If there’s any group that both political sides hold disdain for besides flat-earthers, it’s sovereign citizens, which one New Jersey police officer says he encountered during his watch. Going by Cole_Phelps-1247 on Reddit, the cop says he “had a run in with one of these geniuses,” showing a “Diplomat: Ambassador at Large” license plate in a post on r/Sovereigncitizen. According to Officer Phelps, they’re “pretty rare,” as he’s only had to deal with four over his decade of policing.
Phelps added that most officers aren’t trained on dealing with “sovcits” since they’re very uncommon among the populace. “It’s a shame because these guys can become radicalized and violent,” he sighed, though fortunately, the encounter with the license plate’s owner wasn’t reportedly violent. However, he was aggressive.
New Jersey police responded to someone who spotted this sovereign citizen’s car, and by the time Phelps arrived, it was parked, presumably at the owner’s home. “We took the license plate off, and the sov cit came out of their house and had a freak out, spouting off about how we need a warrant,” OP recalled.
Reddit Sided with the New Jersey Police Officer Against This Sovereign Citizen
While Reddit posts are often packed with anti-police sentiment, in Phelps’ post, many users were supportive of the intervention with the sovereign citizen’s plate. “Did you whisper to yourself ‘immunity revoked?’” joked a commenter. “Oh man! Now you owe him like $40 million dollars,” sarcastically remarked another.
“How embarrassed were you after he schooled you on maritime law?” chuckled a third. “Major respect to you for having to put up with these utter pricks on a daily basis,” a fourth wrote, praising Phelps. One person questioned whether Flock Cameras would be used to catch sovereign citizens with illegal plates. To this, OP replied, “No, they’re not used for that. And I’m completely against flock cameras anyway.”
Unfortunately, this might not be the last time Phelps and his team have to deal with this eccentric license plate owner. “Once we took the plate they yelled back that they would just buy another one,” he recalled. That said, one commenter speaking their mind said what hundreds of others were thinking: “Having fake plates should have a much higher penalty than not having plates or having expired plates.”
