CHICAGO (AP) - The former Marine who killed three Baton Rouge, Louisiana, police officers in an ambush-style attack identified with a growing sovereign citizen movement whose adherents believe they're immune to most federal and state laws, including paying taxes and getting driver's licenses.
Gavin Long of Kansas City, Missouri, filed documents last year declaring himself a member of the United Washitaw de Dugdahmoundyah, a group that believes black people were the original inhabitants of the U.S
There are an estimated 200 members of the Washitaw Nation. The group believes that they are not subject to national, state or local laws. The group asserts Napoleon Bonaparte illegally transferred their lands to United States during the Louisiana Purchase in 1803.
The Washitaw Nation was once headed by the late Verdiacee Hampton Golston. She was mayor of Richwood, Louisiana in 1975 and 1976 and again from 1980-1984.
