WM Shooters Claimed to be "Sovereign Citizens"

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - West Memphis police officers and some local prosecutors just finished training on how to identify and deal with anti-government, extremist groups.

This comes six weeks after a father-son pair of so-called "sovereign citizens", shot and killed two West Memphis police officers.

The FBI said "sovereign citizens" are anti-government extremist who believe they don't have to answer to any government authority including courts, taxing entities or law enforcement. The FBI lists the movement as a "domestic terror threat".

Police dash cam video, released Wednesday, showed the 16-year old passenger of this van, Joseph Kane, handing paperwork to West Memphis police officer Brandon Paudert shortly before he opened fire with an AK-47, killing Paudert and Officer Bill Evans.

Investigators tell FOX13, the officers were handed "sovereign citizens" paperwork. According to the anti-defamation league, which tracks extremist groups, the strangely threatening document warns officers they might be the ones to face criminal penalties.

County Commissioner and attorney, Steve Mulroy said through the years, he's seen groups similar to the "sovereign citizens."

"They aren't all exactly the same but they tend to recruit from the same type of ideology," said Mulroy.

But the FBI lists this extremist movement as a domestic terrorist threat, saying some "sovereign citizens" murder, threaten judges, use fake currency and engineer various mortgage fraud scams. Many don't pay taxes.

"They can do that all they want but as matter of federal law if you are a U.S. resident subjected to federal law," said Mulroy.

West Memphis police recently finished training on how to identify the groups by peculiar license plates or bumper stickers. They were also taught how to best approach them during a traffic stop.

Shelby County prosecutors and investigators with the District Attorneys office recently attended a similar seminar put on by the FBI and Department Of Homeland Security.

While "sovereign citizens" may have frequent run-ins with the law, this time the confrontation proved deadly.

The district attorney's office also said they're noticing a group called "Moorish Americans." They're African American groups using "sovereign citizen" ideology. The Southern Poverty Law Center estimates anti-government groups have nearly doubled in the last year.

We tried contacting several organizations involved with the "sovereign citizens" movement, but have not heard back.