Overview

• Police say 56-year-old Dezi Freeman, linked to pseudolaw beliefs, is being sought over the killing of two Victoria Police officers in Porepunkah and the wounding of a third.
• Crikey reports the warrant at Freeman’s property was served by a 10-officer team because of perceived risks associated with sovereign‑citizen adherents.
• ASIO assesses the sovereign‑citizen ecosystem as increasingly organised since COVID, with active recruitment, emerging leadership and a subset prepared to justify violence as self‑defence.
• Common Law Australia figure Mike Holt publicly defended the suspect, claiming he was within his rights to shoot people who came onto his property.
• Experts and reporting note most believers do not commit violence and warn punitive crackdowns or mass surveillance are unlikely to deter adherents, with the movement expected to be visible at this weekend’s March for Australia rallies.