Anti-government group
urged to surrender

Arrested 'freemen'
disrupt their arraignments

March 26, 1996
Web posted at: 11:50 p.m. EST

JORDAN, Montana (CNN) -- Cautious negotiations continued Tuesday as authorities tried to persuade fugitive members of an anti-government group holed up in a remote farm compound to surrender.

The "freeman" group's leader, LeRoy Schweitzer, and Daniel Peterson were arrested earlier, and appeared in federal court in Billings, Montana, Tuesday.

They were to be arraigned, but the proceedings fell apart. The two defendants refused to allow the indictment to be read, refused counsel, yelled, and asked the judge for a change of venue to their own "country." They call it Justus Township, pronounced "justice." U.S. Magistrate Richard Anderson recessed the proceeding until a later date.

Members of the freemen movement don't believe in the legitimacy of government, and refuse to pay taxes or even renew their driver's licenses. The group says it has its own laws and courts.

A force of 100 FBI agents was working to help bring about the surrender of 10 other members of the group on the farm 30 miles from Jordan. FBI agents were joined by U.S. marshals and deputies, who staked out the farm after two members of were arrested Monday on check fraud charges. The other 10 members of the group were indicted nearly a year ago on charges of check and money order fraud.

A deputy for the Garfield County Sheriff's Department said law officials were monitoring the situation, but no more. "They're talking to these people by phone, asking them to come out and surrender," he said. Authorities wouldn't say how many people were holed up on the farm occupied by the freemen, but said both women and children were present.

LeRoy Schweitzer, 57, and Daniel E. Peterson, 53, were arrested without incident and charged in connection with fraudulent check and money order schemes. They were indicted by a federal grand jury on May 19, 1995.

A third man, Lavon Hanson, 45, was arrested with the pair, but U.S. Attorney Sherry Matteucci said she doesn't know what his involvement with freemen might have been. His name does not appear in an indictment against their activities.

Matteucci said officials are negotiating with members of the heavily armed band, and described the talks as "delicate." Federal officials made mistakes at Ruby Ridge and Waco that they don't want repeated in Jordan.

At a news conference Tuesday, Matteucci said, "I make a personal promise to the people on that property that if they do turn themselves in voluntarily, they will be safe." Six people were allowed to leave the farm Monday, and were not arrested.

Carol Hellyer, spokeswoman for the sheriff's department, said the freemen's 960-acre wheat farm is in a rural area of rolling hills 30 miles northwest of Jordan. Creditors foreclosed on the farm two years ago, and local officials have been trying to evict the freemen ever since.

"It's just on the edge of what we call the Missouri Breaks," she said. "It's a rough area with trees on the back side of them."

Also Tuesday, the FBI in Phoenix arrested a dentist, Emmitt J. Warren, who allegedly attended one of Schweitzer's seminars -- authorities called them "crime classes" -- on how to forge government bank notes. The sessions were held at another ranch near Roundup, Montana, where a "Do Not Enter" sign greets visitors.

Warren, 65, allegedly purchased utility sports vehicles -- Land Rovers and Chevrolet Suburbans -- with $200,000 worth of forged certificates.

Related Sites

• The Freemen of Jordan, Montana - article from Usenet
• Sovereign Citizen Research Center
• Tax Protester Hall of Fame
• Militia of Montana home page
• Beyond the Bombing: Montana - a report on militia activity in Montana from the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith

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