‘Not a government position’: ‘Sovereign citizen’ dragged from courthouse
Wild footage shows a man being booted from a Ballarat courthouse before launching into a bizarre rant about the institution.
A man has been filmed being booted from a Ballarat courthouse before launching into a bizarre rant about the institution.
Footage shared online by the Cookerwatch Twitter account shows three courthouse workers pushing the man outside the building.
He appears to yell, “You’re denying my right to law,” as he’s shoved outside the building by staff.
Once outside, he aggressively postures and attempts to re-enter the building, where staff block the door.
“You … relax,” one of the staff members tells the man, still attempting to enter the building.
“You are denying me my right to law,” the man reiterates.
A sovcit from Ballarat gets ejected from the courthouse. I don't know the circumstances leading up to this. pic.twitter.com/MjD6mXYvpy
— CookerWatch (@cookerwatch) February 4, 2023
It’s unclear why the man is at the courthouse.
The man then stands by the door, kicking off a bizarre, nonsensical rant.
He points to a sign referencing the “Court Security Act 1980” which he then uses as an attempt to excuse his actions.
“[The Act is] why I was standing there defending my rights, my rights under law – not legislation,” he says.
“Corporate has nothing to do with law.
“It is a legislation – it is a legal ‘Act’,” the man says, making inverted commas with his fingers.
He then points to the signature of the “Acting Chief Executive Officer” at the bottom of the sign.
“It tells you right here in black and white – because they must tell the truth eventually,” he says.
“Right here it declares … Acting Chief Executive Officer, Magistrates Court of Victoria.
“That is not a government position. That is not a lawful government position.
“And that tells you there, in black and white, that that is a corporation.
“I do not stand under the authority of a corporation. I stand under the law of the Commonwealth of Australia.”
Videos like this have been on the rise recently, helped partly by online vigilantes who uncover them from seedy corners of the web and bring them into the public forum.
So-called “sovereign citizens”, who espouse such anti-government beliefs, have caused increasing concern of late after the killing of three Queensland Police officers in December 2022.
The public displays and their wild claims have been written off as bogus by law experts.