Man claiming to be ‘sovereign citizen’ attacks judge in courtroom melee

Joseph Catarineau is facing fraud charges – and is now likely to face assault charges as well

Joseph Catarineau, 58, a self proclaimed “sovereign citizen” who allegedly assaulted a bailiff, a judge and a prosecutor in a Harris County courthouse (Harris County Sheriffs Office)

A man claiming to be a "sovereign citizen" attacked a bailiff, a judge and a prosecutor when he was brought to a court to face fraud charges.

The attack occurred in Harris County, Texas on Tuesday morning, according to prosecutors.

Joseph Catarineau, a 58-year-old claiming to be a sovereign citizen, is facing charges alleging that he had made false statements on his financial records. He appeared in court when his attorney requested to withdraw from his case.

Judge Danny Lacayo asked Mr Catarineau about being represented by a court-appointed attorney, which reportedly resulted in him becoming angry and belligerent. According to The Houston Chronicle, Mr Catarineau began talking back to the judge, which prompted him to order a bailiff to take him into custody and to be held without bond.

At that point, Mr Catarineau allegedly grabbed the bailiff's pony tail, pulled her to the ground and began punching her. The judge rushed out to help her, as did prosecutor Jacob Salinas, who began fighting Mr Catarineau.

The bailiff attempted to use a Taser on Mr Catarineau, but he allegedly knocked it out of her hands and returned to fighting the judge and the prosecutor. The bailiff eventually managed to stun Mr Catarineau, but because he was grappling with the judge and prosecutor they were stunned as well.

Mr Catarineau will likely be charged with three counts of assault of a public servant as a result.

Sovereign Citizens are often far right wing extremists who believe they are not subject to the law. Most oppose paying taxes and refuse to comply with orders from public officials.

Several high profile - and sometimes deadly - attacks on police officers and other public officials have been carried out by individuals claiming to be sovereign citizens.

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the political movement was founded by a former member of the John Birch Society, an extreme right wing group that has pushed political conspiracy theories since the late 1950s.

The sovereign citizens grew out of a Christian extremist group called the Posse Comitatus, which acknowledged county sheriffs as the highest form of government authority, eschewing the US legal system in favour of common law, which they believe is Biblically based.

The distilled version of their ideology is rooted in the idea that the "true" government established by the founding fathers was at some point replaced by the modern American legal system, which they do not recognise.