The Hollywood Reporter says that a new movie called Sovereign will go into production later this year about a father and son who identify as sovereign citizens “as they venture across the country and find themselves in a standoff with a chief of police that sets off an intense manhunt with tragic consequences.”
They also say it is based on a true story but did not mention which one. It seems to closely match the story of Joseph and Jerry Kane. I wrote about this case in my monograph. An excerpt:
Jerry Kane Jr. and Joseph Kane
One of the most documented and notorious cases of extreme sovereign citizen violence is the killing of two West Memphis, Arkansas law enforcement officers at the hands of Jerry Kane Jr. and his son Joseph. On the morning of May 20, 2010, officers Brandon Paudert and Bill Evans pulled over a white minivan with unusual Ohio license plates. Running the vans license plates revealed that their vehicle was registered to a church in Ohio. Jerry claimed to be a pastor of that church (Paudert 2017). Jerry proceeded to give the officers the typical pseudo-legal paperwork often presented during traffic stops by sovereign citizens, including a homemade “travelers” card (Paudert 2017). According to reports, the officers were peacefully speaking to Jerry near the back of the vehicle when his 16-year-old son Joseph emerged with an assault rifle and began shooting (Dewan & Hubbell, 2010). In total, Officer Paudert was shot 11 times and Officer Evans was shot 14 times. Both officers died from their wounds. After shooting the officers, the Kanes fled the scene. After about 90 minutes, the police caught up with them. Both suspects exchanged gunfire with police, eventually dying in the shootout but not before wounding two more officers (Dewan and Hubbell 2010).
Officer Brandon Paudert is the son of Bob Paudert, also a law enforcement officer. Interviewed by The Washington Post, he recalled the time when he learned his son had been killed by two sovereign citizens. “I found him with the back of his head shot off. It was a horrible, horrible scene. I didn’t care about going to work after that. I lost my passion for law enforcement that day” (Holley 2017). When investigating his son’s case, he learned that the FBI had known about the Kanes but had not shared that information with law enforcement (Paudert 2017). At the time of the incident, Bob Paudert indicated that “not one chief or sheriff I spoke to afterward knew about the sovereign citizens.” He now travels the country warning those in law enforcement about the dangers of sovereign citizens.
I am hoping they contact Mr. Paudert for his insights. He knows this case and the mindset of sovereign citizens in a way that few others do.