<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/porepunkah-police-shooting-dezi-freeman-previously-called-police-terrorist-thugs-in-fight-against-driving-fines/8ca84c17-29e5-4018-bbf2-829e5ed71978" rel="" target="_blank" title="Accused cop killer Dezi Freeman"><span>Accused cop killer Dezi Freeman</span></a><span> reportedly has a history of extreme beliefs with a well-documented dislike for police.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The self-described "sovereign citizen" was already known to Victoria Police when he allegedly opened fire on several officers, killing two and injuring a third.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Freeman is believed to be armed and dangerous as he remains on the run.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>LIVE UPDATES:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/porepunkah-victoria-police-shooting-live-updates-latest-news-headlines-august-27/5ee3d7e6-9199-4943-b773-97824e918a23" target="_blank"><strong><span>Suspected gunman has 'powerful firearms', knows the area better than police</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>An active police operation is ongoing to find Freeman and bring him into custody.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Here's everything we know about the alleged gunman.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><span>Freeman is a 'sovereign citizen'</span></h3></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/dezi-freeman-what-we-know-about-accused-porepunkah-shooter-explained/b8281690-63fd-4ee9-92f0-48fa3826a634" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Freeman is a self-described "sovereign citizen" who has been a vocal critic of police in the past.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>According to the Australian Federal Police, a sovereign citizen – also known as a SovCit – seeks to "disassociate from society and refuses to engage with societal requirements like paying tax".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It's an uncentralised belief system but is generally characterised by an anti-authority idea that they are not under the jurisdiction of the government and the law does not apply to them.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It's why, for many years, it was typically associated with videos of someone getting pulled over for a traffic stop and refusing to provide their details to police, claiming law enforcement has no authority over them – only to be arrested shortly after.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/porepunkah-victoria-police-officer-shooting-at-rural-property/fdd5dcce-fb0f-4c32-9d6a-2910db764fe7" target="_blank"><strong><span>What we know about the fatal police shooting in Porepunkah</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><span>Previous brushes with the law</span></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Police officers from the sexual offences and child investigation team were executing a search warrant at Freeman's home when they were ambushed.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The exact nature of the warrant is yet to be confirmed.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Freeman was earlier revealed to have referred to police as "frigging Nazis", "Gestapo" and "terrorist thugs", a court judgement shows.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He tried to take a police officer and the County Court of Victoria to the Supreme Court of Victoria in November 2024 to fight driving offences.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He'd been fined and banned from driving for two years for speeding, refusing to provide a drug test and driving off filming his police on his mobile phone in Porepunkah in November 2020.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He went to the County Court in an attempt to get those charges thrown out, arguing he was acting in self-defence, under "extreme duress" and "felt threats of harm".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"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," he told the court, according to excerpts from the follow-up Supreme Court case.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The County Court judge agreed to drop the speeding charge but rejected Freeman's self-defence assertions and upheld the other two charges.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>That decision was backed up by Supreme Court Justice James Gorton, who denied Freeman's application for a judicial review.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In another brush with the legal system, Freeman tried to "arrest" a magistrate and several police officers while appearing in Wangaratta Magistrates Court.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/victoria-stonehaven-school-bus-crash-several-seriously-injured/64d5912e-013f-4f76-a161-cf324b5405a9" target="_blank"><strong><span>Several 'seriously injured' after school bus rolls near Geelong</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>Freeman knows bushcraft</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Police have admitted Freeman, who lives on the semi-rural property in Porepunkah where the shooting took place, knows the area "better than us".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Victoria's Chief Police Commissioner Mike Bush said Freeman had a superior knowledge of the local area, but emphasised "expert" police resources were pouring in to help find him.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"He knows that area. Even though we have experts in the area, he will know that area better than us," Bush said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Asked if it was possible Freeman had laid traps for searchers, or had resorted to a hypothetical bunker, Bush said "anything's possible".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It has been reported Freeman has lived on the 20-hectare Porepunkah property for years.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><span>The suspected shooter is alone</span></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Freeman's wife and children arrived at a police station yesterday evening, with police saying there is no indication they were with the suspected gunman.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"There is nothing to suggest they were ever in the company of the suspect following today's incident," Victoria Police said in a release.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Freeman was initially believed to be on the run with his wife and children.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>However it is now confirmed Freeman fled into the bush alone.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Bush said there appeared to be no non-family members at Freeman's property when police attended.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/allergy-rates-climb-costing-aussies-nearly-19-billion/071b7e7d-0b02-486d-8a1f-51df1ea197f1" target="_blank"><strong><span>Allergy rates rising in Aussies, costing $18.9 billion yearly</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><span>He appeared on </span><em><span>A Current Affair</span></em></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Freeman was previously interviewed by </span><em><span>A Current Affair</span></em><span> in 2018.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He appeared alongside his wife Mali and two young sons over claims they were being harassed and intimidated by their neighbours.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>At the time, Mali described their home, about 300 kilometres outside of Melbourne, as their "perfect paradise".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It's so peaceful," she said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But, they claimed, their dirtbike-riding neighbours were making their lives difficult. The neighbours didn't give their side of the story.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><span>Police tell Freeman to 'hand yourself in'</span></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Police have assured locals they are doing everything in their power to apprehend the suspected cop killer.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Bush yesterday issued a direct plea to the accused gunman.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"My message to that person is give yourself up so that the community can be at peace and we can have this matter resolved peacefully," he said.</span></div></div>
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