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Tag: Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office

  • Purported Florida ‘Sovereign Citizen’ And Convicted Felon Charged With Having Gun On Property Of Middle School

    Bruce C. Hicks: Source: Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, via Twitter.
    Bruce C. Hicks: Source: Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, via Twitter.

    Purported Florida “sovereign citizen” Bruce Chalmers Hicks was arrested by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office after he was seen carrying a sidearm and stepped on the property of Turkey Creek Middle School near Plant City, authorities said. Plant City is situated in the Greater Tampa region.

    Hicks, 46, was arrested Thursday and is being held by the Hillsborough Department of Detention Services. Bond was set at $9,750, according to his booking sheet. He is charged with possession of a firearm on school property, felon in possession of a firearm and the open carrying of a weapon. The sheriff’s office announced the arrest on Twitter.

    The Tampa Bay Times is reporting that Hicks served seven years in prison after his 2004 conviction for molesting a child under the age of 12.

    From the Times (italics added):

    Hicks’ name may be familiar to many local elected officials because, according to court records, he has sued many of them.

    From Brandon Patch (italics added):

    “Upon initial contact with Hicks, he stated there was a $250 fine for every
    fifteen minutes of unlawful detention,” according to the report. “He stated that he is a sovereign citizen and is not subject to the laws of the United States or Hillsborough County. Deputy Diaz asked him if he was carrying a firearm and Hicks stated that he was and repeated that he was not subject to laws.”

    “Sovereign citizens” may have an irrational belief that laws do not apply to them and have been known to engage in “paper terrorism” — the filing of vexatious lawsuits against public officials and litigation opponents. Whether Hicks somehow believed he could make his felonious history go away and regain a right to possess firearms simply by declaring himself “sovereign” was not immediately clear.

    In Washington state, AdSurfDaily story figure and purported “sovereign citizen” Kenneth Wayne Leaming — himself a convicted felon charged with possessing firearms — now is claiming a federal judge owes him 208,000 ounces of fine silver. Like other “sovereigns,” he is claiming unlawful detention.

    Leaming, 57, was convicted earlier this year on the firearms charges. In the same case, he was convicted on charges of filing bogus liens for billions of dollars against public officials involved in the ASD Ponzi case. Leaming’s previous conviction was for holding no license when piloting an aircraft.

    News of the arrest of Hicks came on the same day that the Pensacola News Journal reported that three officers had been cleared of the March shooting death of purported Florida  “sovereign citizen” Jeffrey A. Wright.

    Wright, 55, was wanted on warrants for counterfeiting and pointed a pistol at a SWAT Team, the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office said.

  • BULLETIN: Purported ‘Sovereign Citizen’ Shot And Killed In Florida After Pointing Pistol At SWAT Team Members, Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office Says

    americaatrisk4BULLETIN: Jeffrey Allen Wright, a purported “sovereign citizen” wanted on arrest warrants for counterfeiting, was shot and killed March 8 after pointing a pistol at a Sheriff’s SWAT Team in Navarre, Fla., the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office said.

    Wright, 55, had previous clashes with the Sheriff’s Office, the agency said.

    From a statement by the Sheriff’s Office (Italics added):

    The warrants for Wright’s arrest were for five counts of Counterfeiting, and five counts of Passing a Counterfeit Bill (both 3rd degree felonies). Wright has had confrontations in the past with the Sheriff’s Office, claiming that he is a “Sovereign Citizen” and denounced his United States Citizenship.

    Wright has also told the Sheriff’s Office that he does not acknowledge State Laws and that he doesn’t have to comply with law enforcement because their requests are “unlawful”. Due to Wright’s perception of law enforcement, numerous deputies went to his residence to facilitate the arrest. When Wright was encountered by deputies, Wright produced a black object from his pocket, appearing to be a firearm, and concealed it behind his back. Wright then fled into the garage area and went up the stairs to the second floor. Wright then began to barricade the stairway so that deputies could not approach.

    Wright then discharged a firearm one time. Wright made statements that he was “not a U.S. citizen, but a sovereign citizen, and that he would not be a servant of the king”. Wright also stated that if any deputies came up the stairwell, they would “not come back down”. Wright also stated that if deputies “if you ever want to see your families again, you will leave”.

    Deputies withdrew from the immediate area and called a SWAT Team and negotiators, the Sheriff’s Office said.

    “Wright refused to continue conversing with negotiators, and continued to state that deputies would have to ‘come up and get me,’” the agency said. “As the situation progressed, and due to Wright being armed, the SWAT team deployed gas into the second story of the garage. Wright was continuously given commands to come out, unarmed; however Wright would continue to yell ‘come and get me.’

    Matters then turned even worse, the agency said.

    “Wright then began to break out windows with a semi-automatic pistol,” the Sheriff’s Office said. “Wright then went to the top of the stairwell and began to remove the items he had used to barricade the entrance. Wright sat down at the top of the stairs, holding a handgun. While refusing to obey lawful commands to surrender, Wright raised the pistol and pointed it directly at SWAT team members at the bottom of the stairwell. Due to there being a great danger of being shot, three SWAT deputies simultaneously discharged their firearms at Wright.”

    The purported “sovereign” was pronounced dead at the scene.

    As is typical in officer-involved shootings, the three deputies have been placed on paid administrative leave, the agency said.

    The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) is conducting an investigation, the sheriff’s office said.