"The Whale is Through The Net” and The Barbarians Are Inside The Gates
Case reviews of the violent new normal—and the hard truths you need to hear before it’s your turn in the headlines.
There’s so much chaos in the news lately, I can’t keep up with the hybrid threat environment. Crime stats don’t show the true state of this country or the dangers you and your family face. In recent weeks, we’ve seen school shootings with child victims, attacks on public transit where innocents were slaughtered, politically motivated assaults on influential figures, homeowners killed for helping someone in need, and countless other horrific incidents.
You have to choose your path. You’ll either lead your family’s safety, bury your head in the sand and pretend it can’t happen to you, or be numb, irresponsible, and ignore your primary duty as a living human being. If that makes you uncomfortable, good—it should. But if it keeps you from taking action, then you're part of the problem.
With the Charlie Kirk assassination fresh in the news—and catastrophic in many ways—it’s clearer than ever that my warnings about the hybrid threat environment were not only accurate, but understated. The threat is escalating, violently and publicly. Forgive my mood if you choose to read on. I’m furious at what our society’s become. This is harsh, brutal advice—but brutal in a precise way, exactly what is needed to deal with these situations. One key to making yourself threat-proof is to avoid being over-civilized; you have to be ready to be less civilized at the right time and place.
Before I get rolling, a reader reached out about an event where his daughter had to respond to an active shooter outside of a store, and she immediately led her loved one to safety. The reader shares my tips with his whole family, and they have used them more than once. Make sure to share.
Let’s break down recent incidents and what you can learn from them. But first, two truths:
Your life can be taken in a second—no matter how brave, strong, or prepared you are. That’s why you should live like every day is your last under the sun.
You can stack the odds in your favor. If you won’t do it for yourself, and you refuse to do it for your family, you're failing them. Sometimes, feeling the sun on your face means you have to fight for the right to see it another day.
Our Constitution was built for moral people—not perfect, but we’re so far off that civilized boundaries don’t apply, or, as I previously stated, you'd better know when to flex those boundaries.
John Adams, October 11, 1798, to the Massachusetts Militia:
“Because We have no Government armed with Power capable of contending with human Passions unbridled by morality and Religion. Avarice, Ambition, Revenge or Gallantry, would break the strongest Cords of our Constitution as a Whale goes through a Net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
If you want “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness,” you'd better step up and earn it. Our founding documents are passive—they require people of passion, strength, and the power of belief to bring them to life. The whale is through the net; the government alone cannot protect you.
Here are case studies with Threat-Proof maxims to keep you alive:
MONSTERS AND MASS (case #1 and #2)
On August 27, 2025, a mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church and School in Minneapolis killed two children (ages 8 and 10) and injured 17. The attacker, 23-year-old Robin M. Westman, a transgender woman and former student, fired through stained-glass windows with legally bought firearms. Westman died by suicide at the scene.
Lessons learned:
MONSTERS ARE REAL: Our current system produces them. This killer embodied family breakdown, mental illness, ideological hate, and social media-driven delusion. The shooter’s video, where he squeals like Gollum from The Lord of the Rings and fondles his inscribed weapons, speaking in a demonic voice while calling them “precious,” is pure evil. See it here, stop the denial, and prepare to defeat acts of evil: Monster Squeals at the Thought of Murdering Children.
HARDER TARGETS MAKE A DIFFERENCE: Like several of the last active shooting events, the attacker in this case specifically wanted to avoid any opposition, writing “I want to avoid any parents,” in his journal. Hardening the target is still important, as a different church shooter in CrossPoint, Michigan, quickly found out when he was immediately taken down by a deacon using his truck and trained security personnel. Jay Trombly, one of the security team members, reminds us, “It doesn't matter if it's someone trying to hurt you, an injury, something -- you are your first responder." Form a team for your workplace, your neighborhood, your place of worship, or anywhere else: Church Security Takes on Evil
DON'T LET STRANGERS INTO YOUR HOME WITHOUT A PLAN TO KILL THEM (Case #3)
In Queens, 42-year-old parolee Jamel McGriff was arrested for the murders of Frank, 76, and Maureen Olton, 77. McGriff gained entry to their home by claiming he needed to charge his phone, stayed for nearly five hours, then set the house on fire. Frank was found bound and stabbed in the basement, while Maureen died from burn injuries on the first floor. A convicted felon on parole for first-degree robbery, McGriff, who also failed to register as a sex offender, was wanted for two other robberies.
Lessons learned:
THE JUSTICE SYSTEM IS BROKEN: Soft-on-crime judges and misspent funds leave you to fend for yourself. Criminals like McGriff need death, life imprisonment, or banishment. Yes, we need to bring back banishment!
If you're willing to risk rehabilitation for these criminals, consider finding an island and trying it out with the monster as your neighbor.
Once again, a repeat offender is incentivized to escalate to murder. I just heard someone in the media pronounce that every mentally ill person gets to viciously murder at least one good person before they are dealt with in our society. Let the truth of that sink in.
NO MATTER HOW YOU LIVE, YOU’RE A TARGET: The Oltons likely opened their door out of kindness—a trait criminals exploit. Social conditioning to avoid seeming rude, or avoiding “The Gift of Fear,” may have also played a role. The predator used a ruse, gained access, and attacked. The hyperbole of the title of this case aside, kindness does not require blind trust.
BE PREPARED FOR STRANGERS: Have a plan before opening your door. You can greet a stranger kindly and still keep your family safe. Your home is your castle. Learn how to protect it: https://threatproof.substack.com/p/case-study-houston-home-invasion. Repeat offenders escalate to murder—society sets them free, but you don’t have to let the barbarians inside your gates.
IGNORING A THREAT DOESN’T MEAN THE THREAT IGNORES YOU- THE OSTRICH EFFECT (Case #4)
On August 22, 2025, Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, 23, was stabbed to death on a Charlotte light-rail by Decarlos Brown Jr., 34, with 14 prior arrests, including robbery and a history of schizophrenia. Surveillance footage shows him sitting behind her, calmly pulling a pocketknife about four minutes after the train departed, and stabbing her unprovoked three times—once in the neck—before calmly walking away as bystanders mostly ignored the victim. Brown was charged with murder. Outrage intensified when GoFundMe briefly allowed online fundraisers for Brown’s legal defense, with some descriptions portraying him as a victim.
Lessons learned:
DON’T BE AN OSTRICH: Zarutska, earbuds in, phone-focused, avoided eye contact, missing her surroundings. Women often disengage to avoid harassment, but this “Ostrich Effect” can invite attack from predators. The "Ostrich Effect" describes the tendency to avoid dangerous or negative information by disengaging, much like the myth of an ostrich burying its head in the sand when sensing danger. This might work around semi-civilized people, but in many cases, it may be an invitation to attack.
FREE-RANGE LUNATICS ARE A THREAT TO SOCIETY (Case #5)
Kevin Doherty, a 56-year-old father of three, was shot and killed in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, after confronting 26-year-old Snehal Srivastava, for spray-painting graffiti on a bridge. The confrontation occurred shortly after Doherty dropped off his six-year-old son at school; he called 911 during the altercation, and dispatchers reportedly heard gunshots before Doherty was found critically injured. Srivastava had a lengthy criminal history, including an unprovoked machete attack, a home invasion, and an attack on a family member. At times, he went as a transgender person. The outside of Srivastava’s Shrewsbury home is covered in graffiti with messages like “Free Palestine,” “Free Congo,” “Ganga Gardens,” “BLM,” and “GLM.”
Lessons learned:
CRIME INTERVENTION IS A MORAL DECISION: Stopping graffiti shouldn’t cost your life. Our moral compass is shattered. Many ridicule people for intervening and celebrate the criminal.
In a local example, a couple filmed two ladies who loaded up a cart of goods, walked out without paying, and began loading their car. When confronted, one of the ladies turned towards the couple and sprayed them with pepper spray before getting away. The suspect was later arrested. Half of the comments were people smugly condemning the "stupid" couple for intervening, and a good number of them stated business theft was no big deal anyway. Our moral fabric is torn.
Intervening is risky, yes—but so is surrendering your community to chaos. Intervene wisely, prioritize family safety, and carry self-defense insurance. Don’t ridicule heroes—praise them.
DON'T LET STRANGERS INTO YOUR HOME WITHOUT A PLAN TO KILL THEM - BETTER ENDING VERSION (Case #6)
In Austin, on September 10, officers approached a man and woman near a reportedly stolen vehicle. The man ignored commands, concealed his hands, and then suddenly shot the woman in the back of the head and wounded a responding officer, before fleeing, leading to a multi-hour manhunt. During the search, 911 calls came in from a nearby school reporting a man trying to gain entry. The suspect ultimately broke into a home in the Barton Hills neighborhood, where a prepared homeowner shot him in the arm and leg, ending the threat. A shelter-in-place alert gave the homeowner time to prepare. We are fortunate to still have officers who are brave enough to intervene and citizens who are prepared to rise to the occasion. Prepared Homeowner Saves Neighborhood
CRITICAL TASK EXERCISE: REVIEW WALKING SAFETY TIPS AND THE CASE #4 VIDEO.
I know some parts of the video are tough to watch, but things are best remembered with an emotional attachment. We should all feel a sense of empathy for Iryna Zarutska and want to prevent the same fate for others. Print off my "Walking Safety Tips" from my last post and see how many apply to the case. Here is an additional video of the incident showing pre-incident issues:
FINAL WORDS
The hybrid threat environment is real, it's accelerating, and it doesn’t care about your excuses. Be the protector your family needs—or pray they never need one.
PAID READERS: AN AWARENESS CHECKLIST A WISENED STREET COP WOULD ENVY
Below is my ABCDs Awareness Checklist. It includes over 40 key cues for threat and attack detection, divided between appearance, behavior, communication, and display of hands/weapons. Being able to spot just a few can save your life. But reading a list without putting it into play won’t build that intuitive sense of something being amiss and that deliberate database of specific indicators you can spot at the earliest possible moment. Fix that with these two exercises.
As an Opportunity Training Exercise (OTE), use it after any incident to assess the number of indicators present. As an additional OTE, conduct the “orange” exercise with your friends or family. On a walking or driving trip, see who can spot the first significant, possibly dangerous anomaly by calling “orange.” Then, reference the sheet for the three or more major specific cues that you see.