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“Machine Gun” Kelly and the Legend of the G-Men

On September 26, 1933, Bureau of Investigation agents and Tennessee police officers arrested gangster George “Machine Gun” Kelly. He was a wanted fugitive for good reason. Two months earlier Kelly had kidnapped oil magnate Charles Urschel and held him for $200,000 in ransom. After Urschel was released, the Bureau coordinated a multi-state investigation, drawing investigative information from its own field offices as well as from other police sources, as it identified and then tracked the notorious gangster across the country.

On September 26, “Machine Gun” Kelly was found hiding in a decrepit Memphis residence. Some early press reports said that a tired, perhaps hung-over Kelly stumbled out of his bed mumbling something like “I was expecting you.” Another version of the event held that Kelly emerged from his room, hands-up, crying “Don’t shoot G-Men, don’t shoot.” Either way, Kelly was arrested without violence.

The rest is history. The more colorful version sparked the popular imagination and “G-Men” became synonymous with the special agents of the FBI. (Source: FBI)

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