SYDNEY — Australian police have arrested two men in connection with Dezi Freeman, the conspiracy theorist who was shot dead by police in March after after a monthslong manhunt. Freeman had gone on the run in August after shooting dead two police officers who came to execute a search warrant at his home in Porepunkah in rural Victoria. Freeman then disappeared into dense bushland, sparking one of Australia’s largest ever manhunts. In March, a tip-off led police to a container on a remote farm in Victoria, about 150km (93mi) away. Police said at the time they believed he must have had help escaping from Porepunkah. Freeman was shot dead after a three-hour stand-off when he emerged wrapped in a blanket and holding a gun he had taken from one of the dead police officers. Police on Tuesday said detectives had arrested the men – aged 48 and 45 – at two separate locations in north-east Victoria as part of Operation Summit, the investigation into Freeman’s movements after the shootings at Porepunkah. “The pair will now be interviewed by police,” police said. “The investigation remains ongoing and as such, we are not in a position to provide further details at this immediate time,” police said. Freeman, whose real name was Desmond Filby, was a self-described “sovereign citizen”, part of an anti-government movement that rejects authority and laws.
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