Gordon Kahl

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Gordon Wendell Kahl was a tax protester best known for his involvement in two fatal shootouts with law enforcement officers in the United States in 1983.

In 1967, Kahl wrote a letter to the Internal Revenue Service stating that he would no longer pay taxes to the, in his words, "Synagogue of Satan under the 2nd plank of the Communist Manifesto." During the 1970s, Kahl organized the first Texas chapter of the Posse Comitatus, although he later left the group and was not a member at the time of the 1983 shootouts. In 1976 he appeared on a Texas television program stating that the income tax was illegal and encouraging others not to pay their income taxes. Shortly after his 1976 TV appearance he was charged with failing to file income taxes for 1973 and 1974, for which he was found guilty and served 8 months in jail in 1977.

Following his parole from prison, Kahl become active in the "township" movement, an early version of the "sovereign citizenship" belief which later became well known because of the Montana Freemen standoff. This movement sought to form parallel courts and governments purportedly based on English Common Law, and to withdraw recognition from the U.S. federal government. Township movement supporters as well as the Posse Comitatus attempted to organize among farmers in the American Midwest during the early 1980s farm crisis.

On February 13, 1983, U.S. Marshals attempted to arrest him as he was leaving a meeting of township supporters in Medina, North Dakota for allegedly violating his parole. In the car with him were his wife Joan Kahl, his son Yorie Kahl, and three others who had been at the meeting. During the ensuing shootout, Kahl shot and killed two US Marshals. Mr. Kahl then took the vehicle of a Medina law enforcement officer and fled to Arkansas.

After a tip was received from the youngest daughter of the owner of the home where Mr. Kahl was hiding in Smithville, Arkansas, another shootout ensued on June 3, 1983 in which Kahl and Sheriff Gene Matthews were killed; this at the 'Bunker' home of Leonard Ginter, who was also arrested and convicted of harboring a fugitive and sentenced to a federal prison.

Yorie Kahl and Scott Faul received prison sentences on charges in regard to the Medina shootout; Joan Kahl was acquitted.

There is significant dispute concerning the order of events, in that various witnesses have come forward to dispute the "official version" put forth by the US Marshals. Among the dissenters is the Medina chief of police at the time, Darrell Graf. He stated "The feds would set up a roadblock, and Kahl would get out of his car with his weapon. . . and Kahl would be dead. I wanted no part of this! Kahl was not a bank robber or violent criminal but had only a minor problem with the government. I could imagine this 5'7", 160 pound, 63-year-old farmer lying dead on the road, with all these heroes celebrating their victory - then they go back to their jobs far from Medina, leaving local law enforcement to bear the brunt of a farmer killing. I almost threw up!"

[edit] References

• Corcoran, James: Bitter Harvest (1990) (ISBN 0-14-009874-7)
• Graf, Darrell and Steve Schnabel: It's All About Power (1999) (ISBN 0-942323-31-9)
• Turner, Capstan and A.J. Lowery: There Was a Man (1986) (ISBN 0-9614465-0-1)
• Death & Taxes (1993 film documentary)
• Anti-Defamation League briefing paper on the Sovereign Citizen Movement, [1]