A preview on the “60 Minutes” website shows Paudert’s body in the street, and says: “Anti-government U.S. extremists who don’t pay taxes and ignore requirements like Social Security cards and drivers’ licenses are on the rise. Called sovereign citizens, some have become violent and the FBI considers them a domestic terror threat.”
After a 90-minute dragnet of West Memphis by law enforcement from across the region, the Kanes were cornered in a Walmart parking lot where they died in a hail of gunfire. Two other law enforcement officers were injured in the gun battle.
A Columbus native, Kane moved to Springfield in 1975 and was a 1982 graduate of South High School. He left the area in 2007, eventually relocating to Florida.
Kane ran for Springfield city commission three times, the first when he was just 18 in 1983.
In September 2004, Kane was arrested on a charge of felonious assault after allegedly shooting a 13-year-old boy who was walking near his home, according to court records.
The reporting officer wrote in an affidavit that Kane “apparently is a self-proclaimed ‘Freeman” and has a mental history.”
West Memphis Police Chief Bob Paudert, whose son Brandon was killed, now travels the country speaking at law enforcement seminars about sovereign citizens.
This week Paudert was in Washington to speak with an official from the FBI’s domestic terrorist division and review a 2005 file the FBI had on Jerry Kane. The report identifies Kane as a white-collar domestic terrorist. The Kanes held seminars to teach people how to cheat banks out of money that was loaned for mortgages.
After reviewing the file, Paudert said he was satisfied that the FBI didn’t know that Jerry Kane or his son were a threat to kill someone. But, Paudert said, after the West Memphis shootings, the FBI put sovereign citizens in the category of violent domestic terrorists.
“I’m glad they did that,” Paudert said. “They didn’t flag every one of them who claims to be a sovereign citizen. That’s what I’d like to see. But the FBI said it would violate their right to free speech. What about the officers and their right to know who they are pulling over?”
West Memphis Asst. Police Chief Don Oakes said several law enforcement officers will meet and form a “sea of blue” convoy that will travel the streets of West Memphis on May 20 to honor the two fallen officers.
The “60 Minutes” crew interviewed Paudert as part of its national report on sovereign citizens. To see the preview video, visit cbs news.com/60minutes.
Staff writer Dave Larsen contributed to this report.
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