Supervisor Kevin Crye responds after arrest of Shasta man on felony gun charges
Community member Michael Kamfolt is facing charges including alleged illegal possession of a machine gun. Crye released a video yesterday referring to him as a friend and saying he had no prior knowledge of the circumstances related to the arrest.
Michael Jay Kamfolt, a supporter of Supervisor Kevin Crye and critic of some of Shasta County’s local activists, was arrested Tuesday on three misdemeanor and four felony firearm-related charges.
Those charges allege the illegal possession of an assault weapon, machine gun and short-barreled shotgun or rifle, as well as the possession of a firearm with an altered or defaced identifying marker and without a valid state or federal serial number. Additional charges include allegations that he illegally manufactured or assembled a firearm, that he illegally converted a firearm into a machine gun or offered to sell an illegal machine gun, and that he knowingly received stolen property.
Yesterday Crye shared a Facebook live video saying the man who was arrested Tuesday was a friend and supporter and emphasizing that he had no prior knowledge of the circumstances that may have led to the arrest.
According to county records available so far, Kamfolt is not facing federal charges. Some of his alleged offenses — such as owning a machine gun — are only illegal in certain states such as California, while other allegations, like obliterating an identifying marker on a firearm, also violate federal gun laws.
Shasta County’s in-custody reporting documentation shows that 40-year-old Kamfolt was apprehended by the California Highway Patrol at a property registered under his name in Anderson, then booked into the Shasta County jail midday. As of yesterday morning he was being held on bail of $50,000. He was removed from Shasta County’s in-custody database late yesterday, indicating that bail was likely posted.
A review of Shasta County court records shows no history of criminal convictions.
Kamfolt’s political participation
In November of 2024, the day before the presidential election, Kamfolt visited the county election office with Supervisor Crye who said he’d just met Kamfolt that day. Speaking to a reporter, Kamfolt expressed his support for Crye’s work in the community and his interest in the importance of this particular election. He said he wanted to observe for himself that it was being facilitated correctly. At the time, former Registrar of Voters Tom Toller was running the election office.
A few days later, Kamfolt made an appearance at a county board meeting alongside members of the local Cottonwood Militia. The group showed up after community member Jenny O’Connell-Nowain was arrested for allegedly disrupting the meeting. She was protesting statements by Supervisor Patrick Jones about another election official, former Assistant Registrar of Voters Joanna Francescut. Earlier this month, O’Connell-Nowain was found guilty of disrupting that meeting by a Shasta County jury.
In May of 2025, Shasta Scout spoke with Kamfolt again at a demonstration staged outside of Crye’s personal business. The protest was held in reaction to a decision from Crye and two other county supervisors to appoint Clint Curtis as the county’s top election official after the early resignation of Toller for medical reasons. At the time, Kamfolt described himself as a “good friend” to Crye and willing to do “anything to help him out.”
The video Crye posted yesterday addressed the arrest without referring to Kamfolt by name, calling him a “supporter” and “a friend of mine.” Crye said he knew nothing about the issues Kamfolt may have been facing and made note of the man’s wife and children, urging the public not to rush to judgement, and adding “remember we are innocent until proven guilty.”
Kamfolt is an avid user of X where he has reshared pro-Nazi, antisemitic and Islamophobic content, as well as numerous posts condemning anti-ICE protesters around the country.
Do you have a correction to share? Email us: editor@shastascout.org.
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Crye is obviously lying. they are birds of a feather and hang together.
Kudos to Shasta Scout. This article got a mention and citation in today’s Los Angeles Times.
His actions make him a narco-terrorist. He should be incarcerated at Guantanamo or in El Salvador. This is an open and shut case.
Where are the pictures of the illegal marijuana grow? Pretty weird there’s not one picture of any type of marijuana growing, lol.
Is there a way to find out who bailed him out? Crye perhaps…
That is a possibility. I heard he works for Crye and apparently they are friends.
“Sometimes I’m so high I’m scared to go to sleep
Sometimes I’m lower than the company I keep”
—Drive-By Truckers (channeling a certain County Supervisor)
LOL! Kevin Crye “urging the public not to rush to judgment” sure is rich. Shouldn’t this guy have thought of his own wife and children before breaking state and federal gun laws? Odd that is our responsibility?
“Shouldn’t this guy have thought of his own wife and children before breaking state and federal gun laws? Odd that is our responsibility?”
Seems this guy did have the safety of his family in mind. A safe room for protection, plenty of firepower against threats and a supply of medicinal marijuana or health and pain management.
Do you really think we can depend on the law or anyone else to protect us? Really?
“Kamfolt is an avid user of X where he has reshared pro-Nazi, antisemitic and Islamophobic content.”
Why is it no surprise that this is the type of person that Nick Gardner would defend?
I give up! Why??
Concerned about ICE, Nick?
Birds of a feather.
https://www.chp.ca.gov/news-alerts/news-list/illicit-cannabis-cultivation-operation-leads-to-discovery-of-underground-bunker-and-large-cache-of-illegal-firearms/
Pretty serious set-up. Guess Kamfolt wasn’t too concerned about protecting his family as Supervisor Crye would have us believe….
Thanks for this! We’ve just also shared a second story encompassing the press release info.