As the tragic events evolve in Porepunkah, northeast Victoria, media outlets have reported the alleged shooter, Dezi Freeman, is known to be a “sovereign citizen”.

Sovereign citizens believe they are not subject to the law. This view stems from deeply held anti-government beliefs combined with conspiracy thinking that the government was replaced with a corporation that controls us through our birth certificates, licences, and other identification documents. We are only subject to the laws of this corporation, the theory goes, if we choose to enter into a contract with it.

This fundamental rejection of government authority means sovereign citizens refuse to comply with routine processes such as paying taxes and completing random breath tests. They use pseudo-law – legal-sounding but ultimately false arguments – to disobey police and disrupt the court system.

Videos of sovereign citizens refusing to comply with police orders have gone viral, and can be viewed as novelty or entertainment. However, the killing of two police officers in Porepunkah and a previous ambush of police in Wieambilla, Queensland, show that some sovereign citizens can become radicalised and highly dangerous.

So what makes police a possible target for sovereign citizen violence? And why do some sovereign citizens radicalise?

Police officers are the frontline representatives of government authority. They enforce the law in our communities, which........

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