Dezi Freeman: The Hunt | Ep 6 | A growing threat
5/18/202628 min
Although Dezi Freeman is no longer a threat, the ideology he embraced continues to spread through Australia’s growing sovereign citizen movement.
In this final episode, 7NEWS journalist Michael Usher and Crime Editor Cassie Zervos examine the question authorities are quietly asking: how many more people like Dezi Freeman are out there?
To understand the scale of the movement (and why it attracts people like Freeman) Michael speaks with legal expert Harry Hobbs, who has been closely tracking the rise of sovereign citizen ideology in Australia.
Harry breaks down the beliefs at the core of the movement, who it attracts, how it spreads online, and what the Dezi Freeman case reveals about where this is heading.
Dezi Freeman: The Hunt is a 7NEWS and LiSTNR co-production.
Listen to the podcast on Secrets We Keep or watch the vodcast on 7Plus.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsCassie Zervos· Host0:00
[instrumental music] A listener production.
Desi Freeman· Soundbite0:04
You know the ABN number with the police force is registered in North Wake Island? See, there's no real jurisdiction here.
Michael Usher· Host0:10
Desi Freeman is gone, and the manhunt is over. But if you think this whole scary story ends with him, it absolutely doesn't.
Desi Freeman· Soundbite0:19
I don't have real ID. I show you the real ID. No, I showed you. What's the emergency?
Speaker 40:24
I've stopped you for a breath test.
Desi Freeman· Soundbite0:25
Just give me the [beep] machine, mate. I'll blow in your [beep] bag. I'm going.
Cassie Zervos· Host0:28
And what I've heard from my police contacts throughout this whole investigation time and time again, is that Desi Freeman was not alone in his beliefs. He was a symptom of something bigger, of a movement that is growing across the country right now, the sovereign citizen movement.
Michael Usher· Host0:46
And in this final episode, we want to ask the question that Australian authorities are quietly asking: How many more Desi Freemans are there out there?
Speaker 40:55
Drop the taser now!
Michael Usher· Host0:57
[taser firing] I'm Michael Usher, journalist and Seven News presenter.
Cassie Zervos· Host1:01
And I'm Seven News Melbourne crime editor Cassie Zervos.
Michael Usher· Host1:04
This is Desi Freeman-The Hunt, episode six, A Growing Threat.
Desi Freeman· Soundbite1:10
[instrumental music] [door banging] What's your name again? [beep] And your ID?