A sovereign citizen in Florida allegedly shot Polk County Sheriff Deputy Craig Smith, top inset, and Lt. Chad Anderson, bottom inset, during a shootout at a park in Lakeland. The deputies are expected to survive. (Deputies: Polk County Sheriff’s Office; screenshot: WFLA/YouTube)
A man who identified as a sovereign citizen shot two Florida deputies after they confronted him for being in a county park after hours, authorities said. Polk County sheriff’s deputies returned fire, killing the man, Sheriff Grady Judd said at a press conference.
It happened shortly before 12:30 a.m. Saturday when a deputy approached a man who was in a vehicle at Hunt Fountain Park after the it had closed, Judd said. According to Judd, the man cracked his window open but wouldn’t cooperate with the deputy. The deputy went back to her cruiser and called for backup. Lt. Chad Anderson and Deputy Craig Smith arrived on scene and approached the vehicle.
“Little did they realize at that moment in time that this was a sovereign citizen,” Judd said “He was Moorish, and Moorish sovereign citizens are known to believe that federal law, state law, local law does not apply to them. They are known to resist law enforcement and there is a history where they shoot police officers. So they started trying to take our suspect out of the vehicle when he produced the gun and started shooting.”
Sovereign citizens believe the government is “illegitimate product of a conspiracy that subverted the original, lawful government,” according to the Anti-Defamation League.
“They claim people can take steps to divorce themselves from the illegitimate government, after which it has no authority or jurisdiction over them,” the ADL says.
There are two types of sovereign citizens, “traditional” and “Moorish,” per the ADL. The Moorish, which Judd says the suspect identifies with, are primarily Black and use terminology from Moorish Science Temple, a religious sect, or other fringe Black groups, the ADL says.
The movement has reportedly expanded in recent years.
“Sovereign citizens in recent years have been able to grow their movement by appealing to new audiences, including anti-vaxxers, QAnon adherents, and MAGA supporters,” the ADL says. “The movement has also spread extensively in jails and prisons around the country.”
When the suspect opened up fire, a bullet went through Anderson’s arm and into his chest. Smith suffered four gunshot wounds, Judd said. Anderson got some rounds off and backup deputies “shot a lot,” hitting and killing the man who has yet to be publicly identified, Judd said. A total of four deputies and two trainees were at the scene.
“We killed him graveyard dead and we killed him dead in a gunfight, a firefight with our deputies who had no idea they were dealing with anyone other than someone being in the park after the park closed, being suspicious and resisting our efforts to identify why they were in the area,” Judd said.
Anderson was last listed in critical but stable condition while Smith was in stable.
The suspect had apparently been living out of his vehicle and had been confronted about a month ago in another county for staying in a park after hours, Judd said. State Attorney Brian Haas of Florida’s 10th Judicial Circuit will investigate the shooting to ensure the deputies followed the law.
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