AndrewBlakeCanton, OH – A suspected sovereign citizen ended up the target of a fur missile after refusing to comply with officers on a traffic stop on Sunday (bodycam video below.)
Ronald Wagner’s car was stopped because it had only a homemade license plate on back, according to The Repository.
Homemade license plates are common among sovereign citizens who falsely believe that official license plates are only required if you’re engaging in commerce.
The video shows an Ohio Highway Patrol trooper and then three Canton Police Department officers repeatedly pleading with the man to identify himself.
Wagner had claimed that it was not a lawful stop and that a driver’s license and plate are not required for him to drive.
“I’m just traveling as a man right now,” Wagner told the trooper.
The trooper told Wagner that he needed to provide a driver’s license or Social Security number for identification; Wagner refused.
Officers finally confirmed with him that the choice he was making was for them to forcibly remove him, and the man failed to comply.
Sovereign citizens frequently react violently to detentions and arrests, because they view any detention to be unlawful and believe that they can use lethal force to prevent an officer from detaining them.
Canton City Law Director Kristen Bates Aylward said that police believed that Wagner had a concealed carry permit and may be armed.
The officers made the decision to launch a fur missile to help them safely take Wagner into custody.
The K9 latched onto Wagner’s arm as officers dragged him out.
The Canton Police Department will be doing a use of force review to determine if the use of the K9 was appropriate.
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Wagner was interviewed in his hospital room by The Repository, and showed a sovereign citizen level of misunderstanding the law.
Wagner contends a driver’s license is not required “unless (you are) getting paid to drive (such as) hauling people around and to carry goods.”
“Driver’s license is a commercial term,” Wagner said, according to The Repository. “Driver is a commercial term. We’ve all been duped into thinking that we have to have these driver’s licenses.”
You can see the video of the stop below. The fur missile launch starts just after the 13 minute mark.