WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – Sheriff Grady Judd on Monday identified the man responsible for a weekend shooting in which a “sovereign citizen” shot two deputies and then was killed when backup deputies returned fire.
Kyran Caples, 26, was shot and killed on Saturday morning, according to Judd. The sheriff said Caples also went by Kmac El Bey, a name he gave himself as part of “Moorish sovereign citizen” identity.
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The sheriff’s office said a deputy was checking out Hunt Fountain Park shortly after midnight on Saturday morning due to burglary concerns in the area.
The deputy found a vehicle at the park, even though the park had closed over two hours earlier.
When the deputy approached the vehicle, the driver, Caples, “barely rolled the window down,” and refused to cooperate or answer any of the deputy’s questions, Judd explained.
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“(The deputy) noticed he was dressed all in white as if he were in some kind of religious or cult garb. He certainly wasn’t in normal street clothes,” Judd stated on Monday.
As a result, the deputy called for backup, and two other deputies — Lt. Chad Anderson and Deputy Craig Smith — arrived at the scene.
When they tried to get Caples out of the vehicle, deputies said the man pulled a gun and shot both Anderson and Smith.
Deputies returned fire and struck Caples eight times, killing him.
Judd said Caples identified as a sovereign citizen: a member of a group who believes the current government is illegitimate and has no authority over them.
“He identifies as Moorish. He uses a ‘No. 13 Lionhearted’ on his Florida driver’s license. Beside his signature, he has written ‘ARR’ — ‘All Rights Reserved,’ Judd said.
Caples was homeless at the time of the shooting, Judd added. The man didn’t have a criminal record before the shooting.
Judd said Caples had several guns in his vehicle, “so he could have started a small gun battle if he wanted to.” Investigators said they aren’t sure where Caples got the firearms from.
After speaking with Caples’ mother, investigators said Caples had become “radicalized” after attending Fresno State University in California.
“He’s a sovereign citizen. The ‘Moorish’ rejects federal, state and local law. They don’t have to obey it. They’re extremist,” Judd said.
According to Judd, his office has encountered Moorish sovereign citizens like Caples in the past, and they typically provide law enforcement with the following message:
“This is a valid and lawful form of identification (See United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Article(s) 2 and 33 Section 1). You are being put on notice that any unlawful act against an Indigenous Yahudium Moor is a Federal Crime and you will be fined $750,000 or more. Any violation of my rights, well being or property is your express agreement to be held officially and privately liable for $750,000 for each violation of the bearer’s rights, in each capacity. If detaining the bearer, you also expressly agree to the fee schedule to $90,000 per hour of detainment. Upon any lawful detainment and violation of the bearer’s right, payment is due immediately in lawful money.”
Judd added that not all encounters with Moorish sovereign citizens end in violence, as they usually just file paperwork, such as liens against judges and clerks.
“Here’s the most senseless part of this. Well, you look through this Moorish rhetoric, that’s pretty senseless. But (Caples) was in a park that was closed,” Judd said on Monday. “Had he simply identified himself when we found he had a suspended driver’s license, he couldn’t have driven off. We didn’t have to bring any criminal charges against him. More than likely, we would’ve said, ‘Hey, let’s get somebody to give you a ride,’ and that would’ve been the end of it.”
Anderson and Smith, at last check, were both in the intensive care unit.
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