Hassan Bey and Tinka El: Georgia couple accused of 'extreme child cruelty' claim immunity as 'Moorish sovereigns'
AUGUSTA, GEORGIA: A couple was arrested at their Evans home and charged with extreme child cruelty. Hassan Sahih Bey, 30, and Tinka El, 25, were taken into custody on April 6 after a Columbia County Sheriff’s deputy responded to August University Health pediatric intensive care unit at 1120 15th St to investigate a report of cruelty to children.
The deputy spoke with a representative for the Department of Family and Children’s Services (DFACS) and learned that one of the children had to be placed on a respirator and had been diagnosed with rickets disease, which causes softening and weakening of bones in children due to vitamin D deficiency. The child reportedly also had bone malformation due to malnutrition, which may require corrective surgery, per the Mayo Clinic.
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Suspects arrested and charged
Tinka El told law enforcement that she had two other children at home with their father, Hassan Sahih Bey. When Bey arrived at the hospital, police learned that the other two children, aged one year and one week, also needed to be hospitalized. The one-year-old was also diagnosed with rickets while the one-week-old was found to be severely malnourished. Bey and El have now been charged with three counts of Cruelty to Children, Deprivation of Necessary Sustenance, and one count of Giving False Name, Address, or Birthday to Law Enforcement. Both suspects, who have been denied bond in this case, reportedly claim to be members of the anti-government Moorish Sovereign Citizens Group, according to a report by WJBF.
What is the Moorish Sovereign Citizens movement?
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, “Moorish sovereigns espouse an interpretation of sovereign doctrine that African Americans constitute an elite class within American society with special rights and privileges that convey on them a sovereign immunity placing them beyond federal and state authority." They reportedly "use this perceived immunity to justify refusing to pay taxes, buy auto insurance, register their vehicles, and to defraud banks and other lending institutions. Many Moorish sovereigns also profit by selling bogus registration, licensing, and insurance documents on websites promoting Moorish sovereign beliefs and doctrines.”
MEAWW previously reported how a 12-year-old Louisiana boy died of malnutrition and was "half the size of what he should be" at the time of his death. Brogan Duhon's parents faced charges of second-degree murder after he died of malnutrition. He weighed just 28 pounds at the time of his death. “After he died we found out from other people he was 12,” one neighbor told KPLC-TV. “Some kid 12 years old, he’s half the size of what he should be, and I don’t know what goes on in that house over there,” another neighbor offered. “We didn’t know how old he was until after he died, we thought he was five.” Speaking to KSLA, residents said they would rarely see the boy, but when they did he would ask for food.