Christine Sarteschi is a criminology professor at Chatham University in Pittsburgh, Penn., who’s been monitoring the movements of Romana Didulo, the conspiracy theorist who’s declared herself the “Queen of Canada.” In an earlier piece for The Conversation Canada, Sarteschi wrote about the true harm Didulo is causing to her “subjects,” who have lost homes and faced criminal charges after following her “royal decrees.”

Sarteschi is back with a followup piece today in The Conversation Canada, delving into how Didulo, closely connected to the sovereign citizenship movement, is extending her reach into the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. She and her fellow self-proclaimed monarchs abroad are seeking to replace legitimate governments.

Didulo’s claims are ridiculous and false. She says she’s a reptilian shape-shifter who can become invisible at any given time and that she has healing chambers aboard her many space ships. Nonetheless, her calls to action led directly to the alleged assault of Canadian police officers at a recent protest in Peterborough, Ont.

Sarteschi writes: “She may be laughable but she is most certainly not harmless, and her movement’s global expansion needs to be taken seriously by authorities.”

Also today:

• The simple reason a viral math equation stumped the internet
• Fostering a ‘fear-based environment’: Coaches’ behaviours need to change in high performance sport
• Talking things out: How institutional transparency could improve animal research

All the best,