Watch polite cops’ incredible takedown of ‘sovereign citizen’ who thought he was above the law during a traffic stop
- ‘Sovereign citizen’ tried to get out of a traffic ticket
- Cops remain polite and calm during long-winded argument
Two Australian cops have outwitted a ‘sovereign citizen’ who tried to talk his way out of a ticket for not wearing a seatbelt by using nonsense ‘legal’ arguments.
The Victorian officers pulled the man over during a routine traffic stop which he then filmed and recently posted the entire rambling 11-minute-long exchange online.
He seems to be more interested in trying to appear smarter than the police officers for his video, asking them for their business card, ABN number and, bizarrely, feeling it important they agree that he is a ‘living’ man.
The man asks if he is under arrest, to which one officer replies ‘no’, and he then argues with the officer that he is free to go.
‘What I’m telling you is that you’re being detained for the purpose of a traffic stop. Do you understand the difference between detained and arrest?,’ the officer says.
The Victorian policeman remains calm and polite throughout the entire 11-minute exchange despite the man repeatedly arguing with him
The officer explains when someone is put under arrest, some of their human rights are revoked because they are accused of a crime.
‘You’re detained to ascertain what has occurred, and what my partner and I have observed is that you were travelling without your seatbelt.’
The interaction is the latest to appear online as part of the underground ‘sovereign citizen’ movement in which followers believe the laws of a country don’t apply to them simply because they decide they don’t.
‘I don’t consent to any of this,’ the man tells the officer.
The patient cop then responds calmly: ‘Okay, but I’ve still got to go through this process. I understand that you’re not going to want to consent. That’s completely fine’.
He then asks the man for his name and address, which he refuses to provide and asks under what law that is required.
The officer tells him the exact law: ‘The summary offences act, which is 458’.
‘(That is) an act, not a law,’ the man argues.
‘Failing to provide your name and address, I can’t ensure your appearance in court, and therefore I need to detain you or arrest you for the purpose of identifying you,’ he says.
The man gives his name but does not give his address.
The officer tells the man to look up and read the law he has cited on his phone.
At this point, the man gets agitated and stumbles over his argument.
The officer’s female partner then looks up the car’s registration, and they tell him they have found his address that way.
His partner looked up the man’s vehicle registration after he refused to provide his name and address
‘You’re smirking at me. You’ve got another person rolling up here with your guns trying to intimidate me and threatening to arrest me for you thinking arbitrarily that I wasn’t wearing a seatbelt,’ the man says.
The officer tells the man there was ‘no way I used the word arbitrarily’ and that they now have his name and address for the fine so he can go.
Commenters on the clip commended the officers for remaining polite and calm.
‘I started listening, and my annoyance factor was too high to continue. I don’t know how you can deal with this stuff all day and night,’ one person said.
‘It would be incredibly difficult to put up with not only the nonsense this man is saying but the tone in which he is saying it,’ another said.
‘Do they understand that by registering their vehicle and obtaining a license they have agreed to follow road rules,’ a third added.
