Waffle House suspect Travis Reinking deemed himself a 'sovereign citizen,' part of anti-government

[ProudLib72]

Link: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/04/22/waffle-house-suspect-travis-reinking-sovereign-citizen/540543002/

The suspected gunman on the run after riddling a Tennessee Waffle House with bullets dubbed himself a "sovereign citizen," before being arrested in July 2017 outside the White House.

Travis Reinking, 29, used that term — which the FBI has also used to describe a group of anti-government extremists — during a clash last year with the Secret Service, according to a police report obtained by USA TODAY.

Reinking told agents he needed to see President Trump and defined himself as sovereign citizen who had a right to inspect the grounds, according to an arrest report by the Metropolitan Police Department in D.C. He was arrested on an unlawful entry charge after refusing to leave the area.

In June 2017, Reinking threatened someone with an AR-15 then drove to a public pool and exposed himself to others, said the USA TODAY Network's Tennessean, citing police records. He has also threatened to kill himself and said he thought singer Taylor Swift was stalking him, according to the Associated Press.

This guy is completely bonkers!

Why does that term "sovereign citizen" keep popping up with these people?

[Roland99]

1. Domestic, angry white man terrorist.

[Initech]

2. It's a fancy way of saying "white male terrorist".

[ProudLib72]

13. You'll find this interesting (if you haven't already seen it) SPLC article

Sovereign Citizens Movement: https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/ideology/sovereign-citizens-movement

The movement is rooted in racism and anti-Semitism, though most sovereigns, many of whom are African American, are unaware of their beliefs' origins. In the early 1980s, the sovereign citizens movement mostly attracted white supremacists and anti-Semites, mainly because sovereign theories originated in groups that saw Jews as working behind the scenes to manipulate financial institutions and control the government. Most early sovereigns, and some of those who are still on the scene believed that being white was a prerequisite to becoming a sovereign citizen. They argued that the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which guaranteed citizenship to African Americans and everyone else born on U.S. soil, also made black Americans permanently subject to federal and state governments, unlike themselves.

[Initech]

18. Back in season 2 of the Top 10, I did "The Sovereign Citizens Movement: How is this still a thing?".

Maybe it's time to revisit that subject!

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10029078775

[ProudLib72]

20. Ach!

embarrassing!

[Hoyt]

3. That kind of ideology, racism, irrational fear,and hatred goes with guns.

[CakeGrrl]

4. He might get away with an insanity defense

But his father should be locked up for returning weapons to him after the WH incident.

[John Fante]

11. If he's on the run, it means he knows what he did is wrong.

Goodbye insanity defense.

[quartz007]

12. Yes, his father must be held accountable

for handing this nut all his guns.

[jberryhill]

5. The term signifies...

...that the person subscribes to a loose collection of crackpot legal theories that have long been a hobby of people who find the actual law to be inconvenient to their preferred lifestyle.

[oasis]

6. Trumpbot, Deplorable, Soverreign Citizen. Same smell.

[DURHAM D]

7. The victims -

Link to tweet

/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.democraticunderground.com%2F%3Fcom%3Dview_post%26forum%3D1002%26pid%3D10527117

[IronLionZion]

24. We know what law enforcement must do but they won't.

and they still haven't caught the guy despite knowing who he is. But instead of these 4 victims of color and the brave hero of color who stopped him, we'll soon hear all about how was such a good kid, good student, no one saw it coming despite his history of armed political violence, he's not political, etc.

[raven mad]

39. .........

I am so SICK of losing our young people to fucking RWNJ's with guns to domestic terrorists whose own fathers are enablers.

James Shaw, Jr., yes, sir you ARE a hero.

[demigoddess]

53. agree on all points.

why is it guns are considered more valuable than our citizens? Why is it wild crazy beliefs are more sacred than our citizens. The dad who gave him the guns should be treated like an accomplice which he probably was in the intent to harm as well.

[guillaumeb]

8. So exposing oneself in public is a part of the Bill of Rights?

I missed that in class.

[ProudLib72]

15. I must remember that for next time!

And they truly believe they can just use this as an excuse for every bad deed from public exposure to murder.

[Virtual Burlesque]

37. The Tenth

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Therefore, it is in the the construed Free Willy clause under the tenth ammendment

[guillaumeb]

50. A marvelous and REVEALING explanation.

So, along with the right to bear arms, we have the right to bare willy?

[C_U_L8R]

51. He gives new meaning to the Free in Freeper

[guillaumeb]

52. Is this a "free willy" reference? eom

[Virtual Burlesque]

55. I Suppose,

It all depends upon the size of the willy you are freeing.

[Virtual Burlesque]

56. Some things can't be said often enough.

But in this case repeating that even once is too much.

[longship]

9. "I do not consent!!!"

Here are a few more non-consenters.

PWNED!!!

Sovereign citizens' sovereignty is overblown.

[Scurrilous]

28. That was hilarious.

Thanks!

[John Fante]

10. Sovereign citizens are a bunch of assholes (almost exclusively right-wing)

who think that, because they never willingly entered an agreement to be governed by the United States, the laws of this country don't apply to them. It's pseudo-legal nonsense of course, but these fucking lunatics don't care.

The FBI considers them domestic terrorists because they're among the biggest troublemakers around.

[Nevernose]

27. You gloss over the most glorious bits of nonsense

Where they stand in the courtroom, how almost all courtrooms are “actually” maritime courts and therefore not valid, the relationship between legal legitimacy and fringe on the flag present in the room. Their commitment to the jurisprudence of random capitalization, the difference between proper nouns and pronouns, how numbers work. The way they obsess over illegally grazing their cattle on federal land. Their willful misunderstanding of even the simplest reading of the constitution — plus the way they quote seemingly random sections, but none of whom have actually read it. It’s all glorious lunacy.

At least until they act on their terrorist impulses. Then it’s not so glorious.

[jmowreader]

34. You missed out on "driver" and "traveler"

Real sovereign citizen thought pattern:

18 USC 31 defines a "motor vehicle" as "every description of carriage or other contrivance propelled or drawn by mechanical power and used for commercial purposes on the highways in the transportation of passengers, passengers and property, or property or cargo." Since that is Federal Law, any "carriage or other contrivance propelled or drawn by mechanical power" that is not being used in commerce is not a motor vehicle. Therefore, driver's licenses, registrations and insurance are not required if you are "traveling" noncommercially, only if you are driving commercially.

They have a massive inventory of case law that supposedly backs up their position, except none of it does.

[Nevernose]

38. I actually HAD forgotten about that craziness

It reminds me of some of their OTHER craziness. Like the fact that they become so obsessed with their Constitutional craziness, they not only don’t understand it, they almost invariably forget that states have them, too.

I was arguing with a supporter IRL of Cliven Bundy not long my ago when he demanded to be shown in the Constitution where it said that the federal government could own property. It’s pretty clear, but he decided that it didn’t apply, because of the tenth amendment.

So I showed him the Nevada Constitution, which quite clearly gives away most of the state’s land to the federal government before any of us were ever born. His reaction was... I really have the words for it. Imagine Buddha laying down for his nap under that tree and waking up enlightened. It was something akin to that, and took several more years of deprogramming in my spare time.

[struggle4progress]

14. "They use the Waffle House to enslave real Americans. They let students

teach our children to be afraid of being gunned down by school shooters. They use their movie stars and singers and comedy shows and award shows to repeat their bloody narrative over and over again. And then they make them write letters to the editor and lobby legislatures, to bully and terrorize law-abiding citizens by threatening to keep guns out of the hands of toddlers and crazed lunatic halfwits — until the only option left to us is to stop the madness by shooting down Waffle House customers! And when that happens, they use it as an excuse to be outraged. The only way we stop this, the only way we save our country and our freedom, is to shoot more people in Waffle Houses! I'm the National Rifle Association of America, and I'm freedom's safest place"

[ProudLib72]

16. I'm afraid to ask

Is this a real quote? I can so picture Dana putting on her serious face to say this.

[struggle4progress]

19. Close enough to real IMO: it's the sort of broadcast she hears through her dental fillings

[world wide wally]

17. As soon as I hear someone use the word "sovereign" I know who and what I am dealing with,

I know that conversation is over because I am dealing with a whacko.

[ProudLib72]

22. What gets me is that he tried to break into the WH last year

and declared himself a sovereign citizen at the time, yet no one really bothered to follow up. Now four people are dead. IMHO this was preventable.

[IronLionZion]

21. Why will people claim he doesn't have a political agenda and is not a terrorist?

oh, I think we all know why

[Takket]

23. Genetics

[ProudLib72]

25. Young white male. Duh!

What I really want to know is, Are these acts a symptom of privilege? Not being called a terrorist is. But the ability to break into the WH lawn, call yourself a sovereign citizen and then have all your guns given back to you. That is something else!

[torius]

26. He'd be welcomed at Starbucks

and given the bathroom code, just like our fellow Murcans gave Spanky the nuclear code!

[DoctorJoJo]

29. I'm Also Guessing That The Tennessee POS Sovereign Citizen ...

... shot mostly, if not all, Black people. Trump must be so proud!

[ProudLib72]

42. Look at Durham D's post above

All four victims were black. So "sovereign citizen" means "white nationalist terrorist'.

[underthematrix]

30. This is the ONLY reason you need to VOTE straight Democratic

Our lives literally depend upon it. Our vote should be to save the lives of our fellow Americans and immigrants.

[justgamma]

31. Remember when the anti-government

duo went from the Bundy ranch to Las Vegas and hunted down and shot those police officers? They killed 5 people.

You know who else hates the US government? The Cons. It's a wonder more people aren't killed because of their language.

[BobTheSubgenius]

32. Sovereign citizen?

The reason you hear that so often in cases like this is because you have to be either crazy or stupid to believe in the concept.

[Honeycombe8]

33. He's got a thing about showing his willie to strangers.

Makes me wonder if it's a marvel or something, the way he wants everyone to see it.

[ProudLib72]

43. OH NO! Now you are curious?!

I think it's just part of showing off that he is male and has power.

[Honeycombe8]

45. It's not that uncommon for criminal males to expose themselves. They love to show their willies.

Think Anthony Weiner. It's a thing. I've been exposed to that sort of thing at least twice. Oops, correction: I remember a third time. Men have been arrested for that since forever.

[Honeycombe8]

46. OMG! NOW you are curious?

I think it's just a guy thing. It's not unusual for perps to expose themselves. They love their privates, and think others should enjoy them, too. They also like the shock value.

[ProudLib72]

47. Did you see the second post, the one below?

He was showing off at the pool!

[ProudLib72]

49. BTW. I was teasing you because you said it must be a marvel.

I didn't mean any offense.

[ProudLib72]

44. Ok, just found this article from CNN

Later that day, the Tremont Police Department responded to a call at a public pool, according to another incident report. The pool director told the responding officer that a man in his 20s barged into the pool wearing a pink women's housecoat, the report states. The man dove into the pool, took off the coat and swam around in his underwear. When he got out of the pool, he shouted at lifeguards that he was a man and exposed his genitals to them, the report states.

The rifle stayed in the vehicle and no one at the pool asked to press charges, the officer said in the report. "This is an informational report showing the state of mind of Travis Reinking," the report said. https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/23/us/travis-reinking-guns-trnd/index.html

[Tarc]

35. lol, I love those sovereign citizen yotube videos

Usually some white, male rube from flyover country drawling "I don rekkanize your athoritay!" while they're getting their window bashed in, as they get arrested.

[raven mad]

36. From Wiki:

The sovereign citizen movement is a loose grouping of American, Canadian and Australian litigants, commentators, tax protesters, and financial-scheme promoters. Self-described "sovereign citizens" see themselves as answerable only to their particular interpretation of the common law and as not subject to any government statutes or proceedings.[1] In the United States they do not recognize United States currency and maintain that they are "free of any legal constraints".[2][3][4] They especially reject most forms of taxation as illegitimate.[5] Participants in the movement argue this concept in opposition to the idea of "federal citizens", who, they say, have unknowingly forfeited their rights by accepting some aspect of federal law.[6] The doctrines of the movement resemble those of the freemen on the land movement more commonly found in the Commonwealth, such as in Britain and in Canada.[7][8][9][10]

Many members of the sovereign citizen movement believe that the United States government is illegitimate.[11] JJ MacNab, who writes for Forbes about anti-government extremism, has described the sovereign-citizen movement as consisting of individuals who believe that the county sheriff is the most powerful law-enforcement officer in the country, with authority superior to that of any federal agent, elected official, or local law-enforcement official.[12] This belief comes from the movement's origins in the white-extremist group Posse Comitatus.[13][citation needed]

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) classifies some sovereign citizens ("sovereign citizen extremists&quot as domestic terrorists.[14] In 2010 the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) estimated that approximately 100,000 Americans were "hard-core sovereign believers", with another 200,000 "just starting out by testing sovereign techniques for resisting everything from speeding tickets to drug charges".[15]

In surveys conducted in 2014 and 2015, representatives of US law-enforcement ranked the risk of terrorism from the sovereign-citizen movement higher than the risk from Islamic extremism.[16][17] The New South Wales Police Force in Australia has also identified sovereign citizens as a potential terrorist threat.[18]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereign_citizen_movement

In other words, insanity joining insanity.

[Orsino]

40. I guess the shadow government's headquarters is in a Waffle House?

You have to strike at the serpent's head, scatter it and smother it.

[radhika]

41. Any info on Travis' dad - who returned the AR15 5o him?

Did he share his son's anti-government, racist beliefs? Was dad also a #sovereigncitizen?

I'm thinking Travis has a whole network that will unite to shelter him for a long time - just like with Olympic Bomber of the past.

[Blue_Tires]

48. Don't forget we're not to ever call them racists lest their feelings get hurt so they vote GOP

[DonCoquixote]

54. is anyone surprised?

Reinking told agents he needed to see President Trump and defined himself as sovereign citizen who had a right to inspect the grounds, according to an arrest report by the Metropolitan Police Department in D.C. He was arrested on an unlawful entry charge after refusing to leave the area.


THE nra has made a culture where you can bring a gun to the white house and not go to jail.