California Man Caught With Explosives May Be ‘Sovereign Citizen’
A man who was found with more than 145 pounds of explosives in Brisbane, Calif., might have connections to the antigovernment ‘sovereign citizens’ movement, an extremist ideology whose adherents believe they don’t have to obey most laws or pay taxes.
Police said William Harrell, 46, completed a Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) filing in Kentucky that listed himself as a debtor to himself in 2010, a tactic used by some sovereigns in an attempt to free themselves of financial obligations. Yet investigators remain unsure whether Harrell is a true believer in the ideology, or rather someone who has merely dabbled in sovereign tactics.
‘There is nothing independent of the UCC filing indicating he was part of any organization,’ Brisbane Police Cmdr. Bob Meisner told Hatewatch.
Police found the explosives earlier this month in the apartment Harrell shared with his girlfriend and her two children. Officers responded to a report of a domestic argument, and as Harrell began to leave, his girlfriend showed officers a locked closet, which she believed may have contained guns, the San Mateo County Times reported.
Inside, police found 145 pounds of explosives, mostly dynamite, a pound of marijuana and $37,000.