West Memphis Outraged Over Cop Shooting Deaths

(CBS)  Law enforcement in West Memphis, Ark., is still in a state of shock today after a traffic stop led to the brutal killings of two police officers.

According to CBS affiliate WREG in Memphis, police say Officer Bill Evans stopped a white van with Ohio plates along I-40 and called for his backup, Sgt. Brandon Paudert. Within minutes, reports indicate Evans had been wrestled to the ground by one of the suspects and gunfire from a "long gun" and a handgun targeted both policemen.

At 11:50 a.m. CDT a call rang out, "Officer down." Paudert was pronounced dead at the scene. Evans died at a nearby hospital.

A massive hunt ended in a nearby Wal-Mart parking lot with another shootout. It hasn't been determined who fired first, but the gunfire left two more law enforcement officers injured and resulted in the deaths of two suspects. They have been identified by friends and relatives as 45-year-old Jerry Kane and his 16-year-old son Joseph Kane. They were from Springfield, Ohio, near Cincinnati, but according to family had recently relocated to Florida to live with Kane's new wife Donna Lee.

Initial reports suggested the van carried drug dealers because I-40 is a well-traveled corridor for drug runners. That was followed by reports the van was registered to a church in New Vienna, Ohio, a place called House of God's Prayer, which was once home to a white supremacy movement.

While ties to the church are still being investigated, CBS affiliate WREG has found links to something a bit less familiar, that this man and his son may have had ties to a fringe sovereignty movement. Jerry Kane and his son apparently traveled the country giving seminars with Jerry in a revivalist preacher-style white suit, offering to help people who were having trouble paying their mortgage.

But law enforcement investigators say the pitch offered by Kane and his colleagues was likely a scam,one that ended up costing frightened homeowners more than just their houses. According to the Anti-Defamation League, Kane specialized in "Redemption," a sovereign citizen "theory" that applied special formulas promising to resolve financial problems for people.

One of Kane's colleagues, Karen Taggert, has been accused in several states of pretending to do mortgage rescues while in reality doing nothing more than telling homeowners she will take care of their foreclosure and then proceeding to print a false deed which is filed under the name of a made up company or corporation.

She would then, investigators say, rent the home back to the owners or sell it to them at a reduced price. Needless to say when the bank or mortgage company catches up to the scam, Taggert and her team are, law enforcement says, long gone.

Members of these sovereignty factions encompass people from all races and all walks of life. What they have in common is a firm belief that government has no hold on them. As their own entities, members determine their own value in society. Some even file legal papers declaring their value to be millions of dollars. Since they don't believe in the government, who is there to challenge them?

The mortgage help believed to be offered by Jerry Kane and his group appears to be based on a belief that because mortgages these days are bundled and banks likely no longer have possession of your individual mortgage, they don't legally own your home any more than you do and therefore have no claim to your mortgage payments. Officials say this type of mortgage relief advice is part of a huge scam with tentacles in every state, with hundreds of operators preying on frightened homeowners.

The still unanswered question in West Memphis is, how did a man who seems to have been involved in shady business practices make the leap to killing police officers along a stretch of Arkansas interstate?

Law enforcement working the case still refuses to talk about what evidence they have turned up but officials who understand the fringe sovereignty movement say that sometimes antipathy toward government and law enforcement can lead to violence.

Whatever the cause, two police officers, Bill Evans and Brandon Paudert, are dead.

[morningjoerocks]

Our community is still in a state of shock! We lost two of our finest and there are now 5 children with no father. It is going to
take some time to heal our wounds. I live 15 minutes from the Walmart in West Memphis that turned into a war zone.

Rumor has it that Evans approached the passenger side of the vehicle unaware of the radicalized 16 year old he was about to be killed by. His backup had arrived and was walking up to them when the kid shoved Evans to the ground and mortally wounded him with a hand gun. Horrified Paudert turned around to get more backup. As he made his way back to his vehicle the senior Kane fired with an assault weapon hitting him in the back of the head.

90 minutes later our Sheriff (unarmed) and his Chief Deputy blocked the van in and started to approach the vehicle. The senior Kane opened fire with his assault rifle striking Chief Deputy Wren 4 times and Sheriff Busby once in the arm as he took cover inside their police vehicle. Wren returned fire.

Without reguard for his own safety a Wild life officer from Lee county who responded to the call rammed the white van disabling it and jumped out and opened fire. The rest is history.

In the comming days and weeks the decision to continue to go after the millions of dollars in cash and drugs on the interstate will be a tough one for a Police Chief who just lost his son.

The Police have complained that the limits on the proceeds from their
interdiction efforts are unfair. (Currently state law dictates that any proceeds over $250K go to the State Treasury) 20 percent of the total are retained by the Federal government. The limit will probably be increased in the next session of the legislature and the pursuit of "easy" money will continue unabated.

In the end maybe the West Memphis Police Department should take a more active role fighting crime within it's city limits and leave the Interstate to the State Police and County Sheriff's office. Our track record with Drug Interdiction Units here is mixed at best. The latest version is less than a year old and has confiscated millions so far. When they found out they could only keep $250,000 of the $1.8M in a recent operation the local newspaper headline read: "Property Room Robbed"

The Mexican drug cartels are getting more violent. The border is broken and there is no shortage of idiots that want to commit suicide by cop and take as many with them as possible.

Hopefully, when the dust settles some good will come from this tragedy.

P.S. The National Guard is on high alert as are all local law enforcement agencies. So if you are wanting to make a name for yourself getting even you need to go big or stay home! My advice would be Stay Home...

[brianbwb2011]

Really getting funny now.

For months, ultra right wing pundits, preachers, and pimps have been spewing to a rabid tea-klux bagger crowd about how it is time for revolution, using words and phrases like "don't retreat, reload", and Photoshopping targets on photos of public servants.

When advised of the inevitability of some wackos taking them literally, the spewers whined "don't infringe on my freedom of speech".

Now that some of the more idiotic among their audience, like these nuts, and the hutaree of recent news, takes them up on their spew, now they want to claim distance from the perps.

The rationale for their denial fails. They urged their followers to commit such acts, and now they want to disavow any affiliation with those who followed their urgings.

Regardless of the name the groups call themselves, if the tea-klux baggers say "reload", and then the hutaree, or this current group reloads, there is no difference between the two, they are de-facto one and the same.

Freedom is at long last welded permanently to responsibility, freedom of speech carries with it responsibility of speech, so to all the tea-klux baggers, this Bud's on you.

[generey]

At least the "bad boys" are dead so they will not be a burden on society. It doesnt help the cops, but at least someone got them too.

[legisman]

Mortgage Fraud examiners exposed the fraud these individuals were promoting in a press release: BEWARE OF THE LATEST FORECLOSURE SCAM--"MORTGAGE ELIMINATION"
http://www.pr-inside.com/beware-of-the-latest-foreclosure-scam-mortgage-r1824092.htm

[Dgunner]

When they raise thier hand and strap on a gun every one of them know the risks. It is indeed a injustice to every citizen when these brave people are stricken down.This applies to military and civl servants alike.The real shame that looms over this country are the crooked and malicious people who wear a cape of law enforcers and then beat and abuse citizens who by thier faith in the legal system are beaten and sometimes killed by the same people.One ounce of vinegar spoils the wine.

[bajajohn1]

Actually, the Kane's sound more like Liberterians in the Rand Paul mold than any other group. This is because they feel that government does not apply to them and what government exists should be extremely limited. No government equals anarchy.

[ThePrinceMichael]

Baja: Wow. An intelligent, non-seething, semi-coherent post?
Much appreciation. Again, I will NEVER align myself with
ANY political-party, nonetheless, Democracy in it's true and
non-diluted form, has proven to be the most effective governance.
Thus far, that is. Anarchy, even sounds too much like INSANITY.
Lol. Yes, I actually Lol'd.

[ThePrinceMichael]

Porcine, Brian: My first response was "My heartfelt condolences, and prayers to the family, friends, and associates of the officers."

For your information: Other "news" sources, have implied that the two
assailants had "ties" to a "Christian" organization. Which, in reality
could mean that, they attended church-services. If either of you, have
not noted the federal governments aggressive Anti-Christian propaganda/mis-information campaign as of late, undoubtedly, you are
spending too-much time attempting to insult individuals at CBSNews.com

Hence, you would both probably be unaware of the recently made appointments of two devout Muslims? Department of "Homeland" Security.

[kbbpll]

That guy who crashed his plane into an IRS office had the same "sovereign" lunatic thing going on.

[brianbwb2011]

Tea-klux baggers.

Well, Sarah, Rush, et.al., this is your baby, you goaded them into it, and so the blood of the dead cops is also on your hands.

[earlysaid]

brianbwb2011 right you are. This is how anti-government sheeple end up. They decide that no laws apply to them and of course they can rob, steal, cheat, betray and scam just as much as they want. With Rush Limpy, Sarah Pitbull and the Fox billionaires of lies and fear mongering who needs the government to protect us from crooks and thieves. Just let these thugs do as they please and everyone be happy. The same goes for the oil companies execs. Make sure republicans are elected so no one stands in the way of their ruthless greed and corruption.

[theywerestrongandgood]

Portraying the Tea Party as connected to the KKK and other extremist, illegal movements is stupid. Those is the Tea Party advocate responsible government, not anarchy In reality, the law-breaking right is no more representative of the average conservative than Al-Queda is of the Democrats.

[askagain]

So many morons paint a picture of teabaggers as bigots, racists, or anti-American. In reality, they are neighbors, coworkers, and taxpayers who don't like the direction in which the government is taking us. That does not make these people criminals or unpatriotic. The teabaggers are exercising their right as Americans to protest and influence who gets elected. How would liberals feel if, after they are out of power, they are described as bigots, racists, or Anti-American for doing the same thing?

[porcine_aviator]

"How would liberals feel if, after they are out of power, they are described as bigots, racists, or Anti-American for doing the same thing? "

But you see, liberals don't do things like tell the whole world how they think the 1964 Civil Rights Act was bogus.

I agree with you in general that MOST Teapartyists aren't racists, but there is a vocal minority who are raging bigots. And, you all just elected one in Kentucky. The actions and words of these people ARE bigoted, it's just that simple. Calling a spade a spade is all it is; surely you aren't so PC aas to suggest we not do that!

Liberals are upset with certain Teaparty people because they have EARNED a bad reputation, that's the bottom line.

[earlysaid]

Tea baggers are republicans. Not just simple mom and pop republicans, but the real neocon base. Just the extremely believing republicans who never got a clue about republican corruption. No they loved all the Bush/Cheney/republican war mongering and never saw one thing wrong with it or them. Why would they when they were loyal Fox watchers? Now tea baggers hang on every crazy bazaar word from Glenn Beck who is more a stooge these days than ever before.