The mother of the law student killed by Utah police earlier this month considered herself a “sovereign citizen” and had a similar run-in with law enforcement last year, although she survived their encounter.
Chase Allan, 25, was fatally shot March 1 in Farmington, Utah during a traffic stop. His family have since said they found out through the news that their son had been killed and that police were uncooperative in answering their questions.
In the two weeks since the fatal burglary, it has come to light that Allan’s mother, Diane Killian Allan, claimed in a September 2022 lawsuit that she was a sovereign citizen and not subject to the jurisdiction of Farmington City or any United States government.
The lawsuit was the result of an April 2022 traffic stop for an expired vehicle registration, which is the same violation her son was stopped for nearly a year later.
In 2022, Allan’s mother, Diane, was pulled over for driving without a license. She also refused to answer police questions. Now she’s suing the police
Diane Allan questions the officer who stopped her on April 7, 2022
During the interaction, Diane Allan can be seen on police bodycams asking what the “probable cause” of the stop was, to which the officer explained that it was her “registration that has expired.”
“That’s not a likely reason,” she said, as she declined to give her name or tell the officer if the care was insured or registered.
The officer can be heard at one point during the recording phoning a colleague to ask how to handle the situation.
“Is it worth dragging her out of her car and arresting her for lack of identification?” asks the officer.
‘NO. Probably not,’ his colleague replied.
The colleague instead suggested that the officer tick Allan for missing a driver’s license and expired vehicle registration.
A message is also heard during the call, telling the officer that the woman has a concealed gun license.
Finally, Allan gave her her passport and a copy of the constitution. She ended up getting two tickets worth approximately $100.
In her lawsuit, she maintained that she was not subject to city, state, or United States jurisdiction, and instead argued that she was a sovereign citizen.
She argued that she had an “inherent right” to travel around Farmington without being stopped by the police.
Chase Allan was named in the lawsuit and accompanied his mother to the Farmington Police Department to return the documents the officer had thrown in the car window.
The officer told Diane Allan that her vehicle would be impounded if she didn’t register it.
The witness then replied, “That is a threat.”
The officer said, “No, it’s a promise, it’s a promise,” the lawsuit says.
Although it’s unclear if Chase Allan also considered himself a sovereign citizen, police said he “asserted his independence from the laws of the country” during the fatal traffic stop.
According to the Justice Department, members of the Sovereign Citizens’ Movement are part of an “extremely anti-government movement whose members believe the government has no authority over them.”
Five officers were placed on administrative leave following Allan’s fatal shooting, and the city says an investigation is ongoing.
In a statement, the department said: “Shots were fired and the driver was injured in an attempt to remove the driver from the vehicle.”
“At the time, a watching officer called out the words, ‘Gun, gun, gun!’ A fight ensued that appeared to last only seconds and gunshots were heard,” police said in a statement.
Authorities added that responding officers called for backup after Chase Allan refused to get out of his vehicle.
Following the death of her son, Diane Allan told local media that the family was not properly notified of Chase’s death, nor were they allowed to see him.
“Our family, as the next of kin, was not properly notified of Chase’s death. We, along with the entire community, learned of Chase’s death through news reporters and articles written online,” she said.
Almost a year before Chase Allan was shot dead by Farmington Police, his mother Diane Allan was pulled over for a similar reason and bodycam footage showed they both reacted to officers in similar ways
Allan is shown in the car seconds before he is shot. He had refused to get out of the vehicle, refused to give his name or ID, and police thought he was going for his gun
Allan was a sovereign citizen (someone who doesn’t believe he has to obey federal laws) and was armed
The Allan family. Chase’s mother also calls herself a sovereign citizen
Diane described her late son as a “gracious, loving soul who was known by everyone in his community to be caring, thoughtful and kind and would do anything for anyone in need.”
“He has always been selfless in helping and protecting others in need,” she said, adding that he was “probably afraid for his safety” during the encounter with the police.
Police officers pointed their guns at his car at least 12 times.
Diane Allan said her son is “a patriot doing what he could to defend the freedom and liberty of the people in his community.”
She said the family “learned more about what happened from media coverage than anywhere else” and that officers “claim it was a routine traffic stop, but the officer called several other officers to the scene … in front of the stop.”
“This led to the brutal killing of Chase by five Farmington police officers who shot him while he was still in his car, probably fearing for his safety. They fired more than 12 rounds at him while he was still in the car with the engine running and the lights on when reporters arrived.’
THE SOVEREIGN CITIZEN MOVEMENT? CONSPIRACY THEORISTS WHO DON’T BELIEVE IN THE RULE OF LAW
“Sovereign citizens” do not believe that they are bound by federal or state law or that they are required to comply with any type of law enforcement.
Many often do not believe that they have to pay taxes. The FBI considers the group an extremist organization.
Notable members include Terry Nichols, the Oklahoma City assassin.
In 2010, two sovereign citizens shot and killed two police officers after they were pulled over in Arkansas.
“Sovereign citizens represent neither an anarchist group nor a militia, although they sometimes use or buy illegal weapons. Rather, they operate as individuals with no established leadership, only coming together in loosely knit groups to train, help each other with paperwork, or socialize and talk about their ideology.
“They may refer to themselves as ‘constitutionalists’ or ‘free men,’ which is not necessarily an association with any particular group, but rather an indication that they are free from government control. They follow their own laws. While philosophies and conspiracy theories may differ from person to person, their core beliefs are the same: the government is acting outside of its jurisdiction. Because of this belief, they do not recognize any federal, state, or local law, policy, or regulation,” according to a 2011 FBI paper about the group.
Many believe that they are not bound by taxes and therefore often do not pay them.
“They often don’t pay taxes; It’s pretty common across the board, many don’t pay their car registration, they don’t get car insurance, they don’t get any licenses,” Rachel Goldwasser of the Southern Poverty Law Center told FOX News.
The movement is based on a decades-old conspiracy theory that the government was secretly replaced and that the real government follows admiralty law.