Trump supporters sound a lot like Sovereign Citizens don't you think?OK, you don't want to be part of society, fine, but you can't use public roadways, that are paid for and maintained by gas and income taxes, which you also refuse to pay.
A 25-year-old man who espoused beliefs that aligned with the so-called āsovereign citizenā movement was shot dead by police officers in Utah after being pulled over for driving without a proper license plate.
On March 1, Chase Allan, 25, was pulled over by police in the small Utah town of Farmington after cops noticed he was driving without a legitimate license plate. In its stead was a plate that read āAmerican State Citizen, Utahā and featured the U.S. sealāsomething an expert described as a sovereign citizen symbol.
Police released body camera footage of the shooting on Wednesday afternoon, which shows Allan speaking through a small crack in the window and refusing to provide his ID. "I don't need registration, and I don't answer questions,ā Allan tells the police officer.
Eventually Allan provides the officer with his passport although he refuses to say that he is Chase Allan and adds that the passport is just a piece of plastic. āIf you donāt step out weāre going to break the window and pull you out,ā a cop tells Allan, who does not leave the vehicle and instead states, āWeāre going to have an issue.ā
Police then move in to remove him from the vehicle, and one repeatedly says āgun.ā During a press conference revealing the footage Wednesday, Farmington Police Chief Eric Johnsen noted on the screen that Allanās gun holster was initially obscured in the car and the weapon was eventually visible on the floor. Itās unclear if Allan was reaching for it at any point as he was also holding a cell phone.
Within seconds of the officer yelling āgun,ā a barrage of shots ring out, hitting Allan, who later died at a hospital.
Allan was hit 12 times, according to the family, who described the situation as a ābrutal murderā and raised questions about if the arrest was targeted, an idea the police rejected. In an emotional Facebook post, Allanās sister wrote that police were āstonewallingā them and that they learned about his death from the news.
āI donāt want to speculate, but I think the initial officer made a really interesting comment to the driver that āthis is going to go the way you decide itās going to go,āā said Chief Johnsen when asked if he thought the situation could have gone any other way.
Allan lived at home with his parents who described him as a āson, brother, grandson, nephew, peer, teammate, student and neighbor amongst many other important roles he played within our community.ā
āHe has been studying law the last few years and was a patriot doing what he could to defend the peopleās freedom and liberty in his community,ā his family wrote about him.
While Allanās beliefs arenāt definitively known, there are several indications he was an adherent to the sovereign citizen movement, which can be best described as a group of people who believe theyāre not bound by the laws of the country they reside in. Driving without a legitimate license plate, refusing to cooperate with police officers, and claiming independence from the laws of the land are typical in the movement.
Allanās family rejected the term āsovereign citizen,ā instead describing him as a āstate national.ā In a statement made to Heavy.com, Allanās sister said, āThe term sovereign citizen has been used by certain entities to weaponize government and law enforcement against the people.ā However, according to sovereign citizen expert Christine Sarteschi āaside from a bit of difference in nomenclature, they are the same.ā
Allan had previously interrupted a court hearing over his motherās traffic violationāwhere she was ticketed for driving an unregistered and uninsured car without a licenseāand was so disruptive he had to be removed from the courthouse. Both Allan and his mother had used arguments tied to the sovereign citizen movement in the courthouse.
Sovereign citizen ideology has been around for decades but experienced a resurgence in popularity during the pandemic. Across the world, people were using the ideas from the community to refuse to comply with COVID-19 health restrictions. Despite the departure of government health regulations, the growth of the sovereign citizen movement has not slowed down.
Sovereign citizens have a longstanding history of not cooperating with police and, in some cases, being so anti-authority it leads to violence. In a recent case in Australia, two police officers and a neighbor were ambushed and killed by three people. The three were then shot dead during a police raid following the killings.
Man Killed by Cops During Traffic Stop Had āSovereign Citizenā License Plate
Chase Allan was pulled over by Utah cops for not having a proper license plate. He said he didnāt need a registration and didnāt have to cooperate.www.vice.com