Man barred from Pierce County home where 5 died said he was ‘sovereign citizen’
The 32-year-old man previously ordered by a judge to stay away from the Pierce County home where four people were fatally stabbed Tuesday had several prior run-ins with the police, mostly during traffic stops.
Court documents show the man often refused to identify himself to officers or said he was a “sovereign citizen.” The FBI has described the sovereign citizens movement as anti-government extremists who believe that although they live in the United States they are “sovereign” from the country and don’t have to answer to any government authority.
In two traffic cases in Pierce and Kitsap counties, he contested citations for driving without insurance and expired vehicle registration and later filed a notice to the court stating he wasn’t subject to the law as a “foreign sovereign.” The notices asked for millions of dollars from the government.
Authorities have not identified the suspect or the victims of Tuesday’s deadly stabbing incident in a quiet neighborhood on the Key Peninsula. A Sheriff’s Office deputy shot and killed a 32-year-old man following reports of a man stabbing people outside, bringing the death toll to five.
The News Tribune is not naming him until authorities have released his information.
But court records show the 52-year-old woman who lived at the home deputies responded to in the 14000 block of 87th Avenue Court Northwest had previously sought protection orders against her 32-year-old son.
The protection orders were granted in Pierce County Superior Court in January 2021 and May 2025, each for one year. Petitions for those orders described the son’s threatening behavior with a knife and mental health issues.
The man underwent a mental health evaluation in February 2023, court records show. He was later deemed competent.
Between 2020 and 2026, the man was cited at least six times for driving without insurance, not having a valid driver’s license or not renewing his 2002 Toyota’s registration after the police stopped him, according to court records. Traffic cases were filed in Pierce and Kitsap counties, Gig Harbor, Fife and Puyallup.
He was arrested in January 2023 in Gig Harbor on outstanding warrants, court documents show. A property owner asked the police to trespass him from Uptown Gig Harbor, a shopping area, where he had been throwing peanuts and refused to leave.
Officers found the man in the driver’s seat of a car in the parking lot. According to court documents, he argued with an officer over “Foreign Citizen ideology” and was forced to exit the vehicle after he refused to get out.
The man reportedly provided police with a document about his “foreign sovereign immunity.” He was cited for second-degree trespassing, driving with a suspended license in the third degree and given an infraction for failure to renew his registration. Officers booked him into the Kitsap County Jail.
A report from an October 2022 traffic stop in Gig Harbor noted that officers had previously tried to stop him during the city’s “Race For A Soldier” run. He had reportedly sped well over the 25 mph speed limit on Soundview Drive while runners were on the road.
The man reportedly told officers at the time that he was not a person but an entity, and that he didn’t believe in their rules and regulations. An officer let him go with a warning because he was working the event as a safety officer.
Editor Alexis Krell and staff writers Isabela Lund and Julia Park contributed to this report.
