Utah Police release bodycam footage of a traffic stop in a parking lot that ended in the shooting of the driver linked to the movement of sovereign citizens

The image is from body-worn police camera video provided by the Farmington City, Utah Police Department (Farmington City Police Department via AP).

Body worn camera footage from a fatal Utah traffic stop shows what led to the fight between officers and the uncooperative driver shortly before his death.

Chase Allan, 25, was shot dead by police in Farmington on March 1. City officials had released a statement at the time that gave few details of the incident, and Allan’s family said in a statement that police had “blocked” them.

“Our family was not properly notified as next of kin of Chase’s death,” the family said in their statement. “We, along with the entire community, learned of Chase’s death through news reporters and articles written online.”

Farmington Police Chief Eric Johnsen shared a compilation of body camera footage of the five officers involved and a dashcam video of the incident at a news conference on Wednesday. According to the video, the officers opened fire after at least one of them yelled “Gun!” several times during a fight to get Allan out of the car.

The video shows the initial interactions between Allan and the person Johnsen, referred to as “Officer A”. Much of Allan’s verbal exchanges with officers were largely inaudible.

“I don’t need a registration and I don’t answer questions,” Allan could be heard saying after Officer A told him his car had “no registration”.

Officer A called for backup as Allan continued to refuse to answer questions or identify himself.

“You have no way of identifying yourself,” the officials can be heard saying. “You are required by law to identify yourself. You can give me your ID and we can have a chat about the laws you broke, or you can choose not to identify yourself to me and we can go that route as well.”

“The direction of this encounter is 100% in your hands,” Officer A added.

After some back and forth, Allan apparently shows the officer a “passport” identifying him as Chase Allan.

“Thank you, Mr. Chase Allan,” the officer is heard saying.

“It’s not me, it’s a piece of plastic paper,” Allan replies.

“So you have a fake passport?” asks Officer A. “Wonderful.”

By this time, other officers have arrived and are also urging Allan to get out of the car. An officer tells Allan that unless he voluntarily gets out of the car, officers will break the window and drag him out.

“Get out of the car for me,” says an officer.

“No,” Allan replies.

“Sir, get out of the vehicle,” repeats an officer.

“No, I don’t have to,” says Allan.

Allan is then heard saying that the officers “are going to have a problem” if they proceed. At the press conference, Johnsen pointed out that Allan flips his phone from one hand to the other, revealing a gun holster on his hip that appears to “bend upwards”.

As an officer opens the car door, Allan’s hand can be seen moving to his right hip where the holster is located. The video also shows that Allan is wearing his seat belt at this time, and the seat belt buckle is also near his right hip.

A struggle to get Allan out of the car ensues, and within seconds an officer is yelling, “Gun! Gun!” Gun! Gun!”

All five officers then opened fire on the car. An engine can be heard revving up, which Johnson attributes to Allan’s foot on the accelerator.

“Cease fire!” an officer can be heard shouting repeatedly.

Video then shows an officer removing Allan’s motionless body from the car. Johnsen finds the holster on his hip empty and a gun lying on the floor of the driver’s seat.

According to Johnsen, the car had a “placard” where the license plate should be.

“There’s a flag symbol, I don’t know what the text on it says,” Johnsen told reporters. “It’s not a plate from the state of Utah or any of the other 49 states.”

When asked for a response to the Allan family’s allegation that Chase Allan’s death was a “brutal homicide” by police, Johnsen appeared to be covering up something after previously saying the investigation into the shootings is ongoing.

“I’m saying it’s just a tragic end to what began as an everyday traffic delay,” the police chief said. “The proverbial routine traffic stop ended in tragedy.”

At the start of the press conference, Johnsen said that the “people who have gathered to support the Allan family” have done so “peacefully and appropriately” and that he appreciates their restraint.

According to local news reports, Allan and his family have long been associated with the so-called “sovereign citizen” movement, whose supporters claim they are under no obligation to obey state or federal law.

The Post-Utah Police Department, which released bodycam footage of a traffic stop in a parking lot that ended in the shooting death of a driver associated with the sovereign citizen movement, first appeared on Law & Crime.

https://lawandcrime.com/crime/utah-police-release-bodycam-footage-of-parking-lot-traffic-stop-that-ended-in-shooting-death-of-driver-linked-to-sovereign-citizen-movement/ Utah Police release bodycam footage of a traffic stop in a parking lot that ended in the shooting of the driver linked to the movement of sovereign citizens