There are a lot of people calling Jill Lane, James McClung and a national anti-government group modern day Robin Hoods. In reality they are glorified thieves.

One of the first incidents in the Northwest of a movement using squatting, legal loopholes and bogus documents to try and gain ownership rights to homes took place in Kirkland’s Market neighborhood in June. The result was the arrest of Lane and $35,000 in legal fees for the bank that rightfully owned the property.

The use of these tactics is going national. Many of the squatters are connected by far right anti-government groups such as Sovereign Citizens. The Sovereign Citizens believe that they are exempt from government requirements such as taxes, driver’s licenses and in some cases child support, among other things.

Earlier this week, five people were arrested in DeKalb County in Georgia who have connections to the group. The five people had moved into foreclosed homes and filed phony paperwork in an attempt to gain ownership. The five are linked to 17 homes across the state worth around $10 million. The crime is not confined to just residential homes. The group also took control of a strip mall where they charged rent to unwitting businesses.

Lane herself told a local radio talk-show host in June that she was a part of something bigger. She said she was trying to teach the banks and government a lesson. But that lesson scared neighbors in the Market neighborhood.

Lane’s squatting attempt has been met with no charges as of yet, leaving many in the Kirkland community to wonder what kind of message that is sending. Luckily, when pieces of paper recently showed up on two more million-dollar homes in the Market neighborhood, no one was actually squatting in the house.

Make no mistake, the economic problems this country is going through has a lot to do with Wall Street and big banks playing fast and loose with the rules, not to mention other people’s money. The left and right sides of the political spectrum can debate the merits of stronger regulation versus less regulation.

But these so-called Robin Hoods or anti-government protesters are thieves and should be dealt with as such.

The system needs to be fixed, but this is not the way to do it. That “two wrongs do not make a right” has never been more accurate. Fixing the system the right way takes work and activism, not greed and opportunism.

These recent acts to gain possession of Eastside homes occured just a few days after former Kirkland investment Broker Rhonda Breard was sentenced to 80 months in prison for defrauding investors of more than $12 million. The two issues are very much alike: They both involve fraud, a lot of forethought, millions of dollars and theft.

The idea of taking something from the banks may be somehow justified to some people, but when it is someone’s retirement, foreclosed home or other loss, it is all stealing.