Fueled by nothing more than raw anger and/or hate combined with a violent rage of slashing and stabbing, an individual with absolutely zero offensive edged weapons training or skills, armed with an inexpensive, readily available and legal in all 50 states knife or box cutter can instantly become a formidable human deadly weapon.
In 2016 I worked an Investigation in NYC. An affluent family with an estranged adult mentally ill son, who was also a substance abuser, which in my experience is not uncommon was captured on the home’s security camera video coming to their residence, a multi level brownstone on the upper east side in the middle of the night. While screaming and invoking religion and money he would violently slash at the door with what appeared to be a medium sized hunting knife that was most likely purchased over the internet, or at a local hardware store.
The client was at the time attempting to gain legal control over the son’s life and affairs to get him the help that he needed, and to nobody’s surprise the judge in the case viewed the behavior as a property crime. The client didn’t want to go down that road as criminal charges and incarceration wouldn’t help to achieve their end goal, in fact it might have further complicated it.
Using the limited information available to me I was still able to conduct a general threat assessment, just as we would normally do for any at risk client. I referenced much of the aforementioned and included cases as references, as well as some graphic photos, to include this compilation of trained law enforcement officers who fell victim to edged weapon attacks:
In the end the judge reviewed my threat assessment and I’m happy to report that my clients fears and concerns were addressed accordingly.
As I was leaving my initial meeting with the client at their residence. I noticed the mail slot on the front door and suggested that because they had to replace the door anyway, that they should do away with the mail slot and install a locking mail box or even a large locking parcel box if necessary. Their reply was that they don’t really lose enough heat or air conditioning through the vent for that to be an issue. To their surprise I stated that my concern was not efficiency, it was FIRE. I explained that if someone really wanted to harm or kill them that they could just squirt an accelerant through the mail slot and throw a lit match in. If the fire didn’t eventually get them, the smoke inhalation certainly would long before they could escape. I love it when you can actually see the quantifiable oh-I-see moment appear in a clients eyes.
This brings me to our current state of affairs: Using fire as weapon. Like a cheap hardware store knife, the molotov cocktail, which is nothing more than a glass bottle filled with some sort of accelerant: gasoline, lighter fluid, whiskey, etc., with a lit rag stuffed inside it has become the domestic terrorists weapon of choice
When thrown, it hits it’s target, breaks and the accelerant splatters and ignites. All of the ingredients are not only legal, they are all common everyday items and until assembled as a molotov cocktail they would not raise an eyebrow.
Of course avoiding, evading, disengaging and escaping from domestic terror situations, including politically motivated protests is always paramount, however in the event you find your self inside your vehicle and in the middle of one, having a good plan in place will serve you well.
A small fire can grow to out of control and deadly very quickly. If you can address a molotov cocktails initial impact immediately, and depending on the accelerant of course, you may be able to be extinguish it. If not, you may be able to be suppress it long enough to allow you to escape, i.e. move your vehicle out of the danger zone.
This is the actual individual and the actual molotov cocktail that went from a 12 ounce beer bottle to, in a matter of minutes completely engulfing an NYPD van. The officers escaped and It isn’t known at this time if the officers had simple firefighting equipment on board, however if they did not, I’d like to believe that they learned a hard lesson and will from this day forward.
One of the many executive protection related services that we provide for low-risk clients that don’t have, want or need an actual executive security program, is what we call “QRF” or Quick Reaction Force program. Our QRF teams are in position to rapidly evacuate an individual or group in the event of a man made disaster or other emergency. They covertly advance and/or shadow principal movements and are in place with a vehicle or vehicles suitable for the locale equipped with: auxiliary power, satellite communications, medical supplies, first aid and trauma kits, vision, respiratory and hearing protection, portable oxygen, food & water and one hand operation single use fire extinguishers.
The single use fire extinguishers are small enough to be stored in the vehicles console. However in the event of an emergency evacuation situation they fit perfectly in the vehicles cup holders, secure and positioned for immediate access.
Of course they do not make us firefighters, and like most everything else their purpose is to buy us time. Time to keep us moving off the X where we can then work on suppressing or extinguishing the fire, and/or to evacuate the vehicle. Movement and distance = time and who controls the time, controls the outcome.
Having a plan in place and the proper equipment to execute your plan can be the difference between life and death.
Stay safe my friends.
June 11, 2020
Donald P. Redl, Jr. – Managing Member Executive Options LLC
Executive Options LLC provides executive security, training and conducts investigations for legal and corporate clients nationwide.
(877) 211-3524