My hands were in my pocket. So, do you feel safe now? Do you feel safe? >> I do. Okay, then go back to your car. Please finish your stop. >> I I I will. Please finish your stop. I will. Don't extend this. Please finish your stop. >> Sir, you're at a traffic stop. You're supposed to listen to our instructions. >> I don't have to listen to your instructions. >> you do. No, I don't. Absolutely. I can go to jail for not listening to your instructions when they're lawful instructions. When they're not lawful instructions, I don't have to listen to them. When you tell me to be quiet, you're telling me I don't have a First Amendment. So, you need to figure out what you're doing. In this encounter, officers initiate a traffic stop for an expired tag. While officers can give commands for safety during a stop, those commands must stay within constitutional limits. As the interaction unfolds, it shifts into a dispute over whether the orders are lawful and whether the driver must comply under the Fourth Amendment. I will finish your stop. Careful. I will pick that Now, I'll do it this way. No, I will do it this way. I can face you now. I'm allowing you I'm allowing you to pat me down. So, >> Turn around and just face away from me. That's all I want, man. That's it. This is my traffic stop. You understand me, right? This is my traffic It's not your traffic >> stop. It is. So, you have blue lights? I don't have anything on I'm turning around. Don't put your hands on me, sir. Don't put your You just felt me down, man. I wasn't done. Listen. You checked my pocket. Hey, listen to me. No, look. Listen. You stop talking to me, sir. >> to him. It's his traffic his traffic stop. You need to listen to him and comply with his instructions. >> You patted down my pockets. You patted down my pockets. You didn't want to make sure You patted You weren't here to hurt me. You just patted down my pockets Don't turn around. That's what I allowed you to do. That's all right, man. Go go write your ticket and let's move forward. A pat-down search, also known as a Terry Frisk, is only lawful when an officer has reasonable suspicion that the person is armed and dangerous. Consent can also justify a search, but its scope is limited to what was agreed upon. Disputes often arise when the scope or justification is unclear. Wasn't even going to write you a ticket. Okay, well then let's do what we're going to do and move I I did all I got out with to see that and I put my hands in my pockets cuz it's cold. You said don't, I said I can, I said you would have are allowed to pat me down if you like, right? Right? I did allow you to do all that, right? I wasn't done with my pat-down yet. But you're only allowed to pat down the areas you're concerned about. >> No, I'm only allowed to pat down from the outside. Okay, your waistband, Okay. your outside pocket. >> hands were in my pocket. So, do you feel safe now? Do you feel safe? I do. Okay, then go back to your car. Please Please finish your stop. I will. Don't extend this. Please finish your stop. Sir, you're making it extended by your not complying. You're extending it by not going back there and handling what we need to do so I can be free on my way. Under the Fourth Amendment, a traffic stop must remain limited in scope and duration to the purpose of the stop. Prolonging the stop without additional reasonable suspicion can raise constitutional concerns. You're extending your stop, right? I'm not. I'm talking to you. >> need to talk to you. Because you you got out of your car to look at my tag, yes. >> Okay. Yes, I did. I asked you when I was when you were walking away, can I get out and look? You did not. I did. You just didn't respond. I yelled out the window. You didn't hear me. That's your not my Please handle your business so we can be allowed on our way. Absolutely. Just hang out here, then. I I don't need you to give me directives, man. I don't need you to give me directives. Just get in your car and handle what you need to handle, please. Don't scowl at me like that. You work for me, buddy. Don't scowl at me. Oh, yeah, you do. You do. Who pays you? Not you. >> Who pays you? Not you. Who pays you? Not you. Who pays you? Parks all state paid. Okay, well then that's who you get your money from. It's us, citizens. So, quit scowling at us. Taxes, too. Okay, good for you. You pay your own check, then. Cuz you work for us. So, stop scowling. Go back. Do what you need to do. But quit looking at me like that cuz it's rude. And what? >> It's rude. >> The way you're talking to me is very rude. >> No, it's not. >> your finger in my face is rude. You not listening to my partner Is your body cam on? Absolutely. Good. Good. Cuz it's not rude that you're sitting here staring at me. Oh, I'm not allowed to look at you? I don't care if you look at me. You're staring me down trying to be a tough dude. No, I didn't. Yes, you did. You walked up like a tough dude. No, I did not. >> did. Trying to tell me to quit talking and listen to him. This is a traffic stop. You're supposed to listen to our instructions. >> I don't have to listen to your instructions. No, I don't. Absolutely. I can go to jail for not listening to your instructions when they're lawful instructions. When they're not lawful instructions, I don't have listen to them. When you tell me to be quiet, you're telling me I don't have a First Amendment. So, you need to figure out what you're doing. No. Yeah. You know the law, right? You know the law. >> Do you know the law? >> Do you know the law? I'm asking you a question. Do you know the law? >> Absolutely. Okay, then do your job and do the law. What do you think I'm doing? Okay. Move Move on, man. You're staring me down. I'm here with you, buddy. Quit staring me down. Nope. Officers frequently assert that individuals must follow lawful orders, but the legality of those orders depends on context. Courts generally evaluate whether the command was reasonably related to officer safety or the purpose of the stop. I like the way you look. I can guarantee you're a bully. A bully? I can feel it. A bully? Yeah. What are you? What does that make you? >> of the United States. >> What does that make you? A citizen of the United States of America. Can you please quit being so jumpy? I don't You're you're scaring me. How jumpy you are with the gun on you, man. You scared me. >> you jump so fast and you just >> you're about to do. Pick up what I dropped. Okay. And I was supposed to know that one how? Do I can I read your mind? You guys are a piece of work. You know what? >> Benjamin So are you. Here's this warning, dude. All that is just a warning for the expired tag and no proof of insurance, okay? It's for your protection, all right? Thank you. Here you go. So, is that a ticket or a warning? >> It's a warning. Oh, okay. It's a ticket. You don't have a court date. Thank you. It does not show up on your record or anything like that. Just Does it have an incident number on it? >> No. This is no incident here. Where you stopped me. There's no warning. So, your warning number will be will applied to you guys' body cams. Correct. >> And your names are all on it. And all that. Correct. Correct. Who's the other officer with you, then? I don't know his name. I'm not at liberty to discuss that, sir. Public figures Public figures don't yell. Who taught you I don't answer questions, right? Do not walk up on my partner like that. Get in your car. You're not walking up on anybody. I'm walking across the parking lot, man. >> I'm going to ask you one last time get in your car and walk >> I I don't have to leave, first of all. I don't have to leave. That's not a lawful order. Okay. Well, then you can step back. >> I'm going to step back. Step back. I'm going to step a lawful order. Just You gave me this. Once this is in, the the the day it's done. Then when you approach another I didn't approach him. I walked that There's no reason for you to walk towards our cars. There's guns in our cars? No fun. You don't have no lawful You said you did. Remember he just said he had a lawful right to tell me I can't walk up on your You guys are a piece of work. Don't know the law. Don't know the law. Just pushed your finger like you did. Pushed your finger like you did. You guys don't know the law. You guys need to do this. I've worked with you guys quite a bit now and none of you know the law. You all think you know the law. I'm giving you a lawful order not to walk up on my car. I just walked up on your car. I just walked up on it, man. What's the lawful order? Where's the lawful order? See? I told you there's no lawful order, is there? Where's the lawful order, man? Will you give me a chance to explain it? Go for it. Explain it. Without Just stop right there. I I'll stop right here. Do you feel safe? Okay. Cuz you're you're pretty dumb. Okay. Allow me a chance to explain it and don't interrupt me, okay? Okay. And I'll be polite about it. As long as you treat me with respect, I'll treat you with respect, okay? >> you with respect. You walked up and started treating me without respect. From the start. We can go back. We'll watch it. Okay. You going to Are you going to listen to me? I'm just not going to let you tell me I didn't treat you with respect cuz I did. I treated the other guy with That's it. Okay. We can agree to disagree. Whatever. >> no disagree. It's all on It's all on video. It's all on video. We don't have to It's all on video. It's all on video. Okay. It's perfectly fine. Yeah. Are you done? Are you ready for me to uh to explain it? >> for you, man. Just start talking. Okay. Instead of explaining. My issue with the entire traffic stop from the start. Someone my partner over there told you to put turn around so he could pat you down, right? Cuz you got out of Listen. You can talk when I'm done, okay? He asked you to put your hands on the trunk of the the the vehicle there. Okay, which you disobeyed. Which that is a lawful order. Well, then go to law school. when he tells me he's going to pat me down, but I offered him to pat No. I Yeah, I did. It's not It's not a It's not an option at that point. >> It is an option at that point. No, it's not. He's a lot nicer than I am. Listen. You're being seized once the blue lights are coming on. You sure? Yeah. Absolutely. You sure about that? 100%. And you can just pat me down for no reason. He had a He had a good reason to pat you down. >> hands in my pocket? stepped out of the vehicle. >> in my pocket. >> You stepped out of the vehicle without him knowing and started walking through this car. That's a sign That's a sign of a threat. No, it's not. Courts have held that officers may order occupants out of a vehicle during a traffic stop. However, labeling behavior as a threat must still be supported by specific, articulable facts, not general assumptions. Okay. Threatened by someone walking to the back of their car, man. You need to get a different job. No. That's not how it goes. That's not how it works. >> if you're scared of somebody walking to the back of their car, then that's a threat. You need to get a different job. >> No. And words out of my mouth. >> The facts The facts are that you The The facts Stop. The facts The facts The facts Here we go. The facts of you getting out of the vehicle without being told to do so we treat as a threat. Cuz we are unsure of why you're getting Do what? What law do I have to stay in the car? What law says I have to stay in the car? What law says I have to stay in the car? >> It's common knowledge, man. >> common knowledge. That's not It's not a common law is what you're trying to use. And it's not common law. >> I didn't say it was a law. I said it's common knowledge. >> no right Unless I order you out of the car. laws. You only handle laws, sir. That's your job. You can't say my feelings I don't I don't disagree with you. You don't have laws to abide by. You abide by your laws, not your The state law. The state law. State law. I'm not saying the state law says that you can't get out of your vehicle. But the fact that you got out free willingly and started walking towards We don't know. Did Ask him right there. He's right there. Did I threaten him? I'm just telling you what it looks like. Did he look up? So, like there's no threat there, man. Why are you being so You're being so hard-headed. >> You're being so hard-headed. No, you don't want to listen. You just want to know what you think. No. You never want to say, "Hey, the public is right." Cuz you guys have such a bad ego thing that you're just always right. You are always right. Say it. I'm always right. Cuz that's how you feel. I know it. I see it in your face right now. You're smiling cuz you know. No, I'm smiling because this is ridiculous. When you go on a stop, you're always right. You're always right. That's That's why there's a court system. >> is that you Your man just told me he had He had a lawful thing to tell me I couldn't walk around the cars. And I did, and nobody did anything cuz why? You guys don't have laws. You only go by laws, but you tell people a lot of [ __ ] to make them think you have more control than you do. Yeah, roll your eyes, man. Roll them. I love it. You're I love it cuz you you know what I'm talking about. You guys know you use lingo that makes you seem like you have more control than you do. Like I'm giving you a lawful order, which isn't a lawful order. It just happened on a on a on a stop for a tag, man. A lawful order. A pat down where I got shoved against my truck because I turned around after he patted me down in my pockets where I allowed him to pat me down at. So, don't give me this [ __ ] that you guys have all these rights, all these laws that you can tell me not to walk around the car or not to get out or not to stand here or not to stand there. I can do whatever I want. I'm a free American. You are. The only time you have something against me is when you can hand me that piece of paper or haul me to jail. So, he handed it to me, and once that's done, it's done. You have no more rights. You can't tell me anything unless I'm breaking a law. The The stop is over. It's a It's It's court case. I can show you the court case. >> That There is a There is a court case. You handed in, and then you tried to do something else, and it got thrown out of court because the traffic stop is over once you hand me the citation. >> Unless there's some other probable cause. >> Okay, what other probable cause do you have? I'm not saying there was any. Well, then don't give me directives. If I want to walk around the car, I can walk around the car. That's what I'm saying. You don't have no laws to back that. Okay, well, go home, lay in your bed, lay your head on your bed, and sleep good tonight, okay? What's that supposed to mean? >> Just go home, lay your head on your pillow, and I'm not going home. I'm following you the rest of the day, man. No, you won't because then you will be arrested because that's harassment. >> not. >> Yes, it is. Hey, you know what? It's I'm not going to listen. >> order. That's a lawful order. This encounter highlights key constitutional limits. Under the Fourth Amendment, officers must articulate specific facts to justify a pat down or extended detention. Vague claims of a threat may not be enough. The First Amendment protects the right to speak, even critically, as long as it doesn't interfere. Not every command in a stop is automatically lawful.