The UK “Sovereign Citizens” movement and COVID-19: a parallel “Common Law” legal system
The “Sovereign Citizens” movement emerged in the U.S. in the mid-20th century. Copy-cat “sovereign citizens” groups have since emerged in multiple other countries such as the “Reichsbürger” movement in Germany or the Russian “Union of Slavic Forces of Russia.” While “sovereign citizens” groups across the world differ in their ideology and motivation, they share the belief that their national government, its laws and legal system are illegitimate. They claim to follow a set of “pseudo laws” instead, often described as “Common Law,” and frequently employ conspiracy theories to justify their beliefs.
The COVID-19 pandemic has given “sovereign citizens” groups the opportunity to expand their reach considerably by exploiting the grievances of people who are frustrated with their government’s response to the pandemic. Not only have existing groups used the pandemic to attract new supporters but new COVID-19-focused “sovereign citizens” groups have also emerged. These groups often embrace harmful COVID-19 conspiracy theories as part of their core beliefs and arguments.
In the UK, the COVID-19 “Sovereign Citizens” movement is based on the claim that the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic broke so-called “Common Law.” Supporters claim that the individuals who implemented these restrictions can and should be “prosecuted” for their “crimes” in “Common Law Courts” created by the movement. “Common Law” has no legal basis in the UK. The alleged aim of the movement is to lift all COVID-19 restrictions, stop the vaccine roll-out and “prosecute” those deemed responsible for the COVID-19 response in the UK. The ‘Sovereign Citizens movement’ and their concept of “Common Law” existed in the UK prior to the pandemic. However, the movement has increased in size and reach especially since the roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccine in the UK.
Over the past six months, we analysed the activities of the COVID-19 “Sovereign Citizens” movement in the UK. Our research focused on the “sovereign citizens” groups “Alpha Men Assemble,” “Guardians 300,” and the “Common Law Court.” We also analyzed a wider network of social media accounts and websites associated with the “Sovereign Citizens” movement in the UK and its response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Telegram channels are used to mobilize supporters online
Groups associated with the movement in the UK predominantly use Telegram groups and websites to organize. They also share content on Facebook and YouTube as well as fringe video platforms such as BitChute and RoxyTube. On Telegram, multiple channels associated with the movement attract thousands of members and share posts daily. Discussions focus on resisting COVID-19 restrictions, “closing down” vaccine centres and “prosecuting” actors such as the UK government for implementing COVID-19 measures, which they claim are crimes against humanity.
These Telegram groups alongside bespoke websites are used to mobilize people online. Motivational videos and posts with emotive messages are shared by group administrators, claiming that the movement was here to save children from so-called unlawful lockdowns. Disinformation about COVID-19 and so-called guidance about the application of “Common Law” are also frequently shared to teach supporters about their alleged civil rights and liberties.
Group administrators also encouraged users to organize on a local level, and posts attempting to recruit people with specific skills or who can provide the group with a meeting space were also observed. Groups like “Guardians 300” used their website to recruit volunteers such as regional coordinators and call handlers.
Recent protest action is focused on COVID-19 vaccination sites
Our analysis observed that groups associated with the UK “Sovereign Citizens” movement organized different protest actions, mostly related to COVID-19 restrictions. In 2021, protests targeted prominent individuals such as former England footballer Alan Shearer and broadcaster Jeremy Vine for their alleged “support” of the COVID-19 vaccine. More recent protest action on 20 and 21 January 2022 focused on vaccine centres and included high profile participants such as Piers Corbyn, brother of the former UK Labour Party Leader, Jeremy Corbyn. Their aim was to close vaccine centres by serving them with a “notice of liability” and cease and desist letters. During the protests, “sovereign citizens” called the police to the vaccine centres, claiming the centres were a crime scene. Footage of these incidents was then shared among supporters on Telegram who often expressed hostility against the police for not closing the respective vaccine centres. Despite the negligible impact of their protests on disrupting the vaccination effort across the UK, our analysis observed that it did increase the online reach of some ‘sovereign citizens’ Telegram channels considerably. One channel grew its membership by 62% during a week of protests.
Aside from targeting vaccine centres, some of the most active ‘sovereign citizens’ groups also use existing legal systems to pursue their claims, despite not recognizing their legitimacy. Supporters accused UK government officials such as Prime Minister Boris Johnson of committing crimes against humanity for leading the UK’s COVID-19 response and allegedly submitted their claims to London’s Metropolitan Police and the International Criminal Court in the Hague. Claiming that the Metropolitan Police is now conducting a criminal investigation into the movement’s allegations, users frequently share the case’s supposed crime reference number (6029679/21) on Telegram to ask supporters to submit further evidence to the police. Supporters allege they continue to file similar claims with other police forces in the UK and continue to submit hundreds of victim statements as evidence.
Training courses to “upskill” the movement
Groups like “Guardians 300” and “Alpha Men Assemble” also offer in-person training courses to prepare for protests. “Guardians 300” charge up to £40 per person for their courses which are held across the UK. The group claimed to offer 22 courses in February 2022 alone, training supporters to become “Common Law Constables” for example. The group “Alpha Men Assemble” offers training sessions to prepare their supporters for physical confrontations at protests and other events. Details of these sessions were reported by The Daily Mail and other media outlets in January 2022. Following this coverage, large public Telegram channels associated with the group stopped sharing content and were no longer available from 23 January 2022. Our own research also identified an increase in private and more localized Telegram groups associated with the group following this increase in publicity. However, none of these groups were able to replicate the reach of the group’s previous public channel which peaked at approximately 8.2K members.
Overt calls for violence are rare among group members
While we did identify calls for violence on Telegram groups, these were seen to be moderated by administrators, seemingly to avoid broader platform moderation. While not explicitly violent, users shared videos of combat sports, gym workouts and confrontation techniques. Users implied that these provided suitable training for potential future confrontations with the state, suggesting permissive attitudes towards violence. Several users also expressed frustration in response to peaceful actions which failed to close vaccine centres, advocating for intimidation and the use of violence instead.
Limited overlap with right-wing extremist groups in the UK
In the UK, in contrast to other countries, our analysis identified limited overlap between the “Sovereign Citizens” movement and right-wing extremist communities despite their shared support of COVID-19 conspiracy theories. While right-wing extremist channels on Telegram expressed support for the movement’s protest actions and stance against vaccines, there were overall few common narratives or shared posts. Notably, UK right-wing extremist communities on Reddit, Gab, and 4chan discussing groups such as “Alpha Men Assemble” mocked the group. Users labeled it a so-called “psyop” by the government and used derogatory terms to describe its supporters.
Similarly, we identified that a few posts which did feature racist sentiment and the “Great Replacement conspiracy” in a “sovereign citizens” Telegram group were criticized by supporters as contrary to the egalitarian principles of “Common Law.”
Beyond the pandemic, what’s next?
As COVID-19 restrictions are being lifted across the UK and the daily impact of COVID-19 is felt less across society, it is interesting to see how the “Sovereign Citizens” movement in the UK will evolve. Movements driven by conspiracy theories tend to have an ability to swiftly adapt and transform. They quickly embrace new world events and apply their conspiratorial lens to them, giving their supporters a new injustice to pursue in line with their grievances.
Some COVID-19 “sovereign citizens” groups included in this analysis have stayed firmly on message and continue to focus on pursuing individuals, the pharma industry, and the UK government for their links to COVID-19 restrictions. However, we also observed how several Telegram channels associated with the movement have recently embraced “New World Order” and “Great Reset” conspiracy theories in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. These are antisemitic conspiracies promoted by many right-wing extremist communities globally. Many supporters of the movement will be able to embrace these conspiracies with ease, given their considerable overlap with many COVID-19 conspiracy theories, which also believes in a “globalist elite” “conspiring” against the people to implement “an authoritarian world order.”
This development demonstrates how an issue with mainstream reach like COVID-19 can draw people not only into the world of harmful conspiracy theories but also into right-wing extremist circles. It highlights the importance of online safeguarding efforts such as Moonshot’s Redirect Campaigns to prevent vulnerable individuals from being drawn into harmful conspiracy theories in the first place.
