Sovereign Citizen and accused child flasher

Tom Tanuki argues that Desmond Filby, often referred to by the media as “Dezi Freeman”, was shot by police but should instead be remembered for alleged child sexual abuse.

I naively assumed that after seeing Desmond Filby shot dead by police officers in Thologolong, some seven months after his first arrest, we might see the press stop talking about him. Sovereign Citizen (SovCit) movement’s cosplay name is “Dezi Freeman”.

I think the immersive theater of it all is too exciting to abandon for some restraint.

But I will never understand why we all helped clear this man of the taint of historical accusations of child sex crimes.

I know the SovCit ideology is very exciting. I admit that I am very excited too. I created a two-hour, two-part YouTube in 2022 documentary It concerns all aspects of locally sovereign citizen (or pseudo-legal) ideology. (I’m surprised to see that my work may continue to be the most influential starting resource in Australia for anyone trying to truly understand how it all works.)

In this work, I considered all kinds of new people with all kinds of strange alternative identities. I enjoyed this process and it’s clear in the video that I did this; It’s fun to delve into the strange excesses and odd freewheeling behavior found around Australian sovcit.

What’s really dated is my style in documentary. At that time we were still enjoying the “ominous warning” phase of the violent potential of local sovereign citizens. For example, towards the end of Chapter One, I conducted an armed police raid on the farm of a couple who were reported to have guns on the property. No one was injured. I warned that there was potential for more.

It looks weird in 2026. We were still some distance from there. trains‘ conflict. Or the appearance of the SovCit child kidnapping rings. Or murders and later, Desmond Filby.

Today, as the intensity and influence of the political and conspiratorial circle increases, the number of “experts” and academics ready to comment to the mainstream media also increases. They often set the stage for more legislation and police or surveillance resources devoted to examining this border.

Obscene video documentation of a SovCit’s latest grotesque act is often mixed these days with commentary from the media and columnist Josh Roose. Roose keeps himself busy in this context repeating things SovCit learned from my documentary or repeating things ASIO Mike Burgess and cops often talk about extremists. None of them add any value. But it keeps your average Rooses in the public eye, which is good for their business and gives the media an excuse to entertain their audiences with quirky SovCit videos. conflict oriented SovCit behavior resulted in an attempt “hearingDaniel Andrews’ “” words in the months before he shot and killed two police officers in Porepunkah would always attract media attention in the aftermath of the shooting. It provided a steady feed of mainstream media articles for months,”reveals” to the dominant civic ideology and countless “expert” interpretations.

But we never learned to call him by his real name. This seems strange in the context of the Soviet alter ego’s drive to kill people.

A cursory check of the ABC archives reveals that there are 159 ABC articles with the name “Dezi Freeman” in the material, with only three bearing the name “Dezi Freeman”. real name.

With perfect poise and reflection rarely seen from ABC, ‘What’s in a name? Media have a duty to avoid martyrizing Desmond Filby‘, academic Jessica Wilson (I choose to call it “DF”) takes into consideration:

I want to emphasize that media coverage of the shooting and subsequent manhunt contributed to a kind of destructive mythology surrounding “DF.” Despite being accused of historic sexual offenses and allegedly murdering two police officers, DF has not been ostracized by the Australian public. Actually, quite the opposite. DF wasn’t some crazy religious lunatic like Trains in Wieambilla; He was an outlaw, a woodsman, a rebel. Australia’s cultural sympathy for the underdog, hatred of government institutions, and glorification of the masculine “skilled bushman” archetype helped transform the DF from a lone mass murderer into a folk hero. His long stay on the run apparently only increased his anti-hero status.

Filby became SovCit Ned Kelly. Mostly because we seem to really want one of these.

Any news about Filby is an invitation to consider what scenario might actually play out. Did he kill the police? So he didn’t kill the cops and they’re just saying that to target him. Are they telling us he’s dead? So he’s not actually dead. Was he killed by the police? Then he died another way. While also not dead.

As Wilson observes, this is the conspiratorial “anti-hero status” that Filby enjoys.

Filby shot police who arrived at his home with a search warrant as part of an investigation into historic child sexual abuse accusations. took off his clothes in the presence of a little girl who was “traumatized” by the experience.

In short, Filby shot and killed the police officer who was trying to investigate whether he was a child exhibitionist. Even I, who am generally abolitionist in my thoughts on police forces, think this is an excellent example of cops making themselves useful.

I generally find that this fact remains confusingly in the background in the Filby narrative from the moment it is revealed. Either that, or he has been subjected to the conspiratorial myth-making denialism discussed above:

“Poor bathing is now considered sexual assault, right?” (Taken from Facebook.)

I have seen Filby described online as a “Martyr of Resistance to State Oppression.” (Again, taken from Facebook – where else?)

I continue to consider whether the proliferation of in-depth studies, exposés, and opinion pieces warning alarmingly about the “rise of the Sovereign Citizen ideology” are helping to fuel this anti-heroic culture. Naturally, the SovCit networks that aided and abetted Filby need to be examined. But as ABC taps Roose for another loan warning, I wonder how the Facebook comments section is blooming with more and more ordinary people defending the deceased. The accused child is an exhibitionist.

Should we consider whether this mainstream media culture of scrutiny and fascination with ordinary people helps predators appear like martyrs?

Reminds me of old NSN members. Joel Davis, who was recently released on bail. Davis had a free ride with almost constant tabloid press coverage thanks to his vocal membership in the White Supremacist group of which he was a part. But in a saner world, it would be his documented loyalty that he would forever be known for. child marriage advocacy. In a saner world, the press would have remembered his advocacy for the decriminalization of pedophilia before deciding to hand him the microphone again.

Unfortunately, we live in a clown world. And apparently, in the clown world, the best way to make everyone forget that you’re a child molester is to also tell them that you’re a SovCit or a Nazi.

But I will never forget Desmond Filby’s accusations of child sexual abuse. I don’t think he destroyed them. In my unpopular worldview, these are the things I think he should be remembered for.

Tom Tanuki is an IA columnist, author, satirist and anti-fascist activist whose weekly videos commenting on Australia’s political wing are published on: YouTube. You can follow him on Twitter/X @tom_tanuki.

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