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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsBaton Rouge shooter Gavin Long may have been in far-right sovereign citizen group.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/multiple-baton-rouge-police-officers-killed-shooting-attack-article-1.2714761The gunman was identified by CBS as Gavin Eugene Long. Multiple reports linked Long to homegrown hate groups. The Wall Street Journal, citing sources, said he belonged to an antigovernment group called the New Freedom Group. MSNBC reported he belonged to a different group, called the Sovereign Citizens.
Authorities were investigating whether the shootout was an ambush carried out by Long, of Missourri, with the help of others, MSNBC said.
https://mic.com/articles/148961/gavin-eugene-long-named-as-suspect-in-killing-of-three-police-in-baton-rouge#.AsLjT2nzA
Little is known about Long or his motivations at this time, but Baton Rouge police have faced weeks of protests over the lethal shooting of black man Alton Sterling in early July. Sterling was shot multiple times while pinned by two police officers. Days later, another black man named Philando Castile was shot by Minnesota police. A peaceful Black Lives Matter demonstration over both shootings in Dallas was then struck by a gunman who opened fire on police, killing five officers and wounding nine others.
However, MSNBC's Pete Williams reported one person of interest in the current investigation may be a member of the sovereign citizen movement, a far-right movement alleging they are exempt from most U.S. laws. The Wall Street Journal, citing an anonymous source, reported Long may have been affiliated with an organization called the New Freedom Group.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/more-than-one-police-officer-shot-in-baton-rouge-1468768712
Response to pnwmom (Original post)
rjsquirrel This message was self-deleted by its author.
pnwmom
(108,994 posts)dhol82
(9,353 posts)Just asking.
pnwmom
(108,994 posts)dhol82
(9,353 posts)Sovreign Citizens group?
pnwmom
(108,994 posts)https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/ideology/sovereign-citizens-movement
The movement is rooted in racism and anti-Semitism, though most sovereigns, many of whom are African American, are unaware of their beliefs' origins. In the early 1980s, the sovereign citizens movement mostly attracted white supremacists and anti-Semites, mainly because sovereign theories originated in groups that saw Jews as working behind the scenes to manipulate financial institutions and control the government. Most early sovereigns, and some of those who are still on the scene, believed that being white was a prerequisite to becoming a sovereign citizen. They argued that the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which guaranteed citizenship to African Americans and everyone else born on U.S. soil, also made black Americans permanently subject to federal and state governments, unlike themselves.
......
Recruits
In the late 2000s and early 2010s, most new recruits to the sovereign citizens movement are people who have found themselves in a desperate situation, often due to the economy or foreclosures, and are searching for a quick fix. Others are intrigued by the notions of easy money and living a lawless life, free from unpleasant consequences. Many self-identified sovereigns today are black and apparently completely unaware of the racist origins of their ideology. When they experience some small success at using redemption techniques to battle minor traffic offenses or local licensing issues, they're hooked. For many, it's a political issue. They don't like taxes, traffic laws, child support obligations or banking practices, but they are too impatient to try to change what they dislike through traditional, political means.
dhol82
(9,353 posts)Nevernose
(13,081 posts)Or marching with the Tea Party, and even with racist Socereign Citizen groups. They're "the good ones" though, so not a lot of racism is directly aimed at them. Neither monorities nor racists are monolithic; there's a lot of nuance sometime.
Just wow.
George II
(67,782 posts)"The movement is rooted in racism and anti-Semitism, though most sovereigns, many of whom are African American, are unaware of their beliefs' origins."
https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/ideology/sovereign-citizens-movement
Nevernose
(13,081 posts)I lived with my best friend when I was a young man, and his parents helped found our local militia. If I had a nickel for every time I heard about flags with fringes mean it's a maritime court, or not how not going past the audience seats in a court room meant that the court had no authority over you, I would be a rich, rich man.
A couple of the guest speakers were Art Bell and Bo Grites, of those names ring a bell (both of the live/lived near Las Vegas).
I don't remember any black people at the meetings, but I remember their being an unusually high percentage of third and fourth and more generations of Latinos. My friend's dad -- one of the cofounders -- was Mexican American.
Honestly, though, mostly it was about my friend and I getting high and sitting in the back of the meetings. We coordinated with our pot dealer, on a calendar, so we could get high, sit in the back of the meetings, and snicker at the lunacy.
Person 2713
(3,263 posts)Nevernose
(13,081 posts)The people who took over the Malheur Wildlife Refuge.
If true, unexpected and weird. I mean, they've only got like four black members.
RandiFan1290
(6,242 posts)Just like Jerad and Amanda Miller did after hanging out at the ranch with the Bundys.
enough
(13,262 posts)George II
(67,782 posts)KingFlorez
(12,689 posts)This was a long time ago when Obama's first term was just beginning. DHS backed off the report when conservatives threw a fit, but incidents like this one show that the report included accurate warnings. Far-right extremists hate police officers, but those extremists can fly far under the radar because they are often white.
MagickMuffin
(15,952 posts)I believe the CPU chief needs to apologize for his reckless comments. The police unions really need to place the blame where it belongs and take responsibility for their LEO's actions that lead to the deaths of innocent unarmed citizens.
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, as well as the Cleveland police union chief Steve Loomis, both blamed the president for the shootings on Sunday.
No, chief you are to blame. Be a man and put on your big boy pants and own to your bigotry!
Dreamer Tatum
(10,926 posts)Quite.
pnwmom
(108,994 posts)Dreamer Tatum
(10,926 posts)If you look, you'll find.
pnwmom
(108,994 posts)So what are you talking about?
Dreamer Tatum
(10,926 posts)grossproffit
(5,591 posts)oberliner
(58,724 posts)And the article says a "person of interest" was affiliated with that group, not the shooter (according to one reporter, with no confirmation or evidence provided).
B2G
(9,766 posts)Dreamer Tatum
(10,926 posts)Kingofalldems
(38,475 posts)Dreamer Tatum
(10,926 posts)I don't require spinning.
Kingofalldems
(38,475 posts)grossproffit
(5,591 posts)KMOD
(7,906 posts)Not sure what you think people are hoping for.
Crepuscular
(1,057 posts)If the shooter is the same guy as featured on the you tube feed linked above, he said that he was a former member of the Nation of Islam but that he was no longer affiliated with them or any other group.
Travis_0004
(5,417 posts)Dreamer Tatum
(10,926 posts)As we all know, leaving a group completely absolves you of any adherence you may have had to any tenets, activities, or exploits of that group.
That's a law that was written about 20 minutes ago, apparently.
Kingofalldems
(38,475 posts)I see you go after DUers about this subject. Attack attack attack. And sarcasm.
What should the US do?
seabeyond
(110,159 posts)People who are telling you facts.
Interesting.
Me? I am listening to everyone before jumping on an agenda.
Dreamer Tatum
(10,926 posts)I accept them.
Others don't: when the prevailing theory was that he was in the Sov Citizen movement, it was RW this and RW that. I didn't say a word until the YouTube stuff became apparent and the narrative has shifted from the shooter as a RW loon to a mentally ill man. Funny how fast the sands shift.
I'm simply scared that this will happen many more times before it stops happening. And yes, I am also afraid that some murderous cop will kill another unarmed man and the pot will be stirred even more.
KMOD
(7,906 posts)he said former member, and "do not associate me with them."
He also shows clear signs of mental illness.
Edit to add: I'm referring to the person in the video.
B2G
(9,766 posts)He sounds completely lucid.
KMOD
(7,906 posts)GusBob
(7,286 posts)The guy never shut up once
He's manic
KMOD
(7,906 posts)I also noticed that most of his tweets had little or no reaction. No likes, no responses.