do feel bad for some of these people, because they often didn't come to this bizarre worldview on their own. They've been influenced by the wrong people on a variety of fronts, and, in a lot of cases, they've been scammed. 

I can even see where some, watching real-world events unfold, might get the idea that they're above the law. If only. That only works for a very select group of people, and it isn't because they know the magic word.