The Freeman Group

Does anyone else think that Secretary Janet Napalatno was wrong when she said Domestic Terroism is a big deal? Mee Scott Roeder, the man who killed abortion doctor George Tiller. He was a member of the Freeman Movement, a right-wing, anti-government group:

Roeder, who in the 1990s was a manufacturing assemblyman, also was involved in the "Freemen" movement.

In April 1996, Roeder was arrested in Topeka after Shawnee County sheriff's deputies stopped him for not having a proper license plate. In his car, officers said they found ammunition, a blasting cap, a fuse cord, a one-pound can of gunpowder and two 9-volt batteries, with one connected to a switch that could have been used to trigger a bomb.

Jim Jimerson, supervisor of the Kansas City ATF's bomb and arson unit, worked on the case. "There wasn't enough there to blow up a building," Jimerson said at the time, but he said it could make several powerful pipe bombs.

Roeder, who then lived in Silver Lake, was stopped because he had an improper license plate that read "Sovereign private property. Immunity declared by law. Non-commercial American." Authorities said the plate was typical of those used by Freemen.

Morris Wilson, commander of the Kansas Unorganized Citizens Militia in the mid-1990s, said he knew Roeder fairly well.

"I'd say he's a good ol' boy except he was just so fanatic about abortion," said Wilson, who now lives in western Nebraska. "He was always talking about how awful abortion was. But there's a lot of people who think abortion is awful."

Suzanne James, former director of victim's services for Shawnee County, said she remembered Roeder.

"He was part of the One Supreme Court, a Freemen group based out of Shawnee County," James said. "He was fanatic about a lot of things. I went to one of his court appearances and thought, 'This guy is dangerous.' There were a lot of red flags that came up about him."

In recent years, someone using the name Scott Roeder has posted anti-Tiller comments on various Internet sites. One post, dated Sept. 3, 2007, and placed on a site called chargetiller.com, said that Tiller needed to be "stopped."

"It seems as though what is happening in Kansas could be compared to the 'lawlessness' which is spoken of in the Bible," it said. "Tiller is the concentration camp 'Mengele' of our day and needs to be stopped before he and those who protect him bring judgment upon our nation."

On May 19, 2007, a Scott Roeder commented on an invitation by Operation Rescue to join an event being held May 17-20 in Wichita, "the 'Nation's Abortion Capital,' to pray for an end to George R. Tiller's late-term abortion business and for all pre-born babies everywhere to once again come under the protection of law."

The post said: "Bleass everyone for attending and praying in May to bring justice to Tiller and the closing of his death camp. Sometime soon, would it be feasible to organize as many people as possible to attend Tillers church (inside, not just outside) to have much more of a presence and possibly ask questions of the Pastor, Deacons, Elders and members while there? Doesn't seem like it would hurt anything but bring more attention to Tiller."

The Freeman Movement is an anti-government extremist group that hates all government, but especially the Federal Government. I can not find much information, but expect a larger post when I can gather more up. I did find this from CNN though, about an run-in between the FBI and the Freeman in 1996:

The fugitives, members of the "freemen" group, are armed and are holding federal authorities at bay outside a remote farm house in Montana.

The group refuses to pay taxes or be evicted from the property, which was foreclosed upon 18 months ago. They have even posted bounties for the capture of police and judges, and threatened to shoot their neighbors' sheep and cattle.

Two members of the group were arrested Wednesday without incident, even though both were carrying loaded guns. Both were indicted a year ago on federal charges for writing bad checks and threatening a judge's life.

Law enforcement officials describe Schweitzer, 57, the leader of the right-wing separatist group, as an anti-government troublemaker, and say he's proud of it. The freeman movement denies the legitimacy of governments, refusing to pay United States income taxes or renew their drivers' licenses. Freemen claim to have their own laws, their own courts, and their own police force.