New Jersey home commandeered by 'sovereign citizens' of Al Moroccan Empire'
By: Stephanie Pagones (Fox News)
And then stuff like this happens. But it's not national news because it can't be used to push concocted academic social engineering theories.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
A group of four men who said they were "sovereign citizens of the Al Moroccan Empire" took up ownership of a New Jersey home and claimed the property was rightfully theirs given their status, local police recently said.
Huber A. John, 39, was arrested on June 17 and charged with criminal mischief, burglary, criminal trespass and terroristic threats after he allegedly took over a vacant Newark, New Jersey, home with three other men, the Newark Department of Public Safety said Tuesday.
Police said the legitimate homeowner reported a burglary at the Ivy Street address around 12 p.m. on June 17, when she told authorities that "four males that she did not know were claiming to have legal residency of her vacant property and had changed the locks."
Police said the woman went to the home with a locksmith, but they were stopped by the strangers, "who presented paperwork indicating they held legal residency."
Officers who arrived on the scene confirmed that the victim bought the home in February 2021. The home was vacant and she was getting ready to renovate it, police said.
Hubert John, 39 (Newark Department of Public Safety) (Newark Department of Public Safety)
"Police requested the documentation from the four suspects, who claimed to be sovereign citizens of the Al Moroccan Empire and that their status permitted them access to the property," police said.
The quartet followed officers' orders to leave the property. But soon after, at 2:40 p.m., John returned and was able to get back inside before the victim was able to have the locks changed.
John, who is originally from Los Angeles, "used a key and entered the home before placing a Moorish flag in the window," police said.
"The Newark Police SWAT team was deployed because the suspect refused to leave and was claiming that he was rightfully in possession of the home," Director of Public Safety Brian O'Hara told PEOPLE. "The suspect was essentially a squatter in a vacant home who had the locks changed."
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, "Members of the Moorish sovereigns, called Moors, have come into conflict with federal and state authorities over their refusal to obey laws and government regulations ... Moorish sovereigns espouse an interpretation of sovereign doctrine that African Americans constitute an elite class within American society with special rights and privileges that convey on them a sovereign immunity placing them beyond federal and state authority."
John was ultimately taken into custody without incident.
According to the PEOPLE report, the legitimate owner of the home chronicled the experience in a series of TikTok videos, telling viewers in one: "I was randomly but not randomly targeted by a terrorist group that doesn't solve or follow any of our rules, and would be violent in efforts to steal my house."
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Doesn't fit the academic narrative of 'whiteness'. Nothing to see here.
Okay there Nerm.
I suspect the reaction would be quite different if the guy was part of a group that 'espouses an interpretation of sovereign doctrine that White Americans constitute an elite class within American society with special rights and privileges that convey on them a sovereign immunity placing them beyond federal and state authority'.
Since the guy ain't white, he's a kook. If the guy was white, he'd be an example of white supremacy and pose an existential threat to democracy.
You come off sounding more aggrieved than any thing else. Why?! After all the hundreds of years some white conservatives have put other people through the 'grinder of life' - how the hell do some conservatives get to be aggrieved?
Or, is this an indication of how aggrieved you feel when somebody 'f's you back. Now, you bottom lip is stuck out? What's up with that, Nerm?
Sovereign citizens of all kinds don't want to play by established rules-and all civilizations have rules. So yes, these guys and gals are kooks, plus!
Your trope misses. And by missing, scores my point. The guy in the story is a kook because he's not white. But a kooky white guy represents all whites; particularly, as your trope suggests, aggrieved conservatives. That's the trope you are trying to present.
Sovereign citizens are many things but conservative isn't one of them. Sovereigns claim the maximum individual freedom from institutional and social restraints. Defending established rules is quite conservative.
The story is about an interpretation of sovereign doctrine that a group constitutes an elite class within American society with special rights and privileges that convey on them a sovereign immunity placing them beyond federal and state authority. If the group is made up of non-white people then they are just crazy. If the group is made up of white people then they are terrorists attacking democracy and what the United States stands for.
The contrast in how people react to the story really is as stark as black and white.
They give themselves away every time CB.
The intent of this seed is to express white grievance.
Or has Nerm posted previous seeds about the run of the mill "sovereign citizens" who have been going at it for decades?
Nerm should do an article on the Bundy Bunch and their takeover of the reserve in OR. Or their bullshit in Las Vegas.
Nope, a story about a couple of nuts cases that means nothing.
... and there it is.
Some stories deserve artificial respiration, this is not one of them.
You lump all reactions into the same ball? All reactions are the same? Nothing could be farther from the truth! Getting to your narrow point:
This statement goes to the taking of property and is not definitively racist. This statement from your article 'capture':
Is relevant to your point, but comes at the tail end of the article and is something of a 'throw-away' line without any substance to back it up.
Now this from the Southern Poverty Law Center , though not a part of your article capture or the Fox News article is more to the point you're speaking about:
The article above goes into greater detail about the founder espousing views of "white devils" and blood and violence. Anyone interested can read the link for himself or herself.
In conclusion , this group 'Moorish sovereigns, like other sovereign groups, meets the criteria to be a hateful terrorist group. In addition, when they are not killing officials (like other sovereign groups tend to do too), they are "crazies plus " in taking over highly lucrative properties (at no cost).
Lastly Nerm, it is essential that when you throw out a grievance point that you back that point up with facts (or 'something') to alert the reader/commenter as to what your basis is. Do not assume I, we, 'blacks' or other 'whites' know the ins and outs of all these dynamic players in our country! In my case, this group of people and their background is new to me and required "investigation" to get even mildly informed as to their doings.
See @1.1.8 below.
Your point is taken, nevertheless. Fox News is infamous for its support of the Bundy's (Libertarians) against the Bureau of Land Management (Government). And, they supplied this "nuggett" for pickup and comment.
See @1.1.8 below please. I better understand Nerm's point about terrorist tendencies of this group of Moors for the reasons I specify in my comment. (Smile.)
In conclusion, take @1.1.8 or leave it.
No. The point I'm making is that all reactions are not the same. Read the comments posted for this seed.
We've seen stories about white sovereign citizens and we've seen the reaction to those stories. But the reaction to this story is different, isn't it? The reaction to this story really does indicate that people of color are held to a different standard.
How do we overcome something like systemic racism when people of color are held to a different standard?
Please. The Bundy bunch had been squatting for years and had rifles aimed at federal officers. They took over and vandalized the Malheur National Wildlife Preserve.
And they were acquitted.
Ammon Bundy is now running for governor of Idaho.
The folks in your example are in jail.
Different standards, indeed.
That is the point: You have on display a diversity of opinions in the comments. I, for one, have for all intents and purposes condemned these individuals and the group for its crazy views and terrorist practices (see my comments) and others here may take a different approach entirely their own. Therefore, you can not make a blanket statement that a standard is ignored.
Of course, there are variations, degrees, and depths to every story, for that reason, not all stories are going to be treated the same. At the least we hope for equity, at the best we can want justice in the offing.
You are asking how to overcome systemic racism when people of color are held to a different standard? That takes gall. Conservative politics is foundational to systemic racism and "differing standards, " nevertheless.
To 'tackle' the question let me ask you one? When does a citizen of this country become vested with all rights and privileges of the U.S. of A? Answer that question in full and you may be able to understand why courts in delivering equity and/or justice deploy the law differently across racial and ethnic groups.
Squatters, big deal.
This has been going on for decades under the guise of Squatter's Rights. "Nothing to see here."
All squatters have squirrely excuses for their shit.
Most are mental or drug and alcohol dependent...
These clowns, and other "sovereign citizens" are a growing problem.
They are indeed. I have been super critical of the sovereign citizen crap from the very first time I heard about it. They are just a bunch of assholes who think they should be able to do whatever they want, but what do you wanna bet they expect the rest of society to still provide them all the same accommodations that citizens are entitled to?
I agree. they're making the teabag morons look bad.
so sorry if you were offended by my statement. when have I ever attempted to connect the dots for anyone here? please provide your proof, ...now.
oh dear, was that your hover-round? bummer.
I truly empathize with you, especially here and now.
... stop empathizing with teabag morons? usually I don't. I pity them for their willful ignorance.
Again with your, "Inane"? Why not just admit you are incapable of understanding next time.
not for me, despite another's repeated attempts to deflect and derail. better luck next time.
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In watching the video, it strikes me there are "righteous" times when I can feel for the bull patty law enforcement goes through. A police officer truly comes to work no knowing what type of day or crap s/he will have to put up with. "Lordy" and some days you just might not feel up to having a traumatic "romp" on the grass or cement with some crazed individual/s.
Or having your hip twisted out of place, back muscles pulled taut, or legs "charly-horsed" all in the name of service. Go figure. And worse, just imagine coming to work with a smile on face and laughter in your heart and some loser wants to shoot and kill you over idiotic "sovereign rights."
Sovereign citizen bullshit. Get the fuck outta here with that garbage.
I have an observation . If these four "sovereign citizens" were white , as most "sovereign citizens" are, this story would not have appeared on Fox News.
Fox News blows a story out of the water if they can come up with a scary foreigner angle to finagle...
...especially with those having darker skin pigment.
It might have appeared if the skin color could be different. It would likely be Fox News "Bundy-ized."
Toss a few flash bang grenades and watch how fast the roaches scatter. Also cut off all utilities.
...introduce a few dozen feral hogs thru the doggie door.
Blast them with music like they did with Noriega.
It's "not national news", but you seeded it from a news source that is broadcast nationally, and the seed contains a link to a magazine sold commonly throughout the nation.
Ok.
It seems you might be trying to impose a different definition for what's "national news" than the generally accepted one, but that's a familiar tactic.
It's all about the scary brown foreigner angle @Fox.
Just goes to show you "crazies" come in all shapes, colors, schemes, and sizes. Pick one!
As the man in the video clip above @5 says, "It's a public relations nightmare." That is, embarrassing for some Blacks, some Moors, and some of the nation.
Lunacy knows no ethnic or color boundaries.
"Special rights and privileges" is said to be given African Americans, other Minorities, LGBTQ, Girls and Women, liberals. . . . nearly any collection of people viewpoints that are not Conservative (or some Conservatives). And we know for sure such groups are not wholly racist or practitioners of racism toward any other group of people!