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GREENSBORO — A man is suing the city for $7 million, claiming a police officer trespassed and violated his rights by writing him a traffic ticket in March.

In a civil lawsuit filed Friday in federal court, Tornello Fontaine Pierce El-Bey, 43 — who says he is a member of the Washitaw Empire — accuses the police department and Officer B.J. Nida of causing him financial distress and violating his rights.

He also accuses the city of copyright infringement for using his name on the ticket.

As a member of the Washitaw de Dugdahmoundyah Muur’s Indigenous People, El-Bey claims he is protected by the U.S. and state constitutions and the United Nations’ Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous People.

According to the Washitaw Empire’s Web site, the Louisiana-based group considers itself to be the world’s oldest sovereign and independent nation.

The traffic stop happened about 11 a.m. March 9 on Summit Avenue. Nida pulled over a Volvo with tags that expired in December 2008, according to court records.

In the lawsuit, El-Bey says he told Nida he was not a U.S. citizen and gave the officer a diplomat/right to travel identification card when asked for his license. El-Bey says he tried to explain to the officer “that I am not operating/driving a vehicle nor am I in commerce doing business nor am I a U.S. citizen.”

Nida, according to the suit, replied: “Yes, you are sir, and take it up in court.” El-Bey was ticketed for driving without an operator’s license and having an expired registration tag.

El-Bey claims the officer went beyond his duties and hindered El-Bey’s liberties, causing him to be late for a meeting and caused him “great finance distress.”

El-Bey didn’t return a telephone call Monday. City Attorney Terry Wood said he hadn’t been served with the lawsuit and declined to comment.

The Washitaw Empire is led by a long bloodline of “empresses,” and according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, has 200 hard-core members and thousands of other followers.

A law center report says the group has been the subject of several criminal investigations of money laundering, offshore banking fraud, sales of illegal license plates and other practices derived from anti-government ideology.

Contact Ryan Seals at 373-7077 or ryan.seals@news-record.com