You almost have to read the first paragraph of Shauna Johnson’s story a couple times for it to sink in:
“A Wood County man is behind bars on a state charge of threatening to commit a terrorist act for allegedly plotting to overthrow West Virginia’s state government by targeting the State Capitol, State Police headquarters, the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Department and the West Virginia National Guard facilities in Kanawha County.”
Overthrow the state government?!
The criminal complaint against Thomas David Deegan, 39, of Mineral Wells, includes chilling allegations: Such as Deegan soliciting accomplices to remove multiple West Virginia government leaders from office, including Gov. Tomblin. He also gave instructions on how to control areas around the State Capitol, adding that any resistance from police or military personnel should be met with gunfire, if necessary. “If you see the police coming and pulling up in a vehicle, I suggest you shoot them,” Deegan said.
The complaint notes Deegan planned to seize control of the state yesterday and turn jurisdiction over to members of the Sovereign Citizen movement. West Virginia would then become a foothold to begin a takeover of the rest of the United States.
Deegan’s fanatical plan may sound laughable, but the Sovereign Citizen movement is no joke. The National Consortium for Study of Terrorism and Response to Terrorism at the University of Maryland reported last year that law enforcement agencies rate the Sovereign Citizen movement as one of the most serious domestic terrorist threats in the country.
Members have strong anti-government beliefs. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, Sovereigns subscribe to a conspiracy theory that the original American government established by the Founders was at some point secretly replaced by a new system based on admiralty law. “Under admiralty law, they are slaves, and secret government forces have a vested interest in keeping them that way.”
Consequently, Sovereigns believe they can ignore U.S. laws they do not agree with, even the most mundane. In 2012 in Louisiana, two Sovereigns—a father and son—killed two police officers and wounded several others in a shootout that began with a routine traffic stop. CNN reports the men claimed the police had no authority over them.
Earlier this year, Deegan and two other West Virginians—Gene Stalnaker from Daniels and Phillip Hudok from Huttonsville—filed a bizarre action with the West Virginia Supreme Court. In the filing, where Deegan identified himself as Embassador (sic) for Heaven Thomas David House of Deegan, he claimed Gov. Tomblin is a “foreign agent” and appeared to challenge the legitimacy of state government.
Deegan alleges in the filing that he has been kidnapped several times by masked military “foreign agents,” and once was sent to “an out of county mental facility against my will and without lawful authority.”
West Virginia authorities have been tight-lipped about just how far Deegan got with his alleged plot, or whether they confiscated any weapons during his arrest. We also don’t know if any alleged accomplices will be charged. Clearly authorities took the threat seriously enough to beef up security around the Capitol and other potential targets.
We have justifiable concerns about acts of terrorism directed at this country from foreign lands, but we also have to be vigilant about threats of domestic terrorism, even if they sound like paranoid gibberish.