The threat of Freeman on Canadian land
freed themselves from the restrictions and conspiracies of government. The Freeman are on the FBI's domestic terror watchlist. And Canadian police, lawyers and notaries warn of their growing presence. Today, we're looking at their reach.
Sovereign Citizen Movement
It must be Canada's most outlandish landlord-tenant dispute. Rebekah Caverhill, an Alberta pensioner, agreed to allow Andreas Pirelli to live in her Calgary rental property. She says he agreed to do some renovations, in return for a few months of free rent.
"He's been there since November 2011 and it was only supposed to take 3 months. The idea was that if he did the work properly then he would take over the whole house with the agreement that the rent would be $1500 dollars a month and he would look after the grounds".Rebekah Caverhill, Landlord
When Rebekah Caverhill says she checked on her property after a few months, she found Mr. Pirelli had unilaterally changed the terms of the deal. In fact, she says, he'd made quite a few changes.
"Oh he told me I had no rights whatsoever he was the king the castle a diplomat, that this was his embassy not mine any more. That I had no rights, I don't own it. That he could confiscate any property place or thing".Rebekah Caverhill, Landlord
The CBC has made repeated efforts to contact Mr. Pirelli, but has been unsuccessful. There are now reports this real name is Mario Antonacci and there was a warrant issued for his arrest three years ago.
You're likely unaware anyone has the right to confiscate any property, place or thing -- but for some people in the movement calling itself Freeman-on-the-Land, it's a kind of philosophy.
In Calgary, police are asking the Crown what they can do in the case of the freeloading renter. Although now a Calgary court has now ordered Mr. Pirelli or Antonacci to vacate Rebekah Caverhill's property.
- Ron Usher is the general counsel for the Society of B.C. Notaries.. He says he is concerned about the number of notaries in B.C. approached by members of the Freeman-on-the-Land to validate their self-designed identification. Ron Usher was in Vancouver, B.C.
- Mark Pitcavage is the Director of Investigative Research at the Anti-Defamation League. He is tracking the movement and wrote an in-depth report, titled The Lawless Ones. He feels that Freeman-on-the-Land is a strain of the widespread "sovereign citizens movement," blaming their problems on an illegitimate system and offering a quick way out of trouble with pseudo-legal manoeuvres. Mark Pitcavage was in Columbus, Ohio.
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This segment was produced by The Current's Josh Bloch, Peter Mitton and Nuruddin Qorane.
Freeman-on-the-land interview: As part of our Thursday's Checking-In, we also interviewed Dean Clifford . He has been described as the guru of Freeman on the Land. He was in Winnipeg Beach, Manitoba. Here is that interview: