Monthslong manhunt for fugitive sovereign citizen ends in police shooting

By Hilary Whiteman, CNN

Brisbane, Australia (CNN) — One of the largest manhunts ever conducted in Australia has ended with the fatal shooting of a fugitive authorities believe to be Dezi Freeman, a self-proclaimed “sovereign citizen” who’d been on the run for seven months after killing two police officers.

Freeman disappeared into dense Australian wilderness in rural Victoria last August, after firing at the officers when they attempted to serve a search warrant on his property over alleged sex crimes.

Hundreds of police officers, dogs and helicopters spent days and weeks scouring the area around the small town of Porepunkah, where residents lived on edge for months amid fears a “heavily armed” Freeman was hiding in the vicinity.

Law enforcement said the man believed to be Freeman was finally found Monday morning when he was shot dead by police after a three-hour standoff at a rural property in the state’s north-east where officers had surrounded a “long caravan” structure.

“There was an opportunity for him to surrender peacefully, which he did not,” said Mike Bush, Victoria Police Chief Commissioner, adding that they “strongly believe” the man was armed.

Bush said his information suggests the shooting of the fugitive was “justified” though an investigation is underway to determine why police discharged their weapons.

Formal identification is underway, but Bush said, if confirmed as Freeman, it would bring “closure to what was a tragic and terrible event.” He said the first people informed of the shooting Monday were the families of two police officers killed last August – Det. Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson and Senior Constable Vadim De Waart-Hottart.

The killing of the two officers was seen by experts as an example of how the sovereign citizen movement that originated in the United States has taken root in Australia and now carries the threat of violence.

Sovereign citizens don’t believe the law applies to them and commonly deploy pseudo-law to challenge the authority of police, lawyers, judges, and other representatives of a system they say is illegitimate and corrupt.

Freeman, previously known as Desmond Filby, was known to authorities after years of railing against the police, who he’d previously called “Nazis” and “terrorist thugs” in evidence submitted to court when he tried to overturn a 2020 conviction for traffic offenses.

The operation to find him involved a massive police effort that pulled in officers from every Australian state and territory, with extra enforcements from New Zealand, as they worked through more than 2,000 leads to track him down.

His suspected discovery nearly 200 kilometers (124 miles) away from the August crime scene shooting raises questions as to how he came to be there, and if he received help.

“I’m sure some actually assisted him in getting away from Porepunkah to where he was located. But that’s a very important part of what comes next to determine that, and if anyone was complicit, they will be held to account,” Bush said.

Police had previously said they “strongly” believed Freeman was dead and declined to say Monday whether a tip-off had led investigators to his location.

“There was a lot to suggest that Freeman had taken his own life, but I can tell you standing here that our investigators … our professionals keep their mind open to every possible outcome and follow every possible lead,” said Bush.

The Police Association of Victoria said Freeman’s death “represents a step forward” for their members, the families of fallen members and the community.

“Today, we won’t reflect on the loss of a coward. We will remember the courage and bravery of our fallen members, and every officer that has doggedly pursued this outcome for the community.”

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