Law Enforcement Agencies and Their Officers - Assignment Example

The antecedent factor to the police shooting had its underpinnings in the ideological persuasions that sovereign citizens believe in. Sovereign citizens believe that being under the control of the government is wrong and for this reason, they believe that they are not under the control of the government. Members of sovereign citizens eschew being under government control because they believe that local, federal, and state governments are operating illegally since they (members of the group) exist outside these governments’ jurisdiction. Because of this, members of sovereign citizens believe that they are free from government control and therefore have their code of law which they follow (Pierce, 1).

As is provided for by the FBI, the beliefs above as held by sovereign citizens in turn have their underpinnings in the Redemption Theory. This theory holds that the US government in 1993 when abandoned its gold standard basis for currency and instead began to use its citizens as collateral in international trade agreements (FBI, 1).
As a side note and from a common sense point of view, it is clear that any state which uses its citizens as collateral in any engagement is unjust and illegitimate, though this accusation which sovereign citizens level against the US government is not true. However, because of this false charge against the government, sovereign citizens see the supposed dereliction of the gold standard as the basis for currency in 1993 as a gateway for illegal and criminal activities since the US federal, state, and local governments have hitherto not been acting in the interests of Americans.

The culmination of the immediate foregoing has thus been a catalog of criminal and illegal activities which stem from one superordinate crime: personal abnegation from the responsibilities and duties of being an American citizen. Because of this, sovereign citizens do not pay taxes, do not drive on a state driver’s license, and do not obey the law. Other criminal activities which sovereign citizens engage in because they believe in the Redemption Theory are defrauding of banks, and the US government, fraud (mail, mortgage, bank, and wire), the selling and purchase of contraband such as firearms, and money laundering. Read More