WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Anti-government extremists opposed to taxes and regulations pose a growing threat to local law enforcement officers in the United States, the FBI warned on Monday. These extremists, sometimes known as "sovereign citizens," believe they can live outside any type of government authority, FBI agents said at a news conference. The extremists may refuse to pay taxes, defy government environmental regulations and believe the United States went bankrupt by going off the gold standard. Routine encounters with police can turn violent "at the drop of a hat," said Stuart McArthur, deputy assistant director in the FBI's counterterrorism division. "We thought it was important to increase the visibility of the threat with state and local law enforcement," he said. In May 2010, two West Memphis, Arkansas, police officers were shot and killed in an argument that developed after they pulled over a "sovereign citizen" in traffic. Last year, an extremist in Texas opened fire on a police officer during a traffic stop. The officer was not hit. Legal convictions of such extremists, mostly for white-collar crimes such as fraud, have increased from 10 in 2009 to 18 each in 2010 and 2011, FBI agents said. "We are being inundated right now with requests for training from state and local law enforcement on sovereign-related matters," said Casey Carty, an FBI supervisory special agent. FBI agents said they do not have a tally of people who consider themselves "sovereign citizens." J.J. MacNab, a former tax and insurance expert who is an analyst covering the sovereign movement, has estimated that it has about 100,000 members. Sovereign members often express particular outrage at tax collection, putting Internal Revenue Service employees at risk. (Reporting By Patrick Temple-West; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh)
You know I have delt with dufferent group of sovereing citizen as a Deputy over the year and have had very little problems out of them and have even made a couple friends. I have alot of the same beliefs they do and have no more fear responding to a call that I do with any other call. We all know that when dealing with a person as a L.E.O. it depends on that person and whats going on in that persons world. I have had to fight good men who has just been backed into a corner by problems. Just another case where Big Brother uses the actions of a few to judge all. There are fruit loops every where wheather it be Sovereing citizens, L.E.O's, Military or citizens
i found that if you treat the alleged criminal with a modicum of respect they will dom likewise with you... if not well thats what you get paid the big bucks for
It is nothing but F.U.D. (fear, uncertainty, doubt) and Propaganda. With a broad brush you paint those you want to demonize with the color of wrong doers. Get the populace (sheeple) to nod their heads in agreement. Then you are free to go on your way and squash them. It almost seems like these are warnings to sovereigns that things are going to get more difficult in future days. Every fascist regime has done the same. first you usurp power. then you tell them the regimes values are more important than individuals. then you see who is opposing you. you then demonize the opposition. the populace then acts for you or demands that you 'Remove' or re-educate them. Then, the sheeple blindly follow you into oblivion. V
It's been done before by a Democrat in charge that feels the pressure from the right. However, this time they have a whole new set of rules at their disposal.
so with a total of 46 people classed as soveriegn citizens being convicted of various white collar crimes, and there are police agencies calling for help to the feds for proper training on how to handle them? Wow, sounds like an HR issue to me. The funny thing is, there was no income tax before WWI. Then it was only supposed to be a non raisable 1%, that was supposed to help pay for the war. It never went away. No wonder people are pissed. Congress and the fed gov are only supposed to be able to impose taxes on trade and imports. Thats it.
This has been in the making for many years, sadly, I have seen this start many, many years ago. Originally it was a fear of vengeance after Waco and Ruby Ridge, of course we all know what happened after that. Now, with federal grant funds, I have seen the creation of "Terrorism Liaison Officers" (TLO) What is a TLO, he/she is a federally trained LOCAL L.E.O. used as a funnel of information from the top down regarding amongst other things, "Radical Homegrown Domestic Terrorism." The TLO is also trained to spot indicators of suspected terrorist involvement. I honestly think this smells like the Stazi and the Savak.
