Prisoner demands land to start own country

An Illinois prisoner in Dixon has filed a lawsuit with an eye-popping demand: He wants his own country.

In an 18-page filing Tuesday with U.S. District Court in Chicago, Johnathan Pinney accuses state and federal officials of repeatedly violating his rights over the years, including by falsely arresting him.

As compensation, the 26-year-old serving a 4½-year sentence for aggravated battery says he won’t accept just any existing country. He wants the U.S. to grant him uninhabited land to start a new nation.

The lawsuit says the territory should have enough arable land to sustain 5,000 people who’d join him later. It adds land in Alaska would be “acceptable.”

The suit names Illinois, federal agencies and others as defendants. It was posted electronically on Tuesday and includes an official clerk-of-court stamp.