On February 13, 1983, the US Marshals Service was summoned to the small North Dakota town of Medina to arrest a man by the name of Gordon Kahl, a known tax protester and former member of the Posse Comitatus. The marshals had an arrest warrant for Kahl and were notified that he was in Medina by Stutsman County Deputy Sheriff Brad Kapp. On a recent television program about how the power of the IRS is getting out of hand, assuming people are guilty until they prove their innocence, the show used a lead in of a picture of a wanted poster of Gordon Kahl announcing, "It all started with this man". The Medina shoot-out between Gordon Kahl and US Marshals was the first stop on a dangerous trail, which has lead to Ruby Ridge, Waco and Oklahoma City. Darrell Graf and Steve Schnabel were both members of the Medina Police Department, Graf being the Chief and Schnabel the Colonel. After finding out that the marshals were on their way to Medina, Graf and Schnabel did some quick planning and gathered members of the ambulance squad and rescue squad at the fire hall to prepare for what they thought could be a bloody shoot-out. Kahl had stated on several previous occasions that he would not go back to prison-he would go down fighting and take at least two enemies with him. The marshals arrived at Medina and eventually cornered Kahl just north of town by a small farmstead. Kahl had his wife Joan and son Yorie with him, as well as friends Scott Faul, David Broer and Vernon Wegner. After nine minutes of shouting back and forth to one another, a shot rang out and one of the marshals was fatally wounded. There was a short pause and then a hail of gunfire, which lasted 20-30 seconds. When the smoke cleared two marshals were dead, one marshal critically wounded and two local officers wounded. Kahl escaped under a heavy veil of fog that evening, eventually making his way to the state of Arkansas. Steve Schnabel was one of the local officers wounded in the gun battle and Darrell Graf was on the other side of the hill blocking traffic from entering the scene and coordinating the ambulance and rescue squads to positions for immediate response if needed. On June 3, 1983 law enforcement caught up with Kahl in Smithville, AR where he was hold up. They surrounded the house he was in and a barrage of gunfire ensued. The house was set on fire and virtually everything inside was destroyed, including the body of a man they believed to be Gordon Kahl. County Sheriff Gene Matthews was also killed during the shooting, but it is still unclear just when and where he received the fatal gunshot wound. Graf and Schnabel, former Medina police officers, have teamed together to write a book entitled IT'S ALL ABOUT POWER. The authors'unique perspective of the case as they were there when it all happened. Their knowledge of events, which took place before during and after the shoot-out at Medina, make for a shocking, truthful look at just what happened in Medina that day. The authors also detail the blunder made by law enforcement in Arkansas during their attempt to bring Kahl to justice for what he had done in North Dakota. There were two people killed in Arkansas that day and not one police photograph or police report to go with it. No evidence gathered save a burned body and a burned rifle from the house.
IT'S ALL ABOUT POWER was published by the authors so the end result would be a true and accurate account of events that is easy reading and filled with facts, designed to let the reader make up his or her own mind about the case(s). The authors had no asses to kiss and no political agenda to push, only a true story to tell that the public has been thirsting for.
IT'S ALL ABOUT POWER also touches on the human side of the aftermath. The authors bear their souls to let the chips fall where they may to show what a critical part Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) had to play in regard to events after the shoot-out, up to present day. This 20-30 second event in the lives of the authors has changed their lives forever! Many questions that have been asked over the last 16 years are answered in this book such as is Kahl really dead? Was the arrest warrant the marshals had in Medina that day a valid warrant? Did the marshals "ambush" Kahl at Medina? Did Graf and Schnabel help Kahl escape? Did Graf and Schnabel set Kahl up for an "ambush"?
IT'S ALL ABOUT POWER also paints a more accurate picture of just what kind of man Gordon Kahl was and why he held the views he did about guns, taxes and the Constitution of the United States.
IT'S ALL ABOUT POWER is a true and accurate account of the events and facts as we know them. We invite the readers to draw their own conclusions.
Darrell Graf is the former Chief of Police for the City of Medina, ND, graduating from the North Dakota Law Enforcement Training Center in August of 1976. He is currently President and CEO of PEMNA Fire Apparatus, Ltd. in Fargo, ND. He holds two patents on firefighting devices he invented, and in addition, is still active in fire and rescue training. Steve Schnabel is the former Colonel of the police department for the City of Medina, ND, graduating from the North Dakota Law Enforcement Training Center in April of 1981. He is also a staff sergeant for the North Dakota Army National Guard of which he has been a member for over 19 years. Steve is currently a customer service representative for a manufacturing company in Fargo, ND.
