Judge Ignores ‘Martian law,’ Tosses ‘Sovereign Citizen’ Into Slammer
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This Georgia judge had heard just about enough nonsense from a “sovereign citizen” charged in a scheme to steal a house.
Rockdale County Superior Court Judge David Irwin repeatedly advised Akeem Kwame – a self-described “Moorish national” charged with mortgage fraud for falsely claiming ownership of a house in Conyers, Ga. – to get a lawyer or accept a public defender.
And Kwame repeatedly rejected that advice. It was time for trial.
“It’s a simple question,” Irwin told Kwame on Monday, according to the Rockdale News. “Are you ready for trial, yes or no? It’s a yes or no. After that you may explain.”
Sovereign citizens are not given to straight answers. They believe they are not subject to government or law enforcement authority, and typically rely on convoluted, often incomprehensible pseudo-legal gobbledygook to assert their immunity. Moorish nationals are sovereigns who claim to be members of an indigenous black tribe independent of U.S. jurisdiction.
“Judge, I conditionally accept your offer to continue this once I am presented with the documentation so I can inspect any accusatory original instruments for my inspection,” replied Kwame, 48, also known as Gregory Ross of Covington, Ga.
Annoyed by Kwame’s non-answer, Irwin tossed the suspect – who had been free on bond pending trial – into a holding cell to ponder his options. A few hours later, the judge offered Kwame one last chance to request an attorney – and made clear he’d had it with the legal shenanigans.
“As far as the Moor Nations, or Martian law, we’re going to go on Georgia law,” Irwin said. “As based upon the Georgia statutes, as done by the Georgia Legislature, you have a right to a trial on those issues. That’s it. I’m not doing Moorish law. … I’m not doing paper law. I’m doing Georgia law. … I have given you opportunities, I have given you offers, and you have refused. … You’re not free to go. A jury will be picked for you today.”
Kwame seemed bewildered. “You’re placing the occupant of the executor office of the Akeem Kwame [trust] in custody? Is that what you’re saying?”
“I’m going to place Akeem Kwame and anybody else that doesn’t respond [in custody]. Your imaginary friend. You and the Grand Poobah of the Moor Nation if that happens to be you. ”
Asked if he understood his constitutional right to a lawyer, Kwame told Irwin, “I waive those constitutional rights because that Constitution is not in my jurisdiction. I am an American foreign national. I am not an American citizen.”
After a few more minutes of this, an exasperated Irwin finally ordered Kwame taken to jail and canceled the trial until the state could do a psychological evaluation.
“That is not my wish today, judge,” Kwame said as he was being escorted away. “Let the record reflect, I did not give the court jurisdiction to take me into custody against my free will ….”
on July 20th, 2011 at 5:23 pm
That does not seem like a non-answer. Couldn’t the judge have provided the documentation that Kwame wanted to begin the proceedings?
on July 20th, 2011 at 8:05 pm
Wow. That is some pretty impressive obfuscatory language. Total bunkem, but impressive nonetheless.
on July 20th, 2011 at 8:40 pm
Oh well, another one bites the dust. Another enemy combatant. I’d say throw them all in Guantanamo Bay.
on July 21st, 2011 at 9:31 am
He said that he waived his Constitutional rights for access to a lawyer. If he really is a sovereign citizen free from all government laws and rights, then what would happen to his freedom of speech?
on July 21st, 2011 at 10:26 am
Perhaps these “sovereign citizens” need to be deported back to their own countries as “illegal immigants”!
on July 21st, 2011 at 10:33 am
can this guy be deported to mars so he can go through the martian legal system.
on July 21st, 2011 at 10:58 am
When a judge instructs you to answer “yes” or “no”, it’s usually best to pick one. Everytime I hear about sovereigns renouncing American citizenship, I think about the story “The Man Without a Country”. Sentencing them to life at sea without any news of home sounds like a good plan to me. Don’t we have a ship in mothballs we can devote to the purpose?
on July 21st, 2011 at 11:23 am
I realize that my first comment may have been a bit legally ignorant, since I don’t actually know what “documentation” the “Moor” was referring to. Since this is a law firm, can someone tell me whether this is a legitimate request for information, or convoluted legal nonsense?
@Skinnyminny – I say close Guantanamo, try John Ashcroft, John Yoo, Jay Bybee, and all of the other Bush-era torturers-in-chief for their crimes, and work with the remaining prisoners to try to integrate them back into society
@ruben – The quote about “Martian law”, if I understand it correctly, was not the guy himself, but the annoyed judge, engaging in dismissive mockery of the “Moor”. It may have been a play on words, since these people often claim to follow “Moorish law”.
on July 21st, 2011 at 12:11 pm
If the judge hadn’t used the word “Moorish” in a derogatory fashion by rendering it into “Martian,” I would have been happier. The use makes me uncomfortable because I believe it psychologically suggests a connection to viewing American Muslims as aliens as opposed to citizens. I definitely don’t view Mr. Kwame as a Muslim. However, if Judge Irwin is Muslim, I would have been more comfortable. I have a raunchy sense of humor, but I believe in observing the social etiquette of humor that respects “in – group/out – group.”
Indeed – Akeem Kwame is no different from one of the many flavors of the sovereign citizens – one flavor being those that abuse and misapply Christianity.
Does anybody know if Akeem Kwame’s belief systems (whatever they are) are connected to Farakkhan and The Nation of Islam? It would be interesting to find out because of some of their beliefs expressed about outer space that I’ve heard about.
on July 21st, 2011 at 12:14 pm
I love you all dearly, but you need to stop using single quotes. This isn’t the UK. In the US, you must use double quotes around words you wish to set off.
http://grammar.quickanddirtyti.....uotes.aspx
on July 21st, 2011 at 12:40 pm
@Jane: The Moorish Science Temple of America predates the Nation of Islam. The Moors were started by a guy who called himself Drew Ali in 1913; the NOI started in 1930. The NOI was started by a guy who called himself Wallace Fard Muhammad. Some say that Fard had earlier been a part of the Moors; today’s NOI reject that claim.
on July 21st, 2011 at 1:18 pm
Jonas: His answer is gibberish.
IAAL.
on July 21st, 2011 at 1:52 pm
@Timbo: Thank you for the chronology.
@Jonas: I really like what you said about trying the Bush – era torturers – in – chief, closing Guantanamo and trying to reintegrate the remaining prisoners into society. Unfortunately, the various implementations and permutations of The Patriot Act look like they are here to stay. The Patriot Act has ramped up the misapplication of hiring practices by both public and private employers by silently providing tacit approval for would – be employers to demand credit checks and the complete surrendering of one’s health history by would – be employees. I miss the days of applying for teaching jobs with fingerprints and a complete background check by the FBI. I’m serious. Prior to the Patriot Act, I occasionally encountered the credit check demand – however, it seemed more ceremonial in nature than anything else. I don’t recall encountering the demand for my health history prior to the Patriot Act.
on July 21st, 2011 at 2:19 pm
The Moorish Nation is a mega fraud brought to you by black nationalist who are trying as hard as they can to STEAL the Amerindian identity and achievements and their descendants heritage. How dare they claim indigenous status; this fantasy world created out of thin air with no scientific proof of being here before the TRUE NATIVE AMERICANS THROUGHOUT THE AMERICAS is an afront to all true indigenous Amerindians. Good, throw him behind bars if for nothing else for being a total fraud.
on July 21st, 2011 at 2:58 pm
@Jonas Rand: You make a fair observation regarding Kwame’s “non-answer.” My understanding of the case is that Kwame had made several appearances before Judge Irwin prior to the exchange I have described, all of them equally frustrating and fruitless. Kwame seemed not to understand that the judge could not act as his counselor, yet repeatedly refused to accept counsel to assist him. He had had plenty of opportunity to prepare for his trial, with or without an attorney, but had not, which is why the judge demanded a final “yes or no” answer. Since the story was more about the colorful exchange with the judge than about Kwame’s case specifically, I didn’t go into extensive detail about it. You have a keen eye!
@Jane Schiff: I could be wrong, but I interpreted the judge’s “Martian” comment not as an adulteration of “Moorish,” but simply as a general mocking reference to any non-U.S./Georgia law Kwame sought to invoke.
Robert Steinback
Deputy Editor, Hatewatch blog
Southern Poverty Law Center
on July 21st, 2011 at 2:59 pm
Surely this man is mentally ill; he needs treatment, not incarceration. (This is not meant as sarcasm; I’m perfectly serious.)
Lauri: it’s a useful distinction to use double quotation marks for actual verbatim quotations, single ones as ’scare quotes’. Some publishers mandate the reverse, but most make the distinction.
on July 21st, 2011 at 3:29 pm
@Jane: I went back to look some things up, and I may have made some assumptions that weren’t true. The guy in this article, Akeem Kwame, may not be part of the Moorish Science Temple of America. He may be part of the remnants of what was called the Nuwaubian cult (there were/are a lot of names they use, like “United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors”; “Yamassee Native American Moors of the Creek Nation”; “Holy Tabernacle Ministries”; “Ansaru Allah Community”; and “Lodge 19 of the Ancient and Mystic Order of Malachizodok” and on and on…) which was founded in the 70’s. They moved in to Georgia in the early 90’s. When their leader Dwight York was sentenced to 135 years in jail for child molestation, their compound in Eatonton, Georgia was sold under government forfeiture in 2005, but the cult is still around. Akeem Kwame could be part of them. The Nuwaubians have some absolutely insane beliefs, so it would be no surprise to me that they may have embraced sovereign citizen philosophies.
on July 21st, 2011 at 3:57 pm
I’ve seen these guys trundle–literally–truckloads of “evidence” into a courtroom. The aspect of the behaviour in which this pitiful individual participates, as a vexatious litigant has been recently discussed in the psychiatric literature as indicative of a psychosis. I thnk the judge only gets an A-, but I think he did a lot better than I might have. When dealing with this the best way to keep from getting pulled into the emotional maelstrom is to keep a clinical, as well as legal view of this phenomenon.
on July 21st, 2011 at 3:58 pm
Jonas,
The key in Mr. Kwame’s request for documents is the phrase “original instruments,” which is sovereign citizen code for “nonexistent, imaginary documents.” The court presumably already had provided him with the real documents in the case, such as the criminal complaint or indictment against him, but of course as a sovereign citizen he would have claimed that those were all illegitimate.
on July 21st, 2011 at 4:01 pm
Jonas Rand,
I agree! Guantanamo should be closed for those purposes, in which, you described. However, when it comes to these type of Americans, that are on American soil, they should be sent to Guantanamo Bay. They should not, I repeat, should not sit on American soil and continue their repeated disrespect towards the government, threat and challenges to the government, which in almost all cases present an unintended threat to citizens caught in the crossfire. For example, when they run from the police, innocent drivers are in the way. When they try to ambush LE, innocent people may be in the way…
THINKWORLDPEACE,
that statement is debatable. The way our history books were written and the way it has been rewritten (i.e. Irving) we don’t know how long the ‘moorish’ have been here. If you look at the Phoenicians, everyone is taking claim of identity to this group of peoples coming to the Americas. We do know that the Native Americans were here, but, we don’t know who the Phoenicians are and at what time they came after the Native Americans.
***What is probably known and probably true, the Phoenicians were of small stature and very intelligent with manufacturing/designing/developing…perhaps they are the modern day Mayans, Jewish…not sure on this one.
on July 21st, 2011 at 4:38 pm
Jonas Rand,
I specifically say GB because afterall they say we have no jurisdiction/authority over them. Why should we put these people in a prison with other Americans, only to spread this type of behavior among others. Prisons are recruiting grounds for all types of groups and gangs. When you read some of the gangs or extremists bio’s, they most often cite jails and prisons for their behavior/actions/beliefs..i.e., they are looking into Muslims being recruited in the prisons.
on July 21st, 2011 at 4:45 pm
@Lauri J Owen, ‘[Y]ou need to stop using single quotes. This isn’t the UK.”
It isn’t the US, either. It is the Internet.
@RobNYNY1959 – Thanks, I stand corrected.
@Jane Schiff – no, it doesn’t. There is no “in-group, out-group” thing that needs to be respected. Akeem Kwame was claiming some sort of “sovereignty” nonsense as well as purposefully irking the judge. It has nothing to do with either Islam, nor should this Black supremacy be protected from mockery.
on July 21st, 2011 at 4:52 pm
I, however, parsed “Martian law” as a pun on “Moorish” law, but again, that does nothing to spread the idea that Muslims are extraterrestrials. “Moorish” does not equal “Muslim”.
on July 21st, 2011 at 5:46 pm
@Jane Schiff and Timbo:
Have a look at:
http://www.splcenter.org/get-i.....e-officers
Timbo’s account aligns with our research.
Robert Steinback
Deputy Editor, Hatewatch blog
Southern Poverty Law Center
on July 21st, 2011 at 10:06 pm
THINKWORLDPEACE,
I’m not being disrespectful, I am black, white, and native american. I do remember the stories (don’t know if true or not) about Cherokee Bill, and other stories about (Mulatto’s-at least that’s what some books say) having to translate Native American languages to the British when they (British) came ashore.
I say that I’m not going to take just any person’s word on all of this because if you look at some of the Native Americans in Canada and the Aboriginals in say, Australia, some are dark-skinned. Then look at some of the people in India (we used to call Indians as well, now we say Asians, or East Indians) it just makes this more confusing. Then you have the Nativists here in the U.S. claiming they were here first, which is something I don’t believe, especially with the fact that we’ve purchased states from Russia, France…that makes me think they were here before the Americans (British).
It is said, that some of the ‘Mulatto’s’ from Africa, that were ‘freed slaves’ traveled the Americas. As far as the Moorish peoples, I can’t comment on that specific group of people. I know that I’ve seen some of the indigenous peoples in the Commonwealth of Dominica, and they appear to have features of the Mayans that I’ve seen and know. My family is from the Mid-West. I’ve never been there. Yet, one of my relatives looks like a twin of one of the Native Americans ancestors at one of the casinos here in Califas.
on July 22nd, 2011 at 12:02 am
This guy’s got a great sense of humor. I thought Moors were Black Spaniards, based on the old joke about their winning a battle agaist the Basques when the Basques couldn’t escape the only door in their fort, the moral being “don’t put all your Basques in one exit”.
on July 22nd, 2011 at 10:36 am
Martian law?
Huh first think that came to mind was marvin the martian from bugs bunny
on July 22nd, 2011 at 2:03 pm
@ Everyone – Robert’s link to Leah Nelson’s report is sobering.
http://www.splcenter.org/get-i…..e-officers
on July 22nd, 2011 at 7:54 pm
Jesus these people are bunch of sickos, was reading the splc reports on them and there history is filled with murders,criminality and there leader was convicted for multiple child molestions offenese
on July 23rd, 2011 at 12:28 am
Ever hear of Prince Madoc? Supposedly from somewhere in Scandinavia, got run out of Wales, came here with some other yahoos outfitted with old Roman armor way before Columbus, built a big stone fort 14 miles upriver from Louisville on the “Rose Island” area. The smaller stones of that are in old chimneys all over Southern Indiana and the big ones base the Big Four Railroad Bridge in Louisville. Had a big camp near Sand Island at the Falls of the Ohio. The Native Americans considered that area common land for all tribes, and nicely told him so. He said basically, too bad, it’s my land now.. Chief Blackhawk of the Cherokee united all the local tribes for one mission, to kill every last one of them blond so and so’s.
on July 23rd, 2011 at 4:24 pm
The Vinland settlement was the first known settlement in the Americas, centuries before Columbus. It was built by Scandinavians, namely Vikings, but it was located in what is today the Maritime Provinces, nowhere near Indiana and not on the North American mainland. After the settlement was abandoned, there were no known European explorations/settlements in the Americas until the 1492 voyage.
on July 23rd, 2011 at 4:35 pm
“Jesus these people are bunch of sickos, was reading the splc reports on them and there history is filled with murders,criminality and there leader was convicted for multiple child molestions offenese”
I think you are mistaking the group to which this person belonged with another one. This nut almost surely belonged to the Moorish Science Temple of America, a very old Black supremacist cult (possibly the first in the USA?) predating the NOI. They are racist and quasi-Muslim, calling their holy book the Koran, their holy places mosques, etc. Their leader, Prophet Noble Drew Ali, is dead and was never convicted, to my knowledge of any such thing.
The Moorish Science Temple has members who are part of the sovereign citizens’ movement, a broader group of loosely affiliated individuals who follow certain “gurus” that speak at seminars. Sovereign citizens have no particular “leader”, and adherents to the ideology are dedicated to the movement in varying degrees. They are not racist per se and are not mostly Black supremacists.
You are probably referring to the Nuwaubians, a different Black supremacist cult whose leader was convicted of rape, child sexual abuse, and sexual assault. They believed in aliens, Bible codes, Blacks as the pillars of world civilization (including that Jesus and the Prophet Muhammad were Black), and most strongly, they believed in their leader, Dr. Malachi Z. York (the child rapist). There are still existing adherents to Nuwaubianism, who are pushing for their leader’s release from prison.
The three groups/movements are not the same.
on July 23rd, 2011 at 9:33 pm
Jonas, they may not have been the only ones. A stone with Templaresque carvings turned up in Minnesota, entwined in the roots of an old tree. Another similar artifact surfaced near Brandenburg, Ky. George Rogers Clark wrote about oral histories of blond haired, blue eyed “Indians” that some people think refer to Madoc. The Interpretive Center at the Falls of the Ohio State Park in Clarksville Indiana has the Brandenburg stone and displays some Roman coins found in the river bed near the falls there, with a short noncomittal storyboard, calling him an unverified legend. Nobody knows how these artifacts are related, if at all, but not every history in the world has been well recorded.
on July 24th, 2011 at 9:26 am
Your right Rand, Sorry i confuessed these two together.
on July 24th, 2011 at 5:35 pm
I didn’t take the Judge’s comments on Martian law to be a play on the ‘Moorish Law’ either. I took it that the Judge was fed up and just took another word that began with M to finish his statement. Honestly, I got a huge kick out of the Judge’s comments. And, yep, I do work in the legal field.
on July 25th, 2011 at 1:32 pm
Here’s one of my favorite links for exploration:
http://www.ethnologue.com/family_index.asp
Ethnologue language family index
on July 27th, 2011 at 3:04 pm
I say aloney baloney meaharjah kaboomala.
That makes as much sense as anything the idiot “Moorish” national had to say.
on August 2nd, 2011 at 7:25 am
Have you folks looked around you lately? You are in America! Living here requires you to abide by the laws of your state. I don’t care what you say you are, if you don’t want to abide by this country’s laws, leave and go to a country that suits your tastes. Did you hear me? GET OUT!!!!! Enough of this BS already!
on August 24th, 2011 at 3:51 pm
PLEASE READ
OK people let me explain to you how all of you are wrong and Akeem Kwame is write, America is not a nation, it is a corporation and it use to be called the east Indian corporation and when they came here the Europeans claimed all the land and the people and named them Indians as there property. the so called Indians were moors (black people) that’s what a moor is and native American who are (Asiatic moors) all Amerindian test positive as black in all DNA test. this land that you call America was rename from Amorica meaning( I am Moor ) white people could not call them selves moors under international law, white people in Africa can not call them selves Africans, so they call them selves Africana’s. so white people had to call them selves Americans. native American’s call them selves Natives and not indiginest people so they can get the tribal money from the government. white settlers erase all of the history of the moor’s so that the children can never claim there home land in international court. so they told us that we came from central Africa, but what you call America is really NW Africa and its the land of the moorish people. every the America Corp and the untied federal Corp (UN State) sign a treaty to operate on these lands every 50 years, its call the treaty of 1778, look it up on the net it’s there. This country belongs to morocco and all blacks and native Americans are Moroccans, also see the friendship treaty between morocco and America. he is Islamic, the word ISLAM has nothing to do with religion it stands for
I-I, S-Self, L-Law, A-am, M-aster. The constitution was not written by the founding fathers it was drafted by them read the history books and it say’s drafted, it was written by the ambassador of morocco, to protect the Moroccan people, moor’s, and the original is in morocco today. there are federal court cases where judges have told white people in court that the constitution was never written to protect you, that’s what they are talking about. George Washington was not the first president, he was the 8th, George Hinson was the first president and a Moor, he was the first under the newly formed United States and George Hinson was the first under the continental congress and jefferson was the second under the continental congress. Also this country was once ruled by Egypt look up the valley of kings in the grand canyon. All that you were taught in this country is a lie to cover up the real owners of this land. Indian children were taken from there parents and put in indian schools to teach them that they were native and the aboriginal people and there not moor’s and blacks (moor’s) were put in slavery in violation of the original constitution and the treaty of 1778, how they got around the treaty was to claim that all moor’s were Negro’s changing there international status, this is NW Africa, NW morocco. Think of it as this if California broke off from America and over a thousand years from now will it still be America yes it would be. and it is breaking off from the main land now.
on August 24th, 2011 at 5:15 pm
@ Mal Black
That is an astounding story; it makes David Icke’s claims look balanced and well-researched by comparison. I can’t tell if you’ve really been severely brainwashed or forgot to take your meds…or if you’re just trolling. :(
on August 26th, 2011 at 12:43 am
I have a open mind so why don’t you. do the research for yourself. don’t read the mainstream BS and take the time and read the treaty’s. Start at the Smithsonian, the treaty’s are all on public display, better yet call them and ask for yourself. i mind you that I am very clear headed and would never result in insults because I’m ignorant to you nations history. Call any one in Europe over the age of 50 and ask them what country this is and I bet you 100 to 1 they will tell you morocco, and read all the old news paper pre 1940 and they refer to America as morocco. then come back and post what ever you want. look at a world map and you can see that thousands of years ago this continent was connected to africa.
on September 12th, 2011 at 10:00 am
While Mal Black’s comments may not be presented in the most readable format, they may indeed be rooted in facts. The problem is that people that either don’t know exactly what they are talking about, or they are unable to present the information in an understandable way. The latter seems to be Mr. Black’s biggest obstical.
The idea that the UNITED STATES, (Notice the caps), acts as a corporation is supported by quite a bit of evidence. Also there is evidence that you have a straw man and it may be possible to declare sovereignty.
Now, there is a process to go through and it seems the defendant in the original story only verbally declared sovereignty and did not file the appropriate paperwork. In addition, you can NOT infringe on another’s constitutional rights and expect to avoid punishment because you are sovereign.
There is enough to learn about this to create a four year college program out of it. Absolutely more than I can cover in a post, and I’ve only just begun to discover these things, myself.
If you are really interested, Google is your friend. I started with gaining an understanding the Federal Reserve and fractional reserve banking. That in itself is enough to get your blood boiling! From there begin researching the United States as a corporation. You’ll have to filter through the sites that can’t back up the claims with law or cite their sources, but there are some that do. I was surprised to find YouTube to be a good source of info, too.
As for people that believe they are being patriotic by telling dissenters to gtfo of the country, you are being counterproductive. As stated by someone dead and famous that I can’t remember, “Dissention is the highest form of patriotism.” Question everything before discarding it as falsehood.
on September 12th, 2011 at 10:16 am
Also, Sam Malloy, I liked your joke.
on October 13th, 2011 at 7:36 pm
if you want to know if America and the united states are corporations go to Cornell law library online or google it and it will say united states is a united federal corporation and the moor was not taking the property of someone, he was claiming it as unclaimed property, as a aboriginal moor, banks can’t own land or money see banking act, David said he didn’t file papers you don’t have to file papers if that is his birth right. what he need to do is remove his case to fed court under title 1446 under international law or tittle 1331 under constitutional law section 2 art 6 international treaty and bring the treaty of 1778 with him, that’s his remady
on January 4th, 2012 at 1:13 am
Not using my name for obvious reasons. Decades ago, I was a member of the original organization, and studied the original doctrine. As a former executive, I can tell you that 99.9999 % of these people have no connection with the Moorish Temple and no intention of being lawful members of society. They have merely stumbled across some of the information that they have twisted beyond recognition. My time in the temple changed me from a juvenile delinquent and CRIMINAL, to a hard working family man of 30 years, raising with my wife, 4 children, two of whom have attained masters degrees . The founder taught respect and support for our American country and government, not this foolishness. Any sincere inquiry will reveal that these confused individuals and bootleg groups have no desire to obey the law of the land. If the law decides to grant then their proclaimed ” sovereign status ” and begins to ship them to any place on earth that will accept them as exiles, I guarantee you this foolishness will cease overnight !
on May 9th, 2012 at 10:36 pm
Good for him! If more people do this we may be able to break free of our ownership by the foreign banks.