Respond individually to each of the below three classmate disucssion post replies.
Be engaging, add additional insight and ask a question or two, within each reponse to the classmates.
Classmate Discussion Post #1: Patrick
Post-September 11 has seen a sudden increase in the expansion of extremist organizations in the United States, posing a significant terroristic threat. Groups like Moorish Nation, the Aware Group, Washitaw, and other organizations are commonly referred to as the “Sovereign Citizen because of their shared values that support anti-government propaganda. Referring to the constituted structure of government as illegitimate, Sovereign Citizens are embraced by other organizations with commonalities in their values and beliefs but have no affiliation. (UNC School of Government, 2013) suggest that Sovereign citizens may issue their own driver’s licenses and vehicle tags, create and file their liens against government officials who cross them, question judges about the validity of their oaths, challenge the applicability of traffic laws to them, and, in extreme cases, resort to violence to protect their imagined rights. They speak an odd quasi-legal language and believe they can avoid liability in our judicial system by not capitalizing names, writing in red, and using specific catchphrases. They even think they can lay claim to vast sums of money held by the United States Treasury, based on the premise that the government has secretly pledged them as security for the country’s debts. Based on these beliefs and a twisted understanding of the Uniform Commercial Code, they try various schemes that discharge them from responsibility for their debts. Despite not being labeled as a domestic terrorist organization, sovereign citizens utilize their strange ideology to recruit and radicalize other individuals and groups into developing anti-government sentiments and exhibiting elements of lawlessness that represent the acts of terrorism.
The UNC School of Government, 2013 concluded its research that much of what sovereigns do is intended to rescind or denounce that federal citizenship and reclaim their common law sovereign citizen status with all its rights. That helps explain why they refuse to get driver’s licenses or register vehicles, reject Social Security, avoid using ZIP codes, and may not pay taxes because those are all forms of contracting with the government and accepting the lesser class of federal citizenship. Reconstruction history is essential to many sovereign citizens. Their view is that the governments established in southern states after the Civil War were imposed against the will of and without the consent of the citizens and were not lawful. These sovereigns distinguish between the original condition, of which they are citizens, and the false and illegitimate state that occupies the same territory.
Is a Sovereign Citizen extremist who has renounced their citizenship entitled to the Due Process under the Bill of Rights protections? Why or why not? Do you think a Sovereign Citizen who conducts a mass casualty attack should be considered a terrorist?
The members of the sovereign citizens renounce the legitimacy of the government of United States of America. Their narrative is based on an alternate view of American history especially the founding fathers and initial events of the country. In this regard, the fourteenth amendment is a particularly important event. The amendment guarantees freedom to the former slaves and suggests that all those residing in the country are, thereby, citizens of the country. The sovereign believe that this amendment creates a group of second-grade citizens called the “fourteenth amendment citizens”. Therefore, the sovereigns believe that they can choose to opt out of the fourteenth amendment and the Bill of Rights Protection, in order to, to claim their previously held constitutional citizenship. Hence, a sovereign citizen could be defined as someone who has renounced his citizenship entitled under the Bill of Rights Protection. Sovereign Citizens often
resort to violence to announce their renunciation of the authority of the government by attacking public officials like police officers and financial political institutions. They also endanger others’ lives by refusing to acknowledge the traffic safety rules. While these might seem like minor acts, a sovereign citizen who performs a mass casualty act will be considered as a terrorist as they will be responsible for using violence to achieve political purposes. A specific example is the killing of two police officer in West Memphis, Arkansas, in 2010 by a father and son when they were pulled over for their unusual license plates. Such extreme acts of violence could definitely be termed.
as terrorism.
post 3: jeffery
I would equate a Sovereign Citizens declaration of not being bound by the laws of the United States to Michael Scott declaring bankruptcy in the Office. Just as sovereign citizens are afforded the rights and privileges granted to them through the Bill of Rights, so too are they afforded equal protection and equal treatment under the law. If a Sovereign Citizen goes through the official government channels to renounce their citizenship, they will forfeit their rights and responsibilities as a citizen of the United States; however, this does not mean that they would lose all of the protections under the Bill of Rights. Noncitizens are still provided the protections of the Fifth Amendment.
Do you think a Sovereign Citizen who conducts a mass casualty attack should be considered a terrorist?
If a sovereign citizen conducts a mass casualty attack in the name of their cause I believe that they should be categorized as a domestic terrorist. According to the FBI a domestic terrorism is defined as acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or any states (2020). A mass casualty attack would certainly qualify based on the FBIs definition. However, the investigating agency should evaluate all circumstances surrounding the incident to determine any classification.
