‘Sovereign Citizen’ David Myrland Sentenced To Federal Prison For Threats; U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan Lauds Mayor, City Officials Of Kirkland, Wash., For Courage During Sustained Intimidation Campaign
EDITOR’S NOTE: If Kirkland’s name sounds familiar to you — but you can’t quite place it — think about two of America’s great national pastimes: baseball and building things. Indeed, the city produced the 1982 Little League World Series champs, carding a thrilling win over a team from Taiwan, a youth-baseball powerhouse. Kirkland’s team became a source of tremendous U.S. pride, motivating the nation’s middle-schoolers to pursue excellence.
The Kirkland team further was immortalized by legendary sportscaster Jim McKay in the “thrill of victory” clip on ABC’s “Wide World of Sports.” (The joyous “thrill of victory” clip featuring the Kirkland team was juxtaposed against the program’s signature “agony of defeat” clip showing ski-jumper Vinko Bogataj’s jarring ramp crash at a competition in West Germany in 1970.)
Kirkland also is the home of Kenworth Truck Co., a renown nameplate whose parent firm, PACCAR, is a Fortune 500 company with 17,700 employees. (Source: 2010 annual report.) PACCAR and its subsidiaries, including Kenworth, create tens of thousands of ancillary jobs in the United States. In short, Kirkland is about excellence — and employment across America.
That Kirkland, a city that motivated young people to pursue excellence and has contributed so much to U.S. commerce and the building/rebuilding of the vital infrastructure of the United States, was subjected to a series of ugly, life-altering incidents by the “sovereign citizen movement” should be a subject of great introspection for all Americans . . .
“For too long Kirkland Mayor Joan McBride and other city officials have had to live with the specter of Mr. Myrland’s armed associates invading their homes. I applaud the courage of the mayor and her officers who appeared at the sentencing hearing today and described how this defendant’s selfish campaign of threats and quasi legal filings has altered their lives.” — U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan, Western District of Washington, Dec. 2, 2011
Mayor Joan McBride
UPDATED 2:03 P.M. ET (U.S.A.) David Russell Myrland, a Washington state “sovereign citizen” whose name is referenced in the criminal complaint filed Nov. 21 against AdSurfDaily figure Kenneth Wayne Leaming, has been sentenced to 40 months in federal prison for threatening the mayor of the Seattle suburb of Kirkland.
But Mayor Joan McBride, according to federal prosecutors, was not the only target of Myrland’s sustained intimidation campaign, which began in April 2010 with a garden-variety traffic stop by police and evolved into a stupefying drama that will live in infamy.
Myrland, 53, was pulled over for driving without a license plate. A police officer at the scene discovered he also had no driver’s license — though Myrland insisted it didn’t matter because “he was not subject to Washington State laws regarding driving,” federal prosecutors said.
If Myrland were arrested, prosecutors said he insisted, Myrland would become “constitutionally authorized to come to the officer’s residence and ‘arrest’ the officer” — and would be permitted to use “deadly force.”
McBride received a letter from Myrland telling her that 50 “armed men and women” would appear at her home to arrest her, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported. The mayor, according to the Post-Intelligencer, was advised to facilitate her arrest by not locking her doors.
“DO NOT RESIST as these Citizens will be heavily armed,” the letter read in part, according to the Post-Intelligencer.
U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan applauded Kirkland Mayor Joan McBride and city officials for their courage in the face of threats from purported "sovereign citizens."
“Our cherished right to free speech does not extend to the freedom to make threats against our public officials and law enforcement officers,” said U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan of the Western District of Washington.
Other Kirkland officials also were threatened by Myrland, Durkan’s office said yesterday in a statement.
In September 2010, Myrland “sent emails and placed calls” to Kirkland officials urging them to “keep their doors unlocked,” because they were going to be arrested and “should not resist,” prosecutors said.
Myrland initially was arrested on state charges, but not even his arrest stopped the intimidation campaign. Federal prosecutors filed charges “after his associates continued to send letters to local officials referencing the use of ‘deadly force’ to apprehend a ‘fleeing felon’ such as Kirkland city leaders,” Durkan’s office said.
During the probe, investigators linked Myrland to an “Assembly” of sovereign citizens with an “armed wing” known as the “County Rangers,” prosecutors said yesterday.
Leaming has been linked to the same groups, the FBI said last month. Leaming, 55, of the Pierce County, Wash., community of Spanaway, is accused of filing bogus liens in Washington state against at least five public officials involved in the ASD Ponzi case in the District of Columbia — nearly 3,000 miles away.
Among the allegations against Leaming is that he discussed a plan by which he’d serve U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts with a writ through the school his preteen children attend.
U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez told Myrland at his sentencing yesterday that the law “applies to everyone,” as do “the consequences of breaking the law,” prosecutors said.
Whether Myrland, who also was ordered to pay Kirkland $1,961 for “police overtime costs” because of his threats and will be placed on supervised probation for three years after his prison release, got the message is an open question.
“He continues to this day to apparently believe that he was in the right, and everyone else is in the wrong,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memo. “Despite his guilty plea, he continues to argue that he had a legal right to make the threats he made; that they were not legally threats; and that he was in the right in virtually every respect.”
Leaming repeatedly violated his probation after an earlier arrest for piloting an airplane without a license, the FBI said last month.
These people are, in essence, committing acts that could be called Domestic Terrorism. Freedom of Speech does not give anyone the freedom to threaten, intimidate or frighten. I see VERY little, if any, difference between these people and foreign terrorists.
Well, number of teeth and use of shoes…..
OMG, it’s a good thing I wasn’t drinking anything or I would have ruined a monitor and keyboard, and I would still be cleaning up my desk. Why does bib overalls and plaid shirts come to mind?
In case anyone wants to view the made-up documents, you can find them here:
http://www.kirklandviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Myrland-email-to-McBride.pdf
well, if you printed them on soft enough paper they’d at least be good for something…! On second thought, the idea of black ink on my tushy….!
Goodness,
don’t you guys have involuntary commitment laws over there ??
LRM,
There isn’t sufficient space to house the growing number of loonies. As with the prison system, there would be overcrowding and the chance they might become even less stable when listening to the delusions of others. Besides, they are immune to all laws except their own.
I’ve long advocated a policy whereby anyone who goes into a US court claiming to not be subject to the law because they are not a US Citizen be immediately deported. If they can’t provide a an earthly place of citizenship to be deported to, the default should be to drop them and their possessions off at the dock in Somalia, or Gilligan’s Island.
And over in the Yahoo group devoted to discussion and application of Myrland’s methods, a raving hooligan named Luis Ewing is ranting today against Social Security numbers, claiming that the US courts are subjecting civilians to court martials, and similar sovereign citizen claptrap.
When will these people learn that the world doesn’t revolve around them and their mythology?
[…] involved in the prosecution of a number of purported “sovereign citizens,” including David Russell Myrland. Myrland was convicted last year on charges of threatening the mayor and officials of the Seattle […]
Yes the world revolves around u and your mythology
Not sure where Bob’s comment is coming from but congratz to Mr. Myrland, as of yesterday he’s no longer inmate number 40941-086. Now he’s “sovereign” enough to go where he wants, sleep when he wants and eat what he wants. The bad news for him is, tax payers will no longer be paying for those things.
Don’t worry, I’m sure fund raising emails are being composed as we speak.
Only fair, let Myrland’s small handful of supports pick up his tab again.
You people are so ignorant it is not funny…Number one transportation laws are based on commerce as is driving, operating, passenger…. Number 2 Mr. Myrland is in no way a sovereign Citizen, as that is an oxymoron of the highest sophistry…. Sovereign and Citizen are completely diametric opposites… so this was a label attached to him by someone else, as he has been studying law and words for a long time…. If these public trustees are refusing to do their sworn duties they deserved threats and they were refusing to serve justice and right… I’ve had none of the states paperwork on my private auto since 2007, as a man, I have no obligation to….and I’ve never been to court over it, because there is not standing to charge me with anything…. You guys keep up your lies, fraud and crimes against folks the worse and more treasonous you get, the quicker you wake the people… Your time is coming….
For readers who may not know the definition of “sophistry,” it is explained in this story:
https://patrickpretty.com/2012/09/28/month-after-zeek-ponzi-complaint-by-sec-asd-figures-and-zeek-pitchmen-todd-disner-and-dwight-owen-schweitzer-accuse-judge-who-dismissed-their-asd-related-lawsuit-of-sophistry-duo-tries-to-reop/
As for putting stock in anything “JamesMichael” has to say, well, caution is duly advised.
Some readers may benefit from this story:
https://patrickpretty.com/2013/02/13/judge-all-the-fancy-legal-sounding-things-asd-figure-kenneth-wayne-leaming-has-read-on-the-internet-are-make-believe/
And this one:
https://patrickpretty.com/2013/07/27/chicago-tribune-judge-to-purported-sovereign-i-hesitate-to-rank-your-statements-in-order-of-just-how-bizarre-they-are/
You’re done here, “JamesMichael.”
Patrick
Only two questions i have; what is the legal definition of the following words:
1) US citizen
2) driving/driver
The uneducated sheep rave on. Myrland has, for the past 20 years or so, studied fervently as to who he is and who the govt. is. Much to the dismay of of all you yokels who can only parrot the crap that comes to the minds of the ignorant, it would be wise to learn just a bit more about how you have been enslaved by a criminal bankster element before condemning someone who has spent a great deal of time and energy trying to figure out how we have been swindled out of our true heritage.
As to Mark’s 2 questions I submit:
1) U.S. citizen: a resident alien of the corporate UNITED STATES.
My question is, just how does a living man become a U.S. citizen since U.S. citizenship is relegated to ‘persons’? A ‘person’ is always a legal fiction just like the govt. itself. Now if you don’t comprehend the difference between a living man and a legal fiction then perhaps you should just stay blissfully ignorant and continue your blather regarding people who have, at great expense, taken it upon themselves to enlighten those who have open minds and are not committed to believing everything they hear on fox News or any of the other controlled media outlets.
It is quite obvious to even a casual observer that this is not the government that was set up by our forefathers as the greatest experiment in freedom the world had ever witnessed. Something has gone horribly wrong here and it has come to us from that cabal of international banksters who have hi-jacked our republic and replaced it with a Democracy or whatever they have chosen to call it.
It is absolutely impossible for any living being to be a U.S. citizen. The only ‘person’ who can be a U.S. citizen are the ‘straw men’ that govt. created and attached to each living man without his knowledge and consent. Now for those of you who just like to beat your gums about anyone who doesn’t see things your way, perhaps you should take a look at your driver’s license, credit cards, checking account and every other item that comes from govt. or a govt. sanctioned corporation and see the NAME written thereon. Notice that it is in ALL CAPS letters.
If you were really interested in learning the truth you ought to go online and start your own study as to why nothing is in the correct spelling of your appellation [a name is that which an owner gives his property. Things have names. People have appellations–what they are called by.
2). driving/Driver: driving is a commercial activity. Transporting goods and passengers for hire. Delve into the federal definitions of ‘driving/driver’ and you will find that to be the case. If you are not carrying goods or passengers for hire then you are involved in the practice of traveling which is a right to use the public right-of-ways by the public un-encumbered. Yes, that just happens to be a natural right that is protected by the constitution.
By the way, every State [all the original state governments were converted to sub-corporations of the federal govt. under the Reconstructions Acts after the Civil War] has signed the Motor Vehicle Pact in order to receive federal highway tax dollars. They are bound to observe the above definitions of U.S. citizen and driving/driver under that so-called law.