Three alleged “sovereign citizens” accused of possessing firearms, ammunition and improvised explosive devices were arrested over the weekend in California desert communities, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said Sunday.
On Saturday, deputies were patrolling near the intersection of Twentynine Palms Highway and Old Woman Springs Road in Yucca Valley, near Joshua Tree National Park, when a deputy conducted a traffic stop on a white Ford Taurus for suspected vehicle code violations, the Sheriff’s Department said in a news release.
The driver, who was identified as David Russell, 46, and his passenger, Jeffrey Russell, 50, both of Johnson Valley, claimed to the deputies that they were sovereign citizens, authorities said. Sovereign citizens believe they are not under the jurisdiction of the federal government and consider themselves exempt from U.S. law., according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. The center tracks extremist groups.
