In 1996, the FBI labeled a group of anti-government Montanans as domestic terrorists. They threatened to hang local sheriffs, attorneys and judges. They turned against their own friends and families. They wrote hundreds of millions of dollars in bad checks. How did a group of longtime Montana farmers and ranchers turn into a seething anti-government movement intent on overthrowing the status quo and starting their own country? RISE OF THE FREEMEN explores the anger, desperation, and ideology of the Montana Freemen. Archival footage and exclusive FBI photos and documents trace a rapid escalation of threats against elected officials and the media, the sprawling bank fraud case, and the dramatic undercover arrest of Freemen leaders that sparked the longest armed standoff in FBI history.