A Stand-off with Montana's Free Thinkers

This Date in History: March 25, 1996

After two frustrating years dealing with the Freemen organization’s anti-government philosophies, FBI agents arrested three Freemen near Brusett, Montana (north of Jordan). The arrest infuriated the Freemen organization and initiated an eighty-one day siege at the group’s isolated headquarters. The nearly three-month standoff was a constant national news item, casting a negative limelight on Montana and its residents. Many newspapers, magazines, and television shows poked fun at the state’s residents, broadly calling all Montanans gun-loving, anti-government loonies. The situation was only made worse when isolated Lincoln resident, Ted Kacynski, was arrested and charged as the Unabomber. Although Montana continued to receive its fair share of criticism for harboring radical thinkers, the attention finally dissipated a few months later.