Two police officers in West Memphis, Arkansas were shot and killed during a traffic stop on May 20, 2010. Police killed two suspects, 45-year-old Jerry R. Kane Jr. (b. 1964), and his 16-year-old son Joseph T. Kane (b. 1993).[1] The two were later identified as members of the sovereign citizen movement.[2] Footage of the shooting and ensuing shootout with police was shown in a season 5 episode of World's Wildest Police Videos.[citation needed]
Upon Paudert's arrival at the scene, Evans attempted to frisk Jerry Kane. Suddenly, Kane turned and attacked Evans in a scuffle down an embankment into a ditch. At that moment, Joe Kane emerged from the passenger door of the van and opened fire with an AK-47 variant. Paudert ran to the rear of Evans' police cruiser and returned fire with three shots from his .40-caliberGlock 22 handgun through the windows and taillight of Evans' cruiser, in an attempt to hit Kane firing from the other side. He then took cover behind the hood of his cruiser parked directly behind Evans' cruiser. Paudert fired four more times at Kane, but missed. Kane then fired multiple shots from his AK-47 variant through the hood of the car, striking Paudert in the head with a ricochet.[5][nb 1]
Both officers were fatally wounded; Paudert, 39, died at the scene, and Evans, 38, died at the hospital. The suspects returned to their van and sped away.[6] Vincent Brown, a FedEx driver from Houston, witnessed the shooting and called 911; neither officer could make an "officer down" call due to their fatal injuries.[7]
Approximately 2 hours after the incident, Crittenden County Sheriff Dick Busby and Chief Enforcement Officer W. A. Wren stopped a minivan believed to be the suspects' at a Walmart Supercenter.[3][8] Officers Busby and Wren were wounded in gunfire exchanged with the suspects and were later hospitalized in critical condition.[3]
Wildlife Officer Michael K. Neal, responding to the brief standoff, rammed the suspect's vehicle, preventing their escape and saving the lives of Busby and Wren. Officer Neal exchanged fire with the Kanes through his windshield using his patrol rifle, killing Jerry Kane and wounding Joe Kane before exiting his vehicle and continuing the gun battle. Dozens of officers then surrounded the van, and after several more minutes of gunfire, Joe Kane was shot to death by police.[4] For his heroics, Officer Neal was awarded Law Enforcement Officer of the Year by the National Rifle Association of America (NRA).[9] Michael K. Neal's Truck is on permanent display at the National Law Enforcement Museum in Washington D.C.[10]
It was later revealed that Brandon Paudert was shot 14 times, Thomas Evans 8 times, Jerry Kane 18 times, and Joe Kane 8 times.[11]
Perpetrators
Jerry Kane and Joseph Kane were identified by Arkansas State Police the day after the shootings.[1]
A lifelong resident of Ohio,[12] Jerry Kane ran a debt elimination business and traveled the country giving paid seminars on methods of "forestalling foreclosures",[13] lecturing that money and home loans are fictitious, and that people can simply sign a quitclaim deed and live in their houses mortgage-free.[14] His concepts were based on the fraudulent schemes advocated by the redemption movement.[4]
According to his girlfriend, Kane's resentment of the government began in the late 1990s, when one of his daughters died at the age of six weeks of infant death syndrome and an autopsy was performed against his wishes. Kane grew distrustful of authorities, gave up his driver's license and employment as a trucker, and became increasingly antagonistic toward Ohio law enforcement.[12] Based on a 2004 conversation with Jerry Kane, Clark County Sheriff Gene Kelly had expressed concern that Kane would pose a dangerous threat to law enforcement officers. According to Kelly, Kane had complained about being "enslaved" by a judge who had sentenced him to serve six days of community service for driving with an expired license plate and no seat belt.[1]
In 2006, Kane was indicted for forgery and theft of a car by deception in Montgomery County, Ohio, and there was an outstanding warrant at the time of his death.[15] Kane had said that driver's licences were a "debt contract", and a month before the shooting, he was arrested in New Mexico for driving without a license. On an internet radio show, Kane said he was picked up at a "Nazi checkpoint", spent 47 hours in custody, and planned to sue for $100 per hour of custody. In fact, he was released on $1,500 bond and did not appear for his court date three days before the shooting.[14]
Around 2006, Kane started posting about "redemption" theories on a sovereign citizen forum.[16] In 2007, his wife died of pneumonia.[17] Around 2008, at the height of the mortgage crisis, Kane shifted from being an Internet poster to starting his own debt-elimination seminars business.[16]
Joseph Kane traveled the country with his father, whom he assisted on his seminars.[4] He was homeschooled and by age 9, could recite the Bill of Rights and carried a toy gun everywhere he went. According to Sheriff Kelly, "the child had been taught not to trust law enforcement."[13]
Jerry Kane had recently begun a relationship with a Florida woman whom he had met at one of his seminars,[17] and who also adhered to sovereign citizen ideology: shortly before the shooting, she had been involved in a protracted legal battle with her county of residence because she refused to pay a $20 dog-licensing fee.[4]
Jerry Kane was unsuccessful as a motivational speaker; his seminars were sparsely attended[4][16] and he had not gained much notoriety in the sovereign citizen environment.[17][16] He had decided to cut his tour off early[4] and, when the shooting took place, was en route to Florida where his last seminar was scheduled.[16] After that, he planned to settle in Florida and start a new life there with his girlfriend.[4]
According to the autopsy, officers and eyewitnesses testimony, Officer Evans was shot 14 times in the chest, back, and arms. Sgt. Paudert was shot 11 times in the head, arms, legs, both hands and shoulders.[4] Officer Neal shot both Kanes multiple times: Joseph Kane in the chest, head, back, and arms; and Jerry Kane Jr. in the back, arms, and legs.[citation needed] Crittenden County Sheriff Dick Busby was hit once in the left shoulder. Chief Enforcement Officer W. A. Wren was hit multiple times in the abdomen.[4]
^Dashboard video from Evans' cruiser was the only video released of the actual shooting as the majority of events took place out of its line of sight. Although Paudert's dashboard camera recorded the initial scuffle and the entire shooting of both officers, only the events recorded before the actual shooting occurred were released to the public from its point of view. The details of Paudert's actions were given in an interview by Paudert's father who had viewed the video.
References
^ abcBartels, Chuck; Kissel, Kelly P. (January 12, 2019). "Ohio man, son blamed for shooting deaths of two police officers in Arkansas". Cleaveland.com. Associated Press. Retrieved August 17, 2023. An Ohio man's resentment of authority and run-ins with the law was enough for a local sheriff to warn that he may be dangerous if confronted by law enforcement. Years later, it appears the sheriff was right: The man and his teenage son fatally shot two Arkansas police officers during a traffic stop and were later killed in a shootout, police said. Jerry Kane Jr., 45, of Forest, Ohio, and his son Joseph Kane, believed to be 16, were identified by police Friday as the gunmen who used AK-47 assault rifles to attack West Memphis police Sgt. Brandon Paudert, 39, and Officer Bill Evans, 38.
^Harris, Dan (July 1, 2010). "Deadly Arkansas Shooting By 'Sovereigns' Jerry and Joe Kane Who Shun U.S. Law". ABC News. Retrieved August 16, 2023. The FBI lists sovereign citizens as a domestic terror threat, saying they've been responsible for such crimes as murder, threatening judges, using fake currency and engaging in scams to convince people that they don't have to pay taxes or mortgages. Both Jerry Kane and his son Joseph were involved in such schemes, peddling their message in seminars across the country. Videos of Kane posted on YouTube show him dressed in a white suit jacket with a closely-cropped, military-style haircut, instructing a group of people in ways to fight off banks and lawyers. "I look at the legal term not the slang," Kane says on one video, urging his audience to look at the roots of legal language to reveal hidden meaning.
^ abcWatkins, Tom (May 20, 2010). "2 police officers fatally shot in West Memphis, Arkansas". CNN. Retrieved August 16, 2023. The incident began around 11:36 a.m. (12:36 p.m. ET), when West Memphis patrolman Bill Evans made a traffic stop on a white minivan traveling eastbound on I-40 at Airport Road, said Bill Sadler, public information officer for the Arkansas State Police. After the vehicle exited the Interstate onto an off-ramp near College Avenue, Sgt. Brandon Paudert arrived on the scene as backup, Sadler said. "It is our belief that Officer Evans was shoved to the ground by one of the suspects in the minivan and gunfire was directed at both officers," Sadler said. The suspects then fled, driving east in the minivan, leaving one man dead and the other fatally wounded.
^ abcdefghijMacNab, J.J. (August 1, 2010). "'Sovereign' Citizen Kane". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved August 16, 2023. According to a preliminary investigation report, Brandon Paudert was struck 11 times and died at the scene; Evans was hit by 14 rounds and died at the hospital. ~. Crittenden County Sheriff Dick Busby was shot once in the shoulder, and W.A. Wren, West Memphis' chief of enforcement, was hit multiple times in the abdomen. Both men survived.
^ abAaronson, Trevor (May 23, 2010). "'Stepmom' of West Memphis suspects says FBI told her young Kane pulled trigger". Knox News. Retrieved August 16, 2023. A lifelong Ohioan, Kane was a long-haul truck driver married to a nurse named Hope. Their first child was a son, Joe. Two years later, they had a daughter, Candy. But six weeks after Candy's birth, Kane and his wife found her lifeless in the crib. They brought her to the hospital. The initial diagnosis: sudden infant death syndrome. But the hospital, Wray recalled from stories her husband had told her, wanted to be sure. They insisted on an autopsy. Kane objected, only to discover he had little choice in the matter. "He didn't want her all cut up and to have her brain weighed," Wray said. "She was gone." That episode 14 years ago, Wray explained, inspired a distrust of government in Kane. "He just couldn't understand that," Wray said. "How could a business have rights where the flesh and blood does not?" As a result, Kane began to withdraw from the trappings of government.
^ abThe Associated Press (May 22, 2010). "Man Who Shot Police Had Antigovernment Views". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 25, 2010. Retrieved August 17, 2023. Jerry Kane, who used the Internet to question federal and local government authority over him, made money holding debt elimination seminars around the country. He had a long police record and had recently complained about being arrested at what he called a "Nazi checkpoint" near Carrizozo, N.M., where court records showed he spent three days in jail on charges of driving without a license and concealing his identity before posting a $1,500 bond. ~. On an Internet radio show, Mr. Kane expressed outrage about his New Mexico arrest. "I ran into a Nazi checkpoint in the middle of New Mexico where they were demanding papers or jail," he said. "That was the option. Either produce your papers or go to jail. So I entered into commerce with them under threat, duress and coercion, and spent 47 hours in there." Mr. Kane said he planned to file a counterclaim alleging kidnapping and extortion. "I already have done a background check on him," he said of the arresting officer. "I found out where he lives, his address, his wife's name."
^ abWise, Andy (May 21, 2010). "Suspects identified in West Memphis shootings". WMC Action News 5. Retrieved August 17, 2023. Kane and his son toured the country, holding seminars on how there really isn't "money" or "home loans," just debt that is all the federal government's fault. They would teach that all debt contracts are the responsibility of the U.S. government, not the debt-holders because, as they taught, American currency really doesn't exist. Kane also taught that mortgage lending is a scam, and all you have to do to get a house is sign a deed or 'quit claim' that says a home is yours. In a YouTube video, waving a deed, Kane says you don't have to get a loan. "No, we don't have to do it, because here we're doing it," he said.
