Machine Gun Kelly Research Paper

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Machine Gun Kelly: Depression Era of Notorious American Gangsters. Blaze A. Jones Pioneer Jr. Sr. High School. U. S. History Mr. Erik Riise March 1, 2024 Machine Gun Kelly: Depression Era of Notorious American Gangsters. George Kelly Barnes, also known as “Machine Gun Kelly”, earned his nickname by committing several crimes using his signature gun, the machine gun. Kelly was very successful in the crime industry, ranging from bootlegging to kidnapping. He tried legitimate work but failed and chose to go into crime instead because it was easier. Kelly also ran around with many other criminals, which pulled him into the life of crime. George Kelly Barnes was a notorious criminal who started as a bootlegger, ended …show more content…

Kelly, Keating, Holden, and Harmen met up with Frank Nash and Harver Bailey and they also joined the Keating Holden gang and they started a string of robberies (Kathy Alexander, 2022). The Keating and Holden gang had a lot of issues with their guys. This was only the start of the gang and their havoc they were about to release in Nebraska, Minnesota and Wisconsin. The robbery of the Keating and Holden gang. The first bank they robbed was on July 15, 1930 at William Minnesota making away with $70,000 dollars in cash (Kathy Alexander, 2022). After the first robbery a conflict occurred between some of the gang members led by Vern Miller which ended with 3 gang members shot dead at White Bear Lake (Kathy Alexander, 2022). The three gang members that were shot dead were Mike Rusick, Frank “Wennie” Coleman, and Samuel “Jew Sammy” Stein. The Keating and Holden gang was pretty brutal and did not care if they were their own men. The Keating and Holden gang didn’t get affected by the 3 men and just kept moving on with more robberies. The robbery that set them up for life, but at a cost. The robbery in …show more content…

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) started investigating on July 24th, an exhausting search for the kidnappers later identified as Kelly,Kathryn and Harvey Alexander, 2022). The FBI had a hard time finding Kelly and his partner. The FBI was successful in putting pieces together to find them. The arrest of Machine Gun Kelly. Kelly was arrested on September 26, 1933 by the FBI and Memphis Police (Kathy Alexander, 2022). Kelly was sent to a Federal Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas and was later sent to Alcatraz. Kelly got what he deserved by going to prison. This was the end of Kelly and he never got out of prison. George Kelly Barnes would serve his time in Alcatraz and also in a Federal Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas where he died of complications of a heart attack. George and Kathryn Kelly were sentenced to life in prison for the crimes of kidnapping and robbery. References River, C. & Co., 2024. Machine Gun Kelly: The notorious life and crimes of the depression era. gangster. Charles River Editors, Inc. Biography.com - Editors. d. (2021, April 16). Machine Gun Kelly Biography. https://www.biography.com/crime/machine-gun-kelly Kathy Alexander/Legends of America. 2022 November -. George “Machine Gun” Kelly

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