Self-proclaimed 'sovereign citizens' arrested in California after deputies allegedly find explosives
Three people claiming to be "sovereign citizens" were arrested Saturday morning after live ammunition and explosives were found in a vehicle they were driving and at their remote compound, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.
Deputies had conducted a traffic stop for suspected vehicle code violations Saturday just after 10 a.m. PT on a Ford Taurus near Joshua Tree National Park, a press release from the sheriff's department said. Inside the car were David Russell, 50, and Jeffery Russell, 46, who identified themselves as sovereign citizens. Sovereign citizens are a fringe group whose members consider themselves exempt from U.S. law and who sometimes use violent tactics to justify their beliefs, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Authorities said a records check showed that the two men were prohibited from possessing and owning firearms. Deputies found "live ammunition, black gunpowder, and an improvised military-grade explosive device" inside the car, they said, adding that the explosive device was safely disposed of.
Deputies then obtained a search warrant for a property in Johnson Valley, California, the community where the Russells reside. They discovered more military-grade explosives and ammunition, as well as firearms, at the compound; a woman at the compound, Venus Mooney, 54, was arrested.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/sovereign-citizens-arrested-california-deputies-allegedly-find-explosi-rcna34380?cid=sm_npd_nn_fb_ma&fbclid=IwAR3aI-8KYsaRlUmUEO_s5hFSOUNbzgsAMNWyzNNGBGacNJePFleVqUt651g
= new reply since forum marked as read
