Psychologist and cult survivor provides inside look into sovereign citizen movement as search for accused cop killer enters fifth day
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A psychologist who specialises in cult groups has provided a fresh insight into the sovereign citizen belief system, after a member of the dangerous ideological sect allegedly shot and killed two police officers in rural Victoria.
Freeman has displayed a long pattern of anti-government sentiments and had a history of association with pseudolaw and the sovereign citizen movement, previously describing police as “terrorist thugs” and “frigging Nazis”.
Psychologist Maria Esguerra who is a survivor of the cult known as the Children of God said labelling fringe groups was not “helpful” and stated it was more productive to understand the processes behind indoctrination.
“A lot of people who join cults, they feel incredibly embarrassed, and you don’t have to be a fool to be fooled, you know they come to me with an incredible amount of moral injury for the things they did,” Ms Esguerra told Sky News host Jaynie Seal.
Ms Esguerra said the sovereign citizen belief system was not centred upon “necessarily one leader” and that there was “quite a lot of influencers and leaders”.
“They are the ones that really have a lot of control over people and influencing them, setting up these systems of control, encouraging people to argue with the police and do all sort of criminal behaviour, systems of influence, which is always around emotions, so creating this fear,” Ms Esguerra explained.
The sovereign citizen movement is a loose group of anti-government activists, vexatious litigants and conspiracy theorists who pursue a pseudolegal ideological system that claims not to be subject to any government statutes unless explicitly consented to.
Certain proponents of the fringe ideology not only resent government rules but reject its legitimacy entirely with Freeman described as a “very active” member of the sovereign citizen movement who had been “held in high regard” by its followers.
Content retrieved from: https://www.skynews.com.au/australia-news/crime/psychologist-and-cult-survivor-provides-inside-look-into-sovereign-citizen-movement-as-search-for-accused-cop-killer-enters-fifth-day/news-story/c21f5dcda3ea5a320b3955eba7f7dd55.
