What is the global ‘sovereign citizen’ movement and why is it so strong in Australia?

Why the sovereign citizen movement is no longer a fringe curiosity

The shooting in Porepunkah shows how sovereign citizens have become an influential faction of Australia’s far right.

“Sovereign Citizen” Kills Police Officers in Australia During a Raid on His Property

Dezi Bird Freeman, 56, is the subject of a major manhunt in Victoria, Australia, after allegedly killing two police officers and injuring a third during a raid on his property.

What is the global ‘sovereign citizen’ movement and why is it so strong in Australia?

Sovereign citizens believe they are separate from the countries they live in and the law does not apply to them

The everyday threat of sovereign-citizen pseudolaw • Harry Hobbs & Stephen Young

This week’s shocking violence in the small Victorian town of Porepunkah has shone a spotlight on the potential threats to police posed by “sovereign citizens.” But this movement has a much broader reach. From family law disputes to local council meetings, its adherents do their best to frustrate and delegitimise the state and its legal institutions — police, parliament, local councils — and even to replace public institutions with their own. “So…