County Auctions Off Property of Washington 鈥楽overeign Citizen'
It may have taken three weeks, three auctions and a handful of headaches, but the Clark County, Wash., Treasurer鈥檚 Office was finally able to auction off this week.
Trudy Rouse, a spokesperson for the treasurer鈥檚 office, told Hatewatch that the property had been successfully auctioned to a buyer from Richland for $52,445 on Tuesday.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e kind of wondering, why would I jeopardize it for $22,000,鈥� the amount in back taxes that he owes,鈥� Darby told Hatewatch. 鈥淭he reason is, I own the land. They did not even put a lien against my land. They just said that I owed money and then auctioned it off. Well, they can鈥檛 really do that. So I鈥檓 going to take it into court.鈥�
He added: 鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 have done this if I didn鈥檛 think I could win.鈥�
Darby, an elderly man who has been active in far-right politics in Clark County since the 1990s, when he organized militias locally, says he believes filing the federal suit will entitle him to force his case into a
鈥淭hat鈥檚 why they don鈥檛 want me to come in to court, because they know I will bring common law into the court,鈥� he said. 鈥淥nce we get into court, the judge is going to have to handle the court in the common law mode.鈥�
Darby鈥檚 fight with Clark County , when he stopped paying taxes after, he says, he discovered the 鈥渢ruth鈥� about becoming a and the supposed illegitimacy of both federal and state governments. that Washington state鈥檚 original constitution, drafted in 1878 and containing clauses that negate state and local taxes, is the only legitimate ruling document for Washington, and not the 1889 constitution now observed by the state.
Darby鈥檚 property first was ending a long legal battle in which Darby鈥檚 claims were largely rebuked. However, that buyer turned out to be a friend of Darby鈥檚, who attempted to pay for the property in cash, was refused, and then backed out when fees were added to his check payment.
That buyer, a Vancouver man named Richard Grady, told Hatewatch that he believed Darby had a legitimate claim. He said he had known Darby for several years because they both like to work on cars鈥擠arby is a noted Jaguar collector鈥攁nd 鈥渂ecause he has been involved in the sovereign citizens movement.鈥�
鈥淗e has a valid, legitimate claim based upon the original Washington constitution, and I agree with that argument because I鈥檝e been involved in a similar case in Oregon,鈥� Grady told Hatewatch.
A second auction was held on Sept. 23. Clark County Treasurer Doug Lasher said that the second buyers backed out after driving out from the Pasco area to view the property, telling him that the place reminded them of the horror film 鈥淲rong Turn鈥� (in which several young people become lost in a wooded area and area attacked by cannibals). 鈥淭heir kids were crying because they didn鈥檛 want to be there,鈥� he said.
Darby says that he is waiting for the new buyer鈥檚 title to become official, at which point he intends to sue Clark County for damages in federal court, which is what he claims to have wanted all along.
鈥淚鈥檝e got to get ahold of the new buyer, and I will sit down with him and show him that the county fraudulently sold the land,鈥� he told Hatewatch. 鈥淭hey did not explain that there are two similar lawsuits over this, and he is going to have to prove that the deed of trust or anything in the color of law will actually trump a land patent.鈥�
Land patents, a bogus legal technique once promoted by the Posse Comitatus as a way to erase farmers鈥� debts, are now widely used by the sovereign citizen鈥檚 movement.
In 2009, Darby filed a number of 鈥渟overeign citizen鈥� documents with Clark County that he claims established his 鈥渓and patent鈥� on his property, something explicitly recognized under the 1878 Washington constitution that Darby claims is the state鈥檚 real ruling document.
What鈥檚 next? Darby earlier told Hatewatch that he would give up the property if he lost his case in federal court, and would not engage in armed action as other sovereign citizens have: 鈥淚鈥檓 not going to do anything radical,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 have no intention of anything like that.鈥�
