Sovereign Stories: April 15, 2023

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Australian story: ‘Violence, fixation and harassment’: Internal AFP briefing reveals sovereign citizen concern’

Highlights from the story:

  • The Australian Federal Police (AFP) was aware of the “violence, fixation and harassment” of the sovereign citizens movement before a shooting in Queensland in 2020
  • The briefing documents highlighted the sovereign citizens’ “underlying capacity to inspire violence,” noting that they saw violence as a last resort
  • The resurgence of the movement has been “significantly shaped by the government response to the COVID-19 pandemic”

Most interesting are the characteristics of the sovereign citizen movement in Australia

  • “Idiosyncratic” interpretations of common law, human rights laws and historical legal documents such as the Magna Carta, which are used as grounds for typical rhetoric like “I do not consent”
  • Personality wise, they express a “confidence” about their legal and moral justification for their beliefs
  • The use of social media and messaging apps. The briefing notes that these groups typically organise on public, mainstream platforms like Facebook and YouTube, but have migrated to platforms like Telegram after being deplatformed
  • Major overlap with other extremist groups such as anti-vaccine, conspiracy and far-right groups
  • “Information sharing, encouragement and support, including financial support” with international sovereign citizen groups

Additional Australian stories:

  • Anti-Adani activist Coedie McAvoy appeared in court for assault charges for allegedly assaulting an Indigenous ranger and security guard on the Bravus mine site; called the police the “gestapo” and wrote on Facebook: “I’m not a sovereign, Waddananggu is, I’m just the caretaker, and I’ll call it whatever name I want. I am no longer a citizen of Australia.”

New Zealand

Romana Didulo

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