By Joanna Putman
Police1
HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — The Harris County Sheriff’s Office has released body camera footage of a man who opened fire at deputies after his car was disabled during the pursuit, according to a critical incident briefing.
The April 14 incident began when a sergeant conducting traffic enforcement stopped a 47-year-old man for a broken taillight and expired registration, KTRK reported at the time of the incident.
The man made claims similar to those often made by sovereign citizens during traffic stops and refused to comply with the sergeant’s commands, demanding the presence of a supervisor, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez stated at the time.
Video from the briefing released on Sept. 23 shows the man producing a lengthy document for the deputy when asked for identification, rather than a driver’s license. The briefing does not say whether the paperwork the man produced stated that he was not required to follow the deputy’s instructions.
“Oh you’re a sovereign citizen. Oh, here we go,” the deputy can be heard saying.
“I am not a sovereign citizen. Don’t do that,” the man said.
The sovereign citizen movement has become the bane of many police officers in the U.S.
Multiple supervisors and deputies arrived at the scene, attempting to reason with the man, who was later found to have a felony warrant from Brazoria County for evading police, according to the KTRK report. After more than an hour of negotiations, the man attempted to flee and drove over spike strips set by deputies, sparking a brief pursuit, video shows.
The pursuit ended when deputies used a PIT maneuver to stop the car. The man can be seen exiting the vehicle before shooting at deputies, leading to an exchange of gunfire in which the man was killed.
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