Moorish sovereign citizens espouse an antigovernment doctrine in which its members claim to be part of a sovereign nation. For some who identify themselves as “Moor,” “Moorish” or something similar, there is a belief that a fictitious 1787 treaty between the United States and Morocco grants them immunity from U.S. law. Others, such as the Washitaw Nation, may falsely claim to occupy United Nations Indigenous People’s Seat 215 – there is no such thing – and create their own birth certificates, passports, driver’s licenses and vehicle registrations.
“Empress” Verdiacee “Tiari” Washitaw-Turner Goston El-Bey of the Washitaw de Dugdahmoundyah (the article missed aa few of her names or self proclaimed honorifics). Now thats a name I haven’t heard in probably two decades(and one she continued to add onto and embellish throughout her life), but reading the article immediately made me remember just how absolutely batshit crazy she was. I grew up in Northeast Louisiana and remember her stirring up problems at various civic meetings for years. I can’t believe anybody would ever take anything she said as serious, because she was so clearly mentally ill that even as a kid I picked up on it. But somehow they did, and she even led a movement for the “town” of richwood to secede from the city of Monroe, taking with it a good portion of the more densely populated areas but almost none of the tax base to support the basic civic infrastructure. You can probably figure out how the next two decades plus looked for residents there.
Point of contention: just because they’re not recognized doesn’t mean they don’t exist, clearly they do, and if they officiate their own documents as well this is a bit different than SovCits I think about, this sounds like a group of people attempting to assert rights that aren’t recognized which is a little less unhinged.
https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/moorish-sovereign-citizens
Thanks, I always wondered about the Moor connection.
“Empress” Verdiacee “Tiari” Washitaw-Turner Goston El-Bey of the Washitaw de Dugdahmoundyah (the article missed aa few of her names or self proclaimed honorifics). Now thats a name I haven’t heard in probably two decades(and one she continued to add onto and embellish throughout her life), but reading the article immediately made me remember just how absolutely batshit crazy she was. I grew up in Northeast Louisiana and remember her stirring up problems at various civic meetings for years. I can’t believe anybody would ever take anything she said as serious, because she was so clearly mentally ill that even as a kid I picked up on it. But somehow they did, and she even led a movement for the “town” of richwood to secede from the city of Monroe, taking with it a good portion of the more densely populated areas but almost none of the tax base to support the basic civic infrastructure. You can probably figure out how the next two decades plus looked for residents there.
Point of contention: just because they’re not recognized doesn’t mean they don’t exist, clearly they do, and if they officiate their own documents as well this is a bit different than SovCits I think about, this sounds like a group of people attempting to assert rights that aren’t recognized which is a little less unhinged.