International Journal of Coercion, Abuse, and Manipulation Volume 6 2023 124
A new emerging trend is an overlap between QAnon
and the sovereign citizen movement. In January
2022, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) described
high-profile members of QAnon appearing in videos
circulating on social media, discussing their adoption
of sovereign citizen ideas (ADL, 2022). For instance,
Ann Vandersteel, a Pizzagate proponent, encouraged
her followers to become “American State Nationals”
(ASNs), a new strain of sovereign citizen ideology
(ADL, 2022) that will be discussed in more detail below.
Vandersteel now teaches classes on how to become an
ASN (Ann Vandersteel Oregon event, 2022).
The ADL also noted the merger of these two conspiracy
ideas by Bobby Lawrence, who regularly gives for-pay
seminars to teach others how to become an ASN. He
and the other leader of the ASN movement, David
Straight, have been intermixing these ideas at weekly
seminars (described in further detail below) for the
past several years.
This hybridization of sovereign citizen and QAnon
conspiracy systems is also occurring in other countries.
Canadian Romana Didulo is another high-profile
QAnon figure who also combines these two ideologies.
Known as the “QAnon Queen,” Didulo is a conspiracy
figure with a large following who falsely believe that
she is the queen, commander-in-chief, and the national
indigenous chief of Canada (Sarteschi, 2022a). Didulo
and approximately 11 of her closest followers travel
Canada in a recreational vehicle (RV). She espouses
many conspiratorial beliefs. Chief among them is
Didulo’s contention that tunnels under Canada, the
United States, and Mexico are used for adrenochrome
production, organ harvesting, and child sex trafficking
(Netolitzky, 2022b Sarteschi, 2022a Sarteschi, 2023).
Her legal beliefs are distinctly sovereign citizen/pseudo
legal in nature. Didulo contends that Canada is a
corporation that went bankrupt in 2017, that lawyers
lack the proper jurisdiction to practice law in the
country of Canada, and that courts and judges have no
jurisdiction over her. Most fallacious is her belief that
she has replaced the legitimate Canadian government
and is now its sole, legitimate government monarch
(Sarteschi, 2022a).
The 2022 plot to overthrow the German government
is another international example of the ever-increasing
overlap between QAnon and the sovereign citizen
belief. All 25 of the persons arrested were members of
the Reichsbürger, also known as Reich citizens, who--
like American sovereign citizens--reject the authority
of their legitimate government, and believe they do
not have to pay taxes or other debts (Ritzmann, 2023).
German authorities seized 97 guns, in excess of 25,000
rounds of ammunition, tactical gear and weaponry,
cash, and precious metals (Ritzmann, 2023). To date,
this operation was the “largest anti-terror raid ever” in
Germany (Hume, 2022).
Reichsbürgers are considered anti-state, highly
dangerous, and have a high affinity for weapons and
violence (Baden-Württemberg: “Reichsbürger” hits
the police with a car -the court imposes many years
of imprisonment, 2023). In the first-ever federal
prosecution of a Reich citizen in Germany, a 62-year-old
man was sentenced to 10 years in prison for attacking
a police officer with his vehicle. The judges in the case
concluded that the perpetrator had committed the crime
in accordance with his ideology (Baden-Württemberg:
“Reichsbürger” hits the police with a car -the court
imposes many years of imprisonment, 2023). During
a subsequent series of March 2023 raids by German
authorities that targeted the Reichsbürger movement, a
German police officer was shot and wounded (Reuters
in Berlin, 2023). Prosecutors indicate that this group
also believes in QAnon ideology, including the idea
that Germany is run by the “deep state” (Times of Israel
Staff, 2022).
This article is intended to expand the knowledge base
and document the emerging overlap between QAnon
and the sovereign citizen movements, with a specific
focus on child custody cases. The intension is to
highlight the fusing of these ideas, particularly in the
context of child welfare cases where abuse has been
alleged, but also to illustrate and emphasize the danger
these groups may pose to child welfare workers. The
antagonistic relationships between parents who lose
custody of their children to Child Protection Services
(CPS), and those agencies, has been long recognized.
This antagonism is, in part, what makes the job of child
welfare workers so dangerous. Studies indicate that CPS
workers face high rates of violence. Studies typically
report that the majority of CPS workers experience
verbal harassment and threats of physical injury
(Radey, Langerderfer-Magruder, &Schelbe, 2022).
In addition, approximately 20 to 30% report being
A new emerging trend is an overlap between QAnon
and the sovereign citizen movement. In January
2022, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) described
high-profile members of QAnon appearing in videos
circulating on social media, discussing their adoption
of sovereign citizen ideas (ADL, 2022). For instance,
Ann Vandersteel, a Pizzagate proponent, encouraged
her followers to become “American State Nationals”
(ASNs), a new strain of sovereign citizen ideology
(ADL, 2022) that will be discussed in more detail below.
Vandersteel now teaches classes on how to become an
ASN (Ann Vandersteel Oregon event, 2022).
The ADL also noted the merger of these two conspiracy
ideas by Bobby Lawrence, who regularly gives for-pay
seminars to teach others how to become an ASN. He
and the other leader of the ASN movement, David
Straight, have been intermixing these ideas at weekly
seminars (described in further detail below) for the
past several years.
This hybridization of sovereign citizen and QAnon
conspiracy systems is also occurring in other countries.
Canadian Romana Didulo is another high-profile
QAnon figure who also combines these two ideologies.
Known as the “QAnon Queen,” Didulo is a conspiracy
figure with a large following who falsely believe that
she is the queen, commander-in-chief, and the national
indigenous chief of Canada (Sarteschi, 2022a). Didulo
and approximately 11 of her closest followers travel
Canada in a recreational vehicle (RV). She espouses
many conspiratorial beliefs. Chief among them is
Didulo’s contention that tunnels under Canada, the
United States, and Mexico are used for adrenochrome
production, organ harvesting, and child sex trafficking
(Netolitzky, 2022b Sarteschi, 2022a Sarteschi, 2023).
Her legal beliefs are distinctly sovereign citizen/pseudo
legal in nature. Didulo contends that Canada is a
corporation that went bankrupt in 2017, that lawyers
lack the proper jurisdiction to practice law in the
country of Canada, and that courts and judges have no
jurisdiction over her. Most fallacious is her belief that
she has replaced the legitimate Canadian government
and is now its sole, legitimate government monarch
(Sarteschi, 2022a).
The 2022 plot to overthrow the German government
is another international example of the ever-increasing
overlap between QAnon and the sovereign citizen
belief. All 25 of the persons arrested were members of
the Reichsbürger, also known as Reich citizens, who--
like American sovereign citizens--reject the authority
of their legitimate government, and believe they do
not have to pay taxes or other debts (Ritzmann, 2023).
German authorities seized 97 guns, in excess of 25,000
rounds of ammunition, tactical gear and weaponry,
cash, and precious metals (Ritzmann, 2023). To date,
this operation was the “largest anti-terror raid ever” in
Germany (Hume, 2022).
Reichsbürgers are considered anti-state, highly
dangerous, and have a high affinity for weapons and
violence (Baden-Württemberg: “Reichsbürger” hits
the police with a car -the court imposes many years
of imprisonment, 2023). In the first-ever federal
prosecution of a Reich citizen in Germany, a 62-year-old
man was sentenced to 10 years in prison for attacking
a police officer with his vehicle. The judges in the case
concluded that the perpetrator had committed the crime
in accordance with his ideology (Baden-Württemberg:
“Reichsbürger” hits the police with a car -the court
imposes many years of imprisonment, 2023). During
a subsequent series of March 2023 raids by German
authorities that targeted the Reichsbürger movement, a
German police officer was shot and wounded (Reuters
in Berlin, 2023). Prosecutors indicate that this group
also believes in QAnon ideology, including the idea
that Germany is run by the “deep state” (Times of Israel
Staff, 2022).
This article is intended to expand the knowledge base
and document the emerging overlap between QAnon
and the sovereign citizen movements, with a specific
focus on child custody cases. The intension is to
highlight the fusing of these ideas, particularly in the
context of child welfare cases where abuse has been
alleged, but also to illustrate and emphasize the danger
these groups may pose to child welfare workers. The
antagonistic relationships between parents who lose
custody of their children to Child Protection Services
(CPS), and those agencies, has been long recognized.
This antagonism is, in part, what makes the job of child
welfare workers so dangerous. Studies indicate that CPS
workers face high rates of violence. Studies typically
report that the majority of CPS workers experience
verbal harassment and threats of physical injury
(Radey, Langerderfer-Magruder, &Schelbe, 2022).
In addition, approximately 20 to 30% report being
