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Freedom Force Stunned By Courthouse Violence

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By BAIRD HELGESON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 8, 2008

A member of Freedom Force International said today that the organization is a peaceful one and does not condone violence.

Dirk Davidek, of San Antonio, said he was stunned to learn that the man who was shot and killed after a gunfight in the St. Petersburg courthouse was reportedly a regular visitor of the group's Web site.

"That's not at all what the group is about," said Davidek, who runs an outdoor adventure club that specializes in kayaking, mountain biking and hiking.

Glen Lee Powell was shot and killed Wednesday when he walked in the St. Petersburg courthouse reportedly to file divorce papers and started firing a semi-automatic handgun at two deputies manning a security checkpoint. He injured one deputy before being shot to death.

The group, which doesn't hold meetings and is bound almost solely by its Web site, is concerned about what it calls the loss of personal liberty and the expansion of government power.

It's different from other Libertarian organizations that focus on education, such as writing letters to elected leaders, said Davidek, 42. Freedom Force formed to get people who share their views elected to government offices and onto the boards of nonprofit organizations, he said.

The Web site touts: "Don't fight city hall when you can BE city hall."

The group's founder -- author, film producer and longtime Federal Reserve Board critic G. Edward Griffin -- endorsed failed Republican presidential candidate U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas.

Storming a courthouse with a gun actually works against their beliefs by prompting government leaders to further restrict civil liberties, like the right to carry weapons, Davidek said.

Freedom Force's "creed" stresses individual freedom over that of the government, and that the role of government is to protect people and property, not to provide services like welfare.

Under a column of the group's position statements, topics include:

"Are Jews and Masons and Jesuits conspiring to control the world?"

Military plans to treat U.S. dissidents as insurgents.

How politicians use fear to legitimize expansion of power.

The anti-income tax movement. Of this, Griffin writes: "I am in agreement with income-tax protesters that the tax, as commonly applied, is unconstitutional, unfair, and immoral."

The group's members are locked "in a struggle for the soul of the country," said Davidek, who is aware of about 12 other members in the San Antonio area.

Griffin founded Freedom Force International in 2002 at an economic conference in the Dominican Republic, launching its Web site about three years later.

It's unclear how many members the group has. By this morning, the group's Web site reported 446,106 visits.

Griffin is a longtime and outspoken member of the John Birch Society, a right-wing organization that formed to fight what it saw as attacks on the U.S. Constitution and personal freedom. The group had been particularly concerned about alleged communist infiltration in the government.

The Freedom Force Web site includes numerous quotes attributed to famous scholars and rulers, such as Plato and Joseph Stalin.

Griffin includes himself among those luminaries, quoted as saying: "Collectivism and freedom are mortal enemies. Only one will survive."

Freedom Force's endowment fund invests in a payday loan company in Southern California. Griffin defends the practice on the Web site, saying criticism that payday loan companies target the financially vulnerable "is primarily inspired by the banking industry and is propaganda to hinder competition."

Reporter Baird Helgeson can be reached at (813) 259-7668 or bhelgeson@tampatrib.com.

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