What was claimed
Dezi Freeman’s son has been arrested.
Our verdict
False. Freeman’s son has not been arrested.
AAP FACTCHECK - Claims that the son of police killer Dezi Freeman has been arrested for assisting his late father evade the police are false.
Victoria Police has arrested two people as part of an investigation into the fugitive's movements, but neither is related to him.
Police shot Freeman dead on a rural property on March 30, 2026, after he was on the run for more than seven months.
He was wanted for killing police officers Neal Thompson and Vadim de Waart-Hottart when they tried to serve a warrant at his home in the town of Porepunkah.
Vietnamese-run Facebook pages have posted fake stories about the dead fugitive's eldest son, Koah Freeman, being arrested.
One Facebook post shows photos of the 20-year-old's purported arrest and links to a website that claims he was part of "a secret network" that aided his fugitive father for months.
"The internet ERUPTS as Dezi Freeman’s son — the very man who publicly condemned his father’s crimes and was seen moments ago collapsing in tears, whispering “Still my father” after Dezi was gunned down by police — has now been abruptly ARRESTED on the spot for…" the caption reads.
However, the claims are false.
AAP FactCheck found no evidence that Freeman's son was arrested.
Police confirmed that two people arrested after Freeman died were associates of the fugitive, but not members of his family, as reported by ABC News on April 4.
Several images in the post appear to have been generated using artificial intelligence (AI).
One of the images appears to have been generated from unrelated footage of Koah Freeman wearing the same hoodie and cap.
The original footage was published by the Daily Mail in September 2025.
The police uniforms in the image also appear to have AI-generated flaws, including a missing reflective stripe on the vest of the officer seen on the left at the top of the image.
A purported mugshot of Freeman's son standing in front of a measurement wall also appears to be AI-generated.
The height markings behind him are jumbled and inconsistent.
Another Facebook post used unrelated news images to falsely imply Koah Freeman had been arrested.
It claimed the younger Freeman provided police with "secret files" and linked to a website that claimed the documents detailed his father's movements and tactics.
“‘He handed it all over…’ — Dezi Freeman’s son makes shocking move hours after fatal shooting, secret files spark nationwide frenzy,” the post reads.
AAP FactCheck found no evidence or credible news reports indicating the "secret files" existed.
The post included a still of Koah Freeman taken from the September 2025 Daily Mail video mentioned above.
Another image was from a 2021 Seven News report about Dezi Freeman being arrested outside Myrtleford Magistrates Court (timestamp 32 seconds).
The final image was from a story about the hunt for Freeman, published by News.com.au in 2025.
AAP Factcheck has previously debunked claims involving AI-generated photos and the Freeman case.
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