Who is William Hardison? Suspect in Garfield standoff held sovereign citizen beliefs
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- What caused William Hardison to fire thousands of shots after sheriff's deputies showed up to evict him? It's a question many are trying to answer as Garfield and neighboring communities attempt to deal with the trauma of the long standoff on Wednesday.
Law enforcement sources say William Hardison had 15 guns in this house and a seemingly unlimited supply of ammunition all used in the misguided belief that the law of the United States did not apply to him and the house was rightfully his.
In a video four years ago during a traffic stop on the North Side, William Hardison says, "This ain't their land. This is my land. I'm a Moor."
He tells them he is a Moor, a decedent of Morocco -- a country he says owns the United States and as such, the laws of this country do not apply to him.
"I'm a Moor. I got every right to travel from here to Timbuktu," he says.
Court records show he has been cited more than 30 times in the past 15 years for not having a license or registration and in the video, he tells police they have no jurisdiction over him. He considers himself what is known as a sovereign citizen -- above the law.
"I consider them outlaws," said Chatham University professor Christine Sarteschi. "That's how I best describe sovereign citizens. They're people who think they're above the law, they don't have to follow the law and so they behave accordingly."
Sarteschi believes Hardison's Moroccan heritage and sovereign citizen beliefs may have led to the fatal confrontation with police. She says Moorish sovereign citizens believe everything in the U.S. is rightfully theirs.
"Which sometimes leads to squatting situations where they think that they own that house," Sarteschi said.
Court records show the house was owned by Hardison's brother Joseph, who died in March 2021. It was deeded to their father, William Hardison Sr., who neglected to make mortgage payments. The house was foreclosed upon and sold in March to a limited liability corporation called 907 East Street.
William Hardison Jr. was evicted from an apartment on the Northside last year for non-payment of rent. The attorney for 907 East Street says he began squatting in the Board Street home in April, and the LLC petitioned for his eviction in May. William Jr. then filed papers in federal court accusing the new owners of fraud and trespassing, maintaining the house was his and refusing to leave -- despite a judge's order to do so.
"I expected something like that from him. He was a squatter," said a neighbor.
According to law enforcement sources, he had his brother's 15 handguns and a mountain of ammunition on the ready.
"He said they did his brother wrong, 'but they're not going to do that to me, I got something for them,'" the neighbor said.
Miraculously, no law enforcement officer or citizen was seriously injured in the melee, but William Hardison would lose his life all on the mistaken belief that the laws of this country did not apply to him.
The sheriff's department says this wasn't the first time Harrison had been through an eviction process. He was evicted from a home on the North Side last fall.
