‘Sovereign citizen’ Dezi Bird Freeman identified as alleged gunman who shot dead two police officers in Porepunkah
The accused Porepunkah police killer has been described as a “mad guy” and “unhinged” — but also someone who “has some hiding spots he knows pretty well”.
Dezi Bird Freeman was becoming increasingly erratic in the months leading up to him allegedly shooting dead two police officers and seriously injuring another.
The 56-year-old sovereign citizen – someone who does not believe the laws apply to them – was well-known to police and had previously called them “friggin’ Nazis” and “terrorist thugs”.
In November last year, Freeman screamed “shame on you” at a judge who refused to quash his driving convictions.
“When calamity strikes your life mate,” he started ranting at Justice James Gorton.
“God’s got his finger on you mate, there’s no escaping.”
Court documents reveal Freeman had also previously referred to police as “Gestapo” – the political police of Nazi Germany – and “corrupt filth”.
Freeman claimed to have had a history of “unpleasant encounters” with the force due to “a lifetime of bullying and predatory behaviour by police”.
He launched his attack on Justice Gorton as he waged a legal battle against police over his convictions for using a mobile phone while driving and refusing to provide a sample of oral fluid.
The court heard he was pulled over by the Highway Patrol in 2020 and asked to provide oral fluid for a drug test.
But he refused, filming the police officers as he sped off.
“I had to, like, get myself and my kids out of there and hope I wasn’t … gonna get chased by (the police) or shot at or whatever else unknown,” he told the court.
“I felt threatened and preyed upon … even the sight of a cop or a cop car … it’s like an Auschwitz survivor seeing a Nazi soldier. What’s worse than a swastika is the inverted pentagram, the Satanic symbol that they wear and they behave like it as well.”
LAWS ARE INVALID
Sovereign citizens claim the laws are invalid and governments are illegitimate corporations.
The movement gained prominence after the Covid pandemic.
Freeman previously called police to help him in a noise dispute with a neighbour at a property in nearby Myrtleford.
He claimed they were breaching a noise abatement notice by using a chainsaw and riding dirt bikes close to his house and at unsocial hours.
Freeman sold that house, but then moved his family – musician teacher wife Ma Li and their two sons – into a bus on a Rayner Track property in Porepunkah.
This is allegedly where the fatal shooting took place.
HIDING IN A CAVE
A former neighbour, who asked not to be named, said Freeman was a “psychotic nutcase” when he lived next door to him for five years.
The man said Freeman was most likely hiding in a cave within the hills between Porepunkah and Mount Buffalo.
“He knows this bush like the back of his hand and he’s got some hiding spots that he knows pretty well,” he said.
“He is prepared. I daresay he is in a cave, somewhere well hidden.”
The man, who still lives in the area, said Freeman was a “mad guy” who was not well-liked.
“He had that many weapons, it wasn’t funny,” he said.
“Whatever weapon you could have, he would have.”
A farmer who knows Freeman said he had become increasingly agitated, especially in the past year.
“There were lots of rumours he had weapons in a caravan there,” they said.
“His ideology, or whatever it was, was becoming even more far-fetched and incoherent.
“He spoke of going on a protest this weekend in the city.”
They added: “When I first met him, he was a keen photographer. Now I’d say he was unhinged.
“There were all sorts turning up there (to the property). Sometimes it was just a few people. Other times it was like a dozen or even more.”
Others described it as a “hippie community” or a “commune”.
“It’s a hippie community,” one neighbour said.
“They have all these strange beliefs but people come from all over to stay there.
“There’s buses, there’s tin sheds, there’s houses, there’s caravans, there’s so much junk in there it’s crazy. You name it and it will be there – including weapons.”
DEZI ‘FREEDOM’
Freeman calls himself Dezi “Freedom” on social media and belongs to a group called Truth and Justice.
He asked the collective if anyone knew about fixated persons legislation.
“Has anyone done an FOI (Freedom Of Information) request for the documentation relied upon when imprisoning so-called “fixated persons?” he asked.
At the time, he was facing charges of contravening a personal safety court order.
He added to the post: “To state the obvious, it’s just a weak excuse to cart off anyone they don’t like, pump them full of God knows what and scare others into submission whike (sic) revealing what a pack of deranged satanic totalitarian Nazis they are.”
In 2021, he was arrested at a protest in nearby Myrtleford.
“Cos I stood up to ‘em,” he shouted as he was pinned to the ground by two officers.
Freeman also attempted to arrest a magistrate and bring about a private prosecution of treason against then-premier Daniel Andrews.
