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Posted by Hal Neumann (+10306) 6 years ago
Well, it’s been 21 years now, but. . . .

“For several years, the Freemen had been a thorn in the side of the U.S. government. Led by a former crop duster and con man named LeRoy Schweitzer, the group believed that government institutions should not exist above the county level and frequently acted out against local officials. When armed members of the Montana Freemen holed up in their compound in 1996, it was just the latest in a string of showdowns between federal agents and anti-government protesters.”

“Twenty Years Ago Today, the Montana Freemen Started Its 81-Day Standoff”
--Danny Lewis
SMITHSONIAN.COM
MARCH 25, 2016
http://www.smithsonianmag...180958568/
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+6
Posted by AFAB (+110) 6 years ago
That was a pretty big deal. I remember getting $100 an afternoon for running out near the compound where the news reporters were and bringing news footage back to town for the news station. If I remember correctly the only fatality was an FBI agent rolling his suburban on the gravel road.
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Posted by Gunnar Emilsson (+18348) 6 years ago
21 years later, and it appears that the Freemen have won. They now control the government.
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Posted by gunsngold (-2407) 5 years ago
They still have yall talking after 21 yrs.
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Posted by Bob Netherton III (+2776) 5 years ago
Yes, gunsngold. Extreme idiocy is hard to forget.
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Posted by Jeri Dalbec (+3264) 5 years ago
In regard to this topic, I read "False Prophets" written by Dale and Connie Jakes who were deeply embedded with the Freeman. Interesting about the plans to take over Petroleum County. If you are interested in the History you will want to read it.
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+2
Posted by Rob Shipley (+475) 5 years ago
Hal Neumann,
The Freemen ordeal was nuts. I actually hated the whole affair. They threatened district court judge Ken Wilson who had been my family's neighbor on Mail Street twenty-seven (27) years.
The FBI having 661 agents assigned to that mess was EXTRAORDINARILY nuts also.
If I had been in charge I would have ordered an Army patrol and protected a D8 Cat to ease down to their cabin and plow a corner off of it and that would have ended the whole snafu.

"Ship"
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