International Journal of Coercion, Abuse, and Manipulation Volume 6 2023 140
He would repeatedly promise that her children would
be returned “any day now” (Wells, &Scheck, 2021).
When that did not happen promptly, Petrie-Blanchard
took matters into her own hands. In March 2020,
Petrie-Blanchard kidnapped her twin daughters during
a scheduled visit to her mother’s home. While on the
run, Petrie-Blanchard posted messages on Facebook
that were straight out of the sovereign citizen playbook.
For instance, she wrote:
A Cestui que vie trust is a variation on Strawman
Theory, that a fictitious trust with a great deal of
associated money is associated with the Strawman.
Strawman Theory is a near-universal concept in
pseudolaw populations. Petrie-Blanchard was not on
the run for long, but an associate of Hallett then bailed
Petrie-Blanchard out of jail.
Once released, Petrie-Blanchard continued spending
time with Hallett and his associates. Hallett continued
his promises that he could not keep about the
impending return of Petrie-Blanchard’s children. He
told her that Donald Trump was personally involved in
her case (Wells, &Scheck, 2021). Trump, she was told,
was even planning to create a new Justice Department,
and wanted Petrie-Blanchard to be involved (Wells, &
Scheck, 2021). There is no evidence that Trump was
aware of any of these claims, or that he even knew
Hallett and/or Petrie-Blanchard. Instead, during legal
proceedings the court “declined to entertain [Hallett’s]
fantasy that he is acting at the behest of the President”
(Sommer, 2020).
Petrie-Blanchard grew increasingly paranoid about
those around her, especially Hallett. She eventually
came to believe that he was conspiring with the
government to keep her children away from her
(Boyce, 2020). Soon thereafter, she decided to kill
Hallett. An eyewitness saw Petrie-Blanchard standing
with a pistol, yelling to Hallett that “you’re hurting my
children, you bastard.” Petrie-Blanchard then shot and
killed Hallett (Nashrulla, 2020). Petrie-Blanchard is
I do not consent, I do not contract, I do not
acquiesce nor trade, or allow access or enquiry
to my nor my children’s Cestui que vie trust. All
deemed authorities are now notified &therefore
have no legal jurisdiction against me, I am now
not ‘deemed dead lost at sea’ (Sommer, 2020).
currently awaiting trial in Florida.
D. Non-E~Clause Cases
Other QAnon/sovereign citizen hybrid child custody
matters do not involve E~Clause. These include
examples from outside the United States.
1. Sarah Stanley
Sarah Stanley and her ex-partner, Lee Jennings, are
the parents of River Stanley. The couple never married
and separated months after the child was born (Eaton,
2022a). A difficult custody fight ensued. After dozens
of court hearings and unsubstantiated claims of abuse
by Stanley against Jennings, Jennings was granted
permanent full custody and requested sole custody.
Eventually, the court ordered the sheriff to acquire the
child from the mother to give him to Jennings. Stanley
rejected that order, and the police were unable to locate
her after she went into hiding with the child (Eaton,
2022a). Stanley claimed to be staying in a safe house at
an undisclosed location.
Though Stanley refused to reveal her location, she did
participate in several interviews. In one interview with
Nate Eaton of the East Idaho News, Stanley indicated
that she and her son were safe, and that she had not
committed any crimes. Stanley, instead, accused the
government of participating in a “witch hunt.” She
informed Eaton that the “courts don’t have power over
[her]” and that she was “standing up for my rights and
being retaliated against.” The family court system,
Stanley explained, is a:
for-profit corporation ...the largest human
trafficking sector in the state ...I have not done
one wrong thing. I do not consent [to the
proceedings]. You need my consent. What is the
opposite of not consent? It’s rape. And that is
what the court system is. It is a legal rape system.
They need my consent per the Constitution to
continue what they’re doing and they do not
have my consent ...[I will not] co-parent with
the government ...
(Eaton, 2022a).

ISSN: 2710-4028 DOI: doi.org/10.54208/1000/0006 141
In February 2022, while still in hiding, Stanley
participated in a live-streamed interview with
Christopher Key of the “Vaccine Police” via the social
media app Telegram. Key is a sovereign citizen,
an anti-vaccination advocate, and a well-known
conspiracy theorist who spreads false information
about the COVID-19 coronavirus (Peiser, 2021). Key
has been arrested several times for his aggressive acts
directed toward healthcare workers (Peiser, 2021). In
the interview with Key, Stanley made many claims,
including that:
Key and Stanley also discussed the evils of the family
court system, which she also referred to as “the Idaho
street gang” and “domestic violence perpetrators.”
Stanley claimed courts make over 60 billion dollars from
trafficking children. Key and Stanley also described
sovereign citizen strategies, which they believed would
remedy the situation.
Key subsequently also made multiple written “call to
action” postings on Telegram that informed Key’s
25,000 subscribers about Stanley and her son. Key
noted that Stanley and her son were currently located in
a safe house and are “only in danger from the following
individuals.” That list included a magistrate judge, a
sheriff, and multiple other law enforcement entities,
accompanied by individual names, email addresses,
and telephone numbers. Followers were encouraged
to contact these bad actors to say that Stanley and her
son were not missing, and to “remove all posters and
posts immediately.” The post was accompanied by
the hashtags “#STOPCHILD TRAFFICKING” and
“#STOPGOVCHILDNAPPING.”
• her child was not “conceived by consent”
• Jennings, “the wrongdoer,” was an abuser
• Jennings stole all of their money
• Jennings barely saw his son
• Jennings attempted to take out a $600,000
life insurance policy on both her and their
son
• Jennings was cheating on her
• Jennings and his father were plotting to kill
Stanley
• Jennings used threats of suicide to
manipulate her and
• the only reason Jennings sought sole custody
was to avoid paying child support.
The Telegram post by Key further elaborated that
Stanley was being held at the Veterans on Patrol (VOP)
Safe House. That organization had:
The Veterans on Patrol Safe House is run by Michael
Lewis Arthur Meyer, a vigilante, conspiracy theorist
who leads an antigovernment militia, and who has a
long history of legal trouble in multiple states (Steller,
2018 Veterans on Patrol, n.d.). Meyer was involved in
the 2014 standoff at the Bundy Ranch in Nevada, and
had previously been charged with criminal trespass,
burglary, theft, and criminal damage (Eaton, 2022b).
Meyer also has a large social media following. He
mainly posts about illegal immigration, veteran issues,
and QAnon-based conspiracy theories concerning
child trafficking and CPS (Mergh, 2022). Most recently,
United States Senators Markey, Warren, and Booker
formally requested that President Biden address the
“violent paramilitary vigilantes” at the border, and
specifically called out VOP by name (Markey, 2023).
Days after the journalist Eaton reported on the case
of Stanley and her son, Meyer threatened Eaton via
voicemail (Eaton, 2022b). This threat prompted Eaton
to obtain an order of protection against Meyer (Eaton,
2022b). Meyer subsequently traveled to Idaho and
recorded himself in front of the law firm that represented
the father, Jennings. In the video, Meyer warned “we’ll
be seeing you again” (Martin, 2022). Meyer also posted
the names and phone numbers of the judge, lawyers,
and law enforcement officials involved in the Stanley
case. He called them “child predators,” and encouraged
his followers to contact them to tell them to stop
searching for Stanley and her son (Martin, 2022). In
one Telegram message, he told his followers that “we
are at war,” and should violence be necessary, it will be
“The Most High God ...Who orders it” (Martin, 2022).
After approximately six months on the run, on April 29,
2022, Stanley was detained and charged with multiple
felonies (Sunderland, 2022). The circumstances of her
declare[d] all government orders and law
enforcement activity directed at Sarah and
River Stanley as criminal and demand[ed] this
criminal activity to cease immediately. Sarah and
River Stanley will remain protected in the VOP
safe house program with all needs provided.