Politics & Government

'Sovereign Citizen' Follower Gets Prison for Threats to Kirkland Mayor, Other City Officials

David Russell Myrland was sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court to 40 months in prison.

A 53-year-old Kirkland man and member of the so-called “Sovereign Citizen” movement was sentenced to three years and four months in prison Friday for a string of threats to Kirkland Mayor Joan McBride and other city officials after a traffic stop in 2010.

David Russell Myrland was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Seattle by Judge Ricardo S. Martinez. He is also required to to pay the city $1,961 for overtime police costs, and will be on probation for three years after his release.

He was arrested on Jan. 25 of this year for a series of threats to government officials, including threatening to arrest them with “deadly force,” according to prosecutors.

Myrland has been in custody since his January arrest, and Emily Langlie, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney for Western Washington, said his sentence does credit him for time served.

Members of the “Sovereign Citizen” movement claim the laws of the United States do not apply to them.

Myrland was pulled over in Kirkland for driving without a license plate and was cited for not having a driver's license. Police say he told the officer he was not subject to Washington State laws regarding driving, and that if the officer were to arrest him, he would be authorized by the constitution to go to the officer’s residence and arrest the officer, including with the use of deadly force.

Myrland then allegedly took the issue to a Sovereign Citizen group with members in both Pierce and Skagit County, a group that has an armed wing, the so-called “County Rangers.”

In 2010 Myrland sent emails and made telephone calls to city officials urging them “keep their doors locked” because they were going to be arrested. Myrland was arrested on state charges at that time, and when his associates continued to make threats by mail, federal charges were filed against him.

Mayor McBride and other city officials appeared in court Friday for the sentencing.

“Our cherished right to free speech does not extend to the freedom to make threats against our public officials and law enforcement officers,” U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan said in a news release.

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“Today the court held Mr. Myrland accountable for his crimes. For too long Kirkland Mayor Joan McBride and other city officials have had to live with the specter of Mr. Myrland’s armed associates invading their homes. I applaud the courage of the mayor and her officers who appeared at the sentencing hearing today and described how this defendant’s selfish campaign…has altered their lives.”

McBride said she felt compelled to attend the sentencing and make a statement.

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"I am the person elected to help protect this community," she said. "The threats were not just against me, they were against my office. They're threats to the citizens of Kirkland. I really had to do that.

"I'm just happy the process is, at least for me, now over. I am amazingly relieved. I am happy to have some closure on this."

Despite pleading guilty, Myrland continues to argue that he has a right to make such threats, according to the press release.

Prosecutors had asked for a four-year sentence. The case was investigated by the FBI and other federal agencies, along with the Kirkland Police Department.


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