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Was Trump gun suspect Vem Miller a ‘sovereign citizen’?

Vaseline October 14, 2024

Vem Miller, the Nevada man arrested at a checkpoint in Southern California allegedly on his way to a Donald Trump campaign rally, was linked to a far-right movement called the Sovereign Citizens, according to the local sheriff.

Miller was arrested after police officers questioned him at a checkpoint and noticed that his vehicle had an irregular license plate number. The license plate was “homemade and indicative of a group of individuals claiming to be sovereign citizens,” Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco told reporters on Sunday.

The Secret Service and other federal agencies said Trump was never in danger. Miller was released on $5,000 bail.

But what is the Sovereign Citizen movement? And why might the police be concerned about someone associated with the group?

More: Trump was not in danger from an armed man at the California rally, officials say

Who are the sovereign citizens?

The Sovereign Citizen movement is a diverse collection of thousands, if not tens of thousands, of anti-government radicals who believe they are not subject to local or national laws or authorities. For example, many sovereign citizens believe that they should not have to pay taxes, and there have been several high-profile examples of members of the movement arguing their case – unsuccessfully – in court.

Unlike an organized group or organization like the Oath Keepers or the Proud Boys, Sovereign Citizens are very much a “movement,” says Mark Pitcavage, a senior research fellow at the Anti Defamation League’s Center on Extremism.

More: Suspect arrested on gun charges near Trump rally released

“They are very anti-authoritarian,” Pitcavage said. “They don’t like it when someone tells them to do something they don’t want to do, they don’t like any kind of authority.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Sunday that “the U.S. Secret Service assesses that the incident did not impact protective operations and that former President Trump was not in any danger.”

But members of the Sovereign Citizen movement have been involved in acts of anti-government violence. In 2010, a father and son team of self-proclaimed sovereign citizens shot and killed two police officers during a traffic stop in Arkansas before being shot.

The Sovereign Citizen movement grew under Trump

Although not affiliated with any particular party due to their eschewing of politics, the Sovereign Citizen movement has expanded and attracted new members during the era of former President Donald Trump.

According to a recent report from the ADL’s Center on Extremism, the Sovereign Citizen movement has grown in recent years “by appealing to new audiences, including anti-vaxxers, QAnon adherents and MAGA supporters.”

“The movement has also spread extensively in prisons across the country. Sovereign citizens have also increased their international presence, spreading to a number of countries around the world,” the ADL briefing said.

The movement, which began to grow in popularity in the late 1970s, is inspired and promoted by “gurus” and sovereign citizen leaders across the country, many of whom espouse various legal and philosophical theories related to the general anti-government ethos, Pitcavage said.

“You can find them all over the country,” he said. “It’s a pretty big movement.”