Sovereign Citizens Try To Steal Woman's New House, Claiming It's Theirs

[Nevilledog]

https://www.wonkette.com/sovereign-citizens-try-to-steal-womans-newly-bought-house-claiming-its-theirs

We've all heard stories about the strange things sovereign citizens try to get away with or think they should be able to get away with — stealing vaccines, not wearing masks, killing cops, paper terrorism, not paying taxes, trying to access their imaginary straw man bank accounts that exist under their names BUT IN ALL CAPS. But apparently they are also very into trying to steal people's houses.

This weekend, TikTok user Shanetta, or @regblackgrl, published an absolutely riveting account of her interactions with a group of Moorish sovereign citizens who kept trying to steal the house she recently purchased, claiming they owned it as part of their "ancestral estate" and going so far as to actually break in and change the locks. Because it's TikTok and the videos are only allowed to be like a minute long, it is a 49-part series (plus more videos in a Q&A series). I watched the whole damn thing.

Here's what happened. Shanetta bought this house, but didn't move in right away because she had to do renovations. In May, she got a few letters from the Al Moroccan Empire Consulate at New Jersey saying she has to relinquish her new property because someone from there claims it as their "ancestral estate." She informed her lawyer, who told her it was bullshit. But then she went to her new house one day in June and found that a small group of men had broken in and changed the locks and some random guy had just ... moved right in.

So she called the cops.

Via Daily Dot:

When confronted by responding officers, Shanetta said the group of men presented documents similar to what she received in the mail, claiming that the house was the occupying man's ancestral home. The sergeant on-duty called the documents "bullshit," Shanetta said, with the tell-tale sign being that the public officials addressed in the papers had been out of office for some time. The man claimed to be a Moorish Sovereign Citizen, and said that he was not subject to local or federal law.

*snip*

[Thomas Hurt]

1. Most of them are con artists, frauds and blackmailers who think they are feudal lords.

[niyad]

3. I know one, and she is non of those things. But she does have a tendency to believe

some very odd things.

[niyad]

2. Geez, the sovereign citizens had been quiet for a time, had not heard any of their bs

lately,

[obamanut2012]

9. Many insurrectionists are these grifters and tax evaders

Including one yesterday who screamed at the judge about how the court had no authority over them.

[Dial H For Hero]

4. I've read about Moorish Sovereign Citizens before. They are, if anything, worse than "typical"

sovereign citizens, which is quite a trick, in that in addition to ignoring any law they're not fond of, they like to attempt to take over other people's property. As the article points out, it never works....and yet they keep trying.

[GulfCoast66]

5. WTF? I would not need the cops.

I’d throw the motherfucker out on his ass.

[Calista241]

14. You would Go Directly to Jail

Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect $200.

From the cops POV, they have documents, you have documents. After you get arrested, you'd have a police report saying you assaulted them at the property. You'd have a restraining order preventing you from coming within 1000' of them.

You'd have to sue and evict them, which is not a trivial or easy process. Welcome to paying rent somewhere else, and paying your mortgage, and lawyer fees. There's also an eviction moratorium going on. In 6-8 months or longer, you might be able to move in.

These people have done this before, and they'll have all sorts of legal documents and shit ready for when you make your next filing in court. They'll have the receipt for the locksmith, power, internet, water, and all kinds of shit ready to prove habitation. They can also game up a document that you 'signed' saying you allowed them to inhabit the property.

[RainCaster]

6. Is NJ a "stand your ground" state?

They wouldn't pull this shit again...

[windje]

8. NJ is not a stand your ground state. Your duty is to retreat.

The bad guys will sue you and win if you 'stand your ground'.

[obamanut2012]

10. The homeowner would go to prison in NJ if she defended her home

From these criminals.

[ZonkerHarris]

12. only if she's caught.

[ZonkerHarris]

7. It's Jersey. Those guys are lucky they didn't wind up buried in the ancestral Pine Barrens

because if they pulled that on me the cops would not be able save them.

[harumph]

11. I know right?

Keep those big construction cleanup bags handy.

[Aristus]

13. Sovereign citizen nonsense is simply the most smug and vacuous form of

libertarianism.

I have the freedom to do anything, and no responsibility to anyone or anything.

Sovereign citizens are basically toddlers...