As was the case when two police officers were killed in Porepunkah in August, the world’s media has widely reported today’s police operation that killed Dezi Freeman.
Here is how some of the world’s major organisations broke the news to their viewers:
Reuters: Believed to have expert bushcraft skills and multiple powerful firearms, Freeman fled into bushland at Mount Buffalo National Park and had been described by local media as a “sovereign citizen” who regards the government as illegitimate.
BBC: Freeman was no stranger to run-ins with police. His hatred of authority and sovereign citizen beliefs were well documented in online posts, videos and court documents. He called police “terrorist thugs”, compared them to Nazis and tried to arrest a magistrate during court proceedings.
The Telegraph, London: The 2025 ambush drew comparisons to a deadly 2022 incident in Queensland, where two young officers were lured to a remote farm and killed by three radicalised sovereign citizens. In Australia, a country with some of the world’s strictest gun-control laws, such targeted attacks on law enforcement remain exceedingly rare.
The New Zealand Herald: Heavily armed officers in Bearcats and police vehicles were seen searching Freeman’s property [across the search operation]. More than 100 properties in the Porepunkah region were also searched by police in the hunt for the alleged gunman. There was speculation Freeman could be hiding underground in one of the hundreds of mine shafts in the area or was being harboured by sympathisers.
Read the full article here
