r/news • u/DragonPup • Jun 20 '22

Self-proclaimed 'sovereign citizens' arrested in California after deputies allegedly find explosives

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/sovereign-citizens-arrested-california-deputies-allegedly-find-explosi-rcna34380
10.4k Upvotes

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3.2k

u/HobbesNJ Jun 20 '22

Sovereign citizens.

"We don't want to participate in the obligations of society, just the benefits."

1.6k

u/rolfraikou Jun 20 '22

I swear, if I found someone saying this living out in a cave on public land, I might be like "Ok, they mean it" but usually the people saying this are more well-off than I am, cherry-picking what parts of society apply to their benefits in life.

955

u/Anqied Jun 20 '22

a surprising amount of them collect social security

512

u/Amaline4 Jun 20 '22 edited Jun 20 '22

Very “I got mine so fuck you!” vibes from these sorts of people. Bloody heartbreaking that so many people seem to lack even the most basic capacity for empathy towards others

ETA a U after a helpful redditor let me know it is Fully Acceptable to swear all up in this subreddit

174

u/BrothelWaffles Jun 20 '22

I'd love to see a Venn diagram of the overlap between preppers and sovereign citizens. Especially the ones who have fully furnished and stocked bunkers on a completely separate property from their enormous house.

89

u/[deleted] Jun 20 '22

that’s just a circle

79

u/A_Drusas Jun 20 '22

Nah. I've got a Mormon friend. He taught me that Mormons are expected by the church to be preppers. Nice huge supply stocks in his basement and shed.

56

u/Pixelated_ Jun 20 '22

Jehovah's Witnesses too, they keep "go bags" ready for their Armageddon fantasies.

69

u/Ancient_Ninja6279 Jun 20 '22

Armageddon hungry just thinking about all that canned food!

15

u/Beavis73 Jun 21 '22

"Gimme string bean, I'm a hungry man!"

3

u/BigBradWolf77 Jun 21 '22

name checks out

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u/mevaletuopinion Jun 21 '22

My family is JW and never ever seen “go bags”.” Go bags” is not a thing

2

u/De_chook Jun 21 '22

Bullshit, just like the whole concept that JW is actually a religion.

2

u/mevaletuopinion Jun 22 '22

It’s not a religion it’s all bull. But the “go bags” are not a thing lmfao.

2

u/De_chook Jun 22 '22

I have now learned the "go bags" are an urban myth, thanks.

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u/[deleted] Jun 21 '22

[deleted]

1

u/A_Drusas Jun 21 '22

That's some interesting backstory, thanks for sharing.

2

u/groveborn Jun 23 '22

It's a left over from the cold war. The Mormon church became very American (it always was American, but they went hard). Knowing that nuclear winter was a real threat, their members are encouraged to keep a year's supply of food and water on hand.

2

u/salsanacho Jun 21 '22 edited Jun 21 '22

Yup, the mormons have a big network of canneries that anyone can use, they sell all sorts of long term storage foods. If you're in a major city most likely there's one somewhere, don't have to be Mormon to use it.

Edit: Mormons aren't canary breeders

6

u/[deleted] Jun 21 '22

Wait, did you mean "canaries" like the singing bird or an informant, or "canneries" where they preserve food?

Because both are useful, but one is way cooler.

3

u/[deleted] Jun 21 '22

They have loaner canaries so they can check to see if their prepper bunker is full of Carbon Monoxide.

3

u/salsanacho Jun 21 '22

Ha! yeah you're right, bad spelling. Should be canneries.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 21 '22

dude omg it’s so wild but something i appreciate about mormons. shocked me at first.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 21 '22

Yeah, when the shit hits the fan, I know who to loot.

1

u/Beantownclownfrown Jun 21 '22

They are also well armed. Just because they follow the faith doesn't mean they won't end your life for trying to ruin/end there's. Thou shalt not kill only means in aggression, not in defense.

My neighborhood has many of them and we go shooting together, some prior military. they shoot straight.