Sovereign citizen: Man is dragged out of Ballarat courthouse before he launches into bizarre rant

A ‘sovereign citizen’ was dragged out of a courthouse before launching into a bizarre tirade against the legal system. 

The burly man struggled to break free as he was escorted out of a courthouse at Ballarat, in Victoria, by at least three people.

The intense altercation was filmed by a bystander showing the man trying to barge back into the courthouse and accusing staff of denying his rights.

‘You’re denying my right to law,’ the man screamed in the video uploaded to Twitter on Saturday.

The man being escorted out of Ballarat Courthouse by three security staff  as he claims he is being ‘denied’ his ‘right to law’ (pictured)

The man is seen aggressively charging back towards the door of the courthouse before he is stopped by the staff members.

‘You – calm down,’ a worker told him.

The man ignores the warning and tries to get through the door a second time.

He stands over a smaller female staff member who is blocking the entrance and repeats his claim that she is denying him his right to law. 

The reason the man was at the courthouse is unclear.

The staff eventually return inside before the man points to a paper sign near the door, which appears to mention the Court Security Act 1980.

He then uses the piece of legislation in a bizarre attempt to justify his actions.

‘The Court Security Act 1980 is why I was defending my rights,’ he claimed. 

‘My rights under law, not legislation. Corporate has nothing to do with law. It is legislation it is a legal ‘Act”.

He then points to the signature of a government official at the bottom of the paper.

‘It tells you right here, in black and white, because they must tell the truth eventually,’ he said.

‘Right here it declares… Acting Chief Executive Officer, Magistrates Court of Victoria.

‘That is not a government position. That is not a lawful government position… that is a corporation.

‘I do not stand under the authority of a corporation. I stand under the law of the Commonwealth of Australia.’

Once outside, the man then launches into a bizarre rant about why the law of the court doesn’t apply to him 

The video echoes similar clips which have been appearing more and more online as so-called ‘sovereign citizens’ share their strange claims about why they are above the law.

‘SovCits’ as they are also known, have been on the rise, growing in dark corners of the internet especially during the Covid pandemic. 

Dean of Law at Southern Cross University former magistrate David Heilpern said the movement has zero legal basis, news.com.au reported.

‘As a magistrate, I dealt with literally hundreds of these people who would come to court and claim all sorts of bizarre rights apply to them,’ he said.

‘They see themselves as somehow special, and that the laws that apply to everyone else, don’t apply to them, because they have this specialised legal knowledge that means that they don’t have to comply with the laws. It’s utter, complete garbage.’