Self-proclaimed ‘sovereign citizens’ arrested in California after deputies allegedly find explosives

Three people claiming to be “sovereign citizens” were arrested Saturday morning after live ammunition and explosives were found in a vehicle they were driving and at their remote compound, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.

Deputies had conducted a traffic stop for suspected vehicle code violations Saturday just after 10 a.m. PT on a Ford Taurus near Joshua Tree National Park, a press release from the sheriff’s department said. Inside the car were David Russell, 50, and Jeffery Russell, 46, who identified themselves as sovereign citizens. Sovereign citizens are a fringe group whose members consider themselves exempt from U.S. law and who sometimes use violent tactics to justify their beliefs, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.