Politics and Active Assailant Attacks

First well done for all those first responders, LEO or civilians who run towards the sound of fire to save others.??To the families of those who lost loved ones, there are no words.??To live in a free society there are costs, and this is a price we must endure.??

Regardless of what side of the political spectrum you are on, unfortunately, these events will continue to occur.??I, like many others are of the thought that what stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.??Sadly, when an active assailant is stopped before they can inflict maximum carnage those situations rarely make the headlines.??

According to a report published by Fox News?“FBI undercounts number of times armed citizens have thwarted active shooting incidents: report”?In the article they reference a report from the Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC) that states:

“Data released by the nonprofit shows that 34.4% of active shootings were thwarted by armed citizens between 2014 and 2021. However, FBI data show only 4.4% of active shootings were thwarted by armed citizens during that time period.”?

“All in, 360 active shooter incidents were identified by CPRC between 2014 and 2021, with 124 stopped by armed citizens. The FBI identified 252 active shooter incidents during the same time period, with only 11 thwarted by armed citizens.”

The Fox News article went on to state:

“Between 2014 and 2021, there were 204 active shooting incidents carried out in areas that allowed people to carry firearms, according to the data. Out of the 204 cases, 104 of them were thwarted by an armed citizen, meaning 51% of attacks were thwarted by people?legally carrying?concealed handguns, according to the report.”

If this report is correct or even partially correct it would be easy to assume that the leaders in government and the media do not want the public to realize the effectiveness of an armed citizenry.??Why? It could be due to their own political beliefs and how politically charged the second amendment topic is.??This is rather unfortunate considering they are allowing political position stand in the way of public safety.

This brings me to another aspect that rarely if ever gets discussed.??That aspect is that politics often, if not always, play a role in what information we get or do not get when it comes to these horrific events.??Politics does not just mean politicians, it sadly encompasses law enforcement, the media and major organizational leadership alike.

The topic of the second amendment has become so toxic it prevents accurate and timely information being disseminated to the public on the “how” the “why” and the “who”.??While we may never truly know the answers to these topics, we can always gleam some insight which can better prepare us for the potential future attack.

HOW

Let’s first discuss the “how”.??When I refer to the how I am mainly referring to what weapon did the assailant use to commit the mass murder.??This could be a firearm, knife, vehicle, bomb, or any other weapon they may use.??

In a recent active assailant attack in Tennessee, President Joe Biden stated that the shooter used 2 AK-47’s which fit into the narrative that the US needs an assault weapons ban. This comment was made prior to any reports of what types of weapons were used.??However, according to a CNN?“Here’s what we know about the guns used in Nashville school shooting” the guns at the scene were a AR-military-style rifle,?9mm Kel-Tec Sub2000 series pistol caliber carbine and a 9mm Smith and Wesson M&P Shield EZ 2.0 handgun.

None of the weapons shoot the same caliber as the AK-47 which is a 7.62x39mm cartridge and only 1 of the alleged weapons used would be part of an “Assault Weapons” ban. To the best of my knowledge President Biden or his staff have never corrected the statement, nor did the press correct him or his staff.

I would like to also take this moment to address that several members of the media continue to misrepresent what the “AR”, in AR-15 stands for.??Most recently Fox News Geraldo Rivera stated that “AR” stands for “automatic rifle.”??Others in the media and government officials have claimed it means “assault rifle” As most reading this know that is incorrect and the “AR” stands for ArmaLite Rifle. This has been corrected for years yet leaders continue to mislead the less informed public to promote a narrative, fear and their political point of view.??

Regardless of any new or existing gun laws, assailants will always find a way to cause carnage.??As the Texas Attorney General stated and I’m summarizing “if an individual is willing to kill 8 people, they don’t care about any laws let alone gun laws”

WHY

Moving on to the “why” and event occurred.??These bits of information regarding the “why” someone did what they did are critical.??This helps law enforcement and us security professionals build a better mitigation plan in the hopes that warning signs can be better identified sooner and thus stop an event from even occurring.??In the military we called these “TTPs” or Tactics, Techniques and Procedures.??I know some in the security space also use this term.??Understanding how these TTPs are evolving is crucial in helping to identify the next active assailant.??

Unfortunately depending on the assailant’s individual perspective, race, religious belief, lifestyle choice or political leanings that will determine how much or how little we know and understand the “why”. As an example lets contrast the Charleston SC church shooting vs. the Nashville TN Shooter.??

When it comes to the TN Shooter while the person was identified quickly the shooter manifesto is being kept from the public (as a point of reference the shooting took place March 27, 2023 this is article was written May 8, 2023). Could it be that because of the shooter’s personal lifestyle choices, and the targeted individuals selected did not fit a particular narrative???It’s hard to understand for what reason law enforcement are using to keep this critical information of “why” from the public.??Unless the manifesto contains government top secret information it would only make sense to make it public.?

In comparison the manifesto of Charleston SC shooter was made public withing 3 days of the shooting.??This event took place on June 17, 2015, and his full manifesto was out June 20, 2015.??Could this be due to the ethnicity, target selection and points of view that fit a particular narrative?

WHO

Lastly is the “who”. While less important than then the “how” and the “why” it has become obvious to the lay person that depending on what side of the political spectrum the assailant is on that will determine how much information we find out and how long the conversation remains in the news cycle.

Immediately after the Buffalo NY grocery store shooting, we had information on the shooters name, his social media posts, his personal beliefs and so on.??Was his information released quickly because he seemed to target a specific group of people, because of what his ethnicity is, and or because of his beliefs that all that fit a political narrative?

Yet another example of biased occurred after the Nov 2021 Christmas parade attack where the assailant utilized his vehicle to run over dozens of people killing 6.??Initially the media placed blame on the vehicle then tried to justify the assailants’ actions due to the Kyle Rittenhouse’s verdict in Kenosha country which was only 52 miles away from this attack location.??This biases was even reported in a New York Post article?“Not fitting their narrative: Waukesha feels abandoned after tragic parade attack”

Most recently, the shooting in Allen Tx, and Uvald several media outlets claimed that the shooter was allegedly a white supremacist and or neo-Nazi. Some of these reports came out even before the shooter had been neutralized. Once again showing the media biases and that they want to be the first to be wrong rather wait to be right.?

Its sad that these situations continue to occur.??What is even more disappointing is that leaders (public and private) make decisions to keep information from for a variety of reasons that do not better protect people.??Instead, it’s for political or monetary reasons.???Prime examples:?

• The TN shooters manifesto has still not been released. What could we learn from this individual’s writing that could possibly stop another event???
• Another example is that there are many, never to be answered, questions about the Las Vegas shooter.??MGM, the FBI and Las Vegas Metro all have closed that case without a hint of “why” or any real information.

These are just a few examples of the problem that exist when politics get involved.??In summary as security professionals, we need the “how” the “why” and the “who” to be able to create security plans to help identify the next potential active assailant.??Unfortunately, political positions, talking points, and monetary considerations obstruct the flow of information.??The key to any security plan is protective intelligence and security professionals and the general public are not deemed worthy to have accurate information which could help stop the next attack. Until the powers that be change how they decide what is and what is not available for public consumption we will never truly be able to mitigate the problem of active assailants.?

About the Author:

James Cameron is a board-certified ASIS International Protection Professional (CPP?) with over 15 years of international experience in the security and corporate sectors. In addition to being the author of two books on Active Shooter Preparedness, Mr. Cameron is a U.S. combat veteran who has served on multiple deployments and received a Bronze Star for his actions during combat operations as a sniper. He has earned a bachelor's degree in business information systems from DeVry University.

From 2005 - 2011, Mr. Cameron worked with the U.S. State Department as a member of the Diplomatic Security Services where he held a number of positions, including security detail leader for the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq and Afghanistan. Ultimately, he served as an instructor and subject matter expert for the High Threat, Dignitary Protection Division of the U.S. Department of State Diplomatic Security Services.

His civilian experiences range from providing protection under hostile fire in non-permissive, high-threat environments to providing first responder medical care during multiple mass casualty scenarios in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Chad. Mr. Cameron has also traveled the world teaching non- governmental organizations (NGOs) how to avoid harm to personnel assigned to permissive, semi-permissive, and non-permissive environments.

He has assisted in writing and revising multiple ASIS International, American National Standards Institute (ANSI) approved recommendations for guidelines and standards, the most recent being Workplace Violence and Active Assailant – Prevention, Intervention, and Response Standard.

His leadership roles include membership on the ASIS Executive Protection Council and chairing the Certifications Committee of ASIS International, Las Vegas.

In 2009, Mr. Cameron founded Security Concepts Group with the objective of increasing standards in protection, as well as implementing multiple value-added benefits that others have since sought to duplicate.

In 2009 Mr. Cameron has raised the standards of protection, including implementing multiple added value benefits that others now try to imitate. Under Mr. Cameron’s leadership, experience and vision Security Concepts Group has grown from providing only Close Personal Protection to now offering a wide range of security solution services to include, the first of its kind, Active Shooter/Workplace Violence Preparedness Program.

In early 2021, James founded the Board of Executive Protection Professionals and currently serves as its chairman. The BEPP? is an ANSI-accredited standards provider developing the first National Standard on Executive Protection, expected to be released in 2024.