Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
And I want to welcome onto the program now someone
who has been a frequent contributor on this radio station
over the years. Retired Green Beret CIA security contractor, has
worked in law enforcement, and just a couple of days
after Christmas, he's the kind of guy who was sitting
around and decided to write an article online published on
(00:22):
December twenty seventh, titled staying Safe during vehicle Attacks. Trevor
Thrasher joins us here on news Radio eleven ten kfab. Trevor,
what in the world was causing you to think about
this possibility here in these holiday days between Christmas and
New Year's.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
You just said the first part of it right there.
Basically around holidays there's an increased likelihood of terrorist attacks,
and we also just had one in Germany. So these
attacks occur kind of contagiously. As terrorist or others see
them executed successfully in other areas of the world world, they
tend to imitate them. And these attacks are nothing new.
(01:03):
They've been encouraged for you know, well over ten years.
Isol or Isis specifically has told their followers to launch
these type of attacks and have actually given them instructions
and how to do them successfully. So This is nothing new.
We've had multiple attacks like this within the United States.
First Holidays and the recent attack are the main reasons.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
What's your read on what happened on Bourbon Street New
Year's Eve and New Orleans and city officials and we're
hearing today that they had these special stainless steel mechanical
barriers that were malfunctioning, so they just didn't do anything.
I've never heard of barriers barricades malfunctioning. They're barricades. So
(01:47):
what's your read on what happened and maybe what was
allowed to happen in New Orleans on New Year's Eve?
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Well, right now, it sounds like they got over complicated
with their barrier plans. So if you start relying on
high technology, then that technology doesn't work planned you should
go arrived very quickly there. It was definitely a failure
to barricade that area six completely. But truth be told,
it's nearly impossible to isolate people in an open street
setting from the possibility that a car can slip in.
(02:14):
One thing you learn as a police officer is that
if you're trying to put up a barrier, if there's
a way around a barrier, people will drive around that barrier,
and it's very, very hard to completely isolate an area,
but it's definitely something they need to do, and they
need to have maybe a little bit of standoff there
because it seemed like he was able to get past
the barrier that immediately have access before the police could
(02:36):
respond effectively. It's very hard to play defense in these cases.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Yeah, they talked about like, all right, people coming out
of a concert, for example, we need to have barriers
around this area around the arena. Well, on the other
side of these barriers, it's still going to be a
large crowd of people going through there. At some point
the barrier is in the barricades end, and that's just
a sada. Of course, you look at something like that
(03:03):
and you think, well, there's nothing that anyone can do
then individually to prepare themselves for this possibility. You disagree
with that rather downbeat assessment here, that's the basis of
this article. What can individuals do to be more vigilant, prepared,
and hopefully safe should something as horrific as this happen.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Well, you can't stop the attacks from happening, that you
can minimize the damage or the chance of damage to
you and the people you love. So some of the
basic things are is you have to respect the risk
of the event that you're attending. Large scale events like this,
you know, draw more attention. So when you attend one,
have fun, enjoy yourself. That's what these events are designed
to provide for you. But at the same time, just
(03:48):
spend a little bit of effort paying attention to your security.
So some things that you can do is basically be
extra observant for anything out of the ordinary, and that's
establishing a baseline of what's normal and being prepared to
act as soon as you detect something different. And the
only warning you might get is an engine revving, people screaming,
maybe a barrier getting run over, a police siren or
(04:10):
a police officer shouting. So when that happens, you have
to pick your head up out of whatever you're attending
to and see what's happening, and then have a mentally
rehearsed plan. Get off the X, move laterally, get behind
a herd barrier, and if you're smart, you'll stay out
of those extremely channelized thereas or minimize your exposure to them.
If you've got to have a little bit of a
plan in your family when you attend an event doesn't
(04:31):
have to be this big drawn out plan, just a
couple of things about how to alert, run high, fight,
and provide aid afterwards.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
What do you mean by get off the X.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Well, the X is the location where whether you're being
ambushed or attacked by a terrorist, the X is the
place they mark on the map where they want you
to be when they launch the attack, where they think
they're going to be successful. So it's kind of like
Wially Coyote and the road Runner. You draw a map,
you put an X on it. When the roadrunner's here,
I'm going to execute my ambush. So that's the last
place you want to be. And that applies to self
(05:03):
defense as well as dealing with one of these tides
of attacks. So don't be where the attacker wants you
to be. So you need to stink a little bit
like an attacker. And again, don't be paranoid about it.
Just take a moment to think, if I was a
bad guy, how would I attack people here, and then
avoid things that put you in that ideal position for
an attacker, like bread.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
Selling, law enforcement, military guys like our guest here, Trevor
Thrasher on news radio eleven ten kfab just think differently.
I was had had a few lunches with a friend
of mine in law enforcement, and it took me about
three times before I realized that he was always sitting
with his back to the wall where he could see
the entire restaurant, and I was always sitting with my
(05:45):
back to the door and everything else. And I suddenly
looked and realized. I said, are you positioning me here
as a potential human shield? And he smiled and said, well,
let's hope it doesn't come to that. Law enforcement and
military just think differently. But if you start training your
brain to think about these situations, what Trevor's talking about
(06:09):
here isn't too crazy to think about. One of the
things that you have here in this article, Trevor is
stay alert for secondary attacks. Explain.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Yeah, that's a big thing that people forget about. And
I saw some of the video of the incident in
New Orleans, and this is exactly what happened, and the
exact problems that I warn about occurred here. Because you
see a vehicle crash and what have you done? Intuitively
your whole life, you've frozen, You've thought about, oh, there's
somebody that dis wreck their vehicle, let me go and
(06:41):
see if I can help, or let me stand around
and videotape it. Well, these attacks are designed to start
with the vehicle attack and the end with the attacker
getting out and continuing to attack the crowd, so that
secondary attack is something you need to be prepared for.
The first rule of first aid is make sure the
scene is safe. So take a moment, get your wits
(07:01):
about you, get to some initial position of safety and evaluate.
Don't be in a hurry to rush in and help,
because you can completely expose yourself and I would be
one of the bet that you know the police officers
probably reacted the same way and thought, well, maybe we'll
rush up and help this guy that wreck his car
or see what's going on, and they weren't quite as
ready as they should have been for this attacker to
(07:22):
jump on and continue to attack. So yeah, we called
that the plus one rule. If the attacker's willing to
attack you once, he's going to attack you again given
a chance, and he's going to have another weapon and
another friend.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
Possibly, So don't be in a situation where you think basically,
think like a bad guy, and don't be out in
the open in a situation where if you say, if
someone starts doing something bad, maybe this would be a
place where they do it. I don't want to be here.
I want to move laterally, you know, out of the streets.
I want to avoid channelized spaces. If I can plant
(07:55):
myself behind a barrier, have a barrier between me and
it would be a driver of an attack vehicle like this,
stay alert for secondary attacks. This is part of what
Trevor Thrasher has written in this article. Now I found
this on LinkedIn, called staying Safe during vehicle Attacks. If
people aren't on LinkedIn, where can they find this, Trevor, Well,
(08:17):
I'm going.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
To post it on the Adia Tactical Facebook page as
well and a couple other social media places that I'm
involved with, but LinkedIn is one of the main ones.
I'll try to have it more widely available, But I
want to touch on one thing real quick before before
we end this. As you mentioned that police and soldiers
think differently. That's a luxury that the average person has
(08:38):
only had in this country for a very short period
of time, where we've been able to outsource our safety
and hope that someone else would handle all the problems
that's not the way it has ever been throughout human
history except for this tiny little window. It's important that
everybody is their own true first responder, police, soldiers, military, FBI.
(08:59):
They are all second their responders. Know it is more
responsible for you than your safety. And again, you don't
want to be paranoid about it. You want to be prepared.
You want to have some capability and some confidence that
you can protect your family in these situations. So I
don't just outsource it a little bit of time to
go a long way. Yeah, I one could be one
hundred percent safe, but you can definitely be one hundred
percent safe or just a little bit of effort.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Yeah, And you don't need to just decide, well, I'm
not going to go out and do anything anywhere anymore. Ever, again,
you can. You can still go out and live your life.
Because of course, if you just shut her down it's
a tired phrase, but it's an accurate one, then the
terrorist win. We still need to go out and do things,
live our lives as such, Trevor, do you think it's
safe for them to play this football game in New
(09:41):
Orleans this afternoon?
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Well, just to safe that it's probably more safe than
it isn't any other time where they're a little bit
complacent about it. And I had a friend that said
the same thing, goes, I'm never going to eat in
an outdoor patio of a restaurant again. I go, well,
that's kind of a dumb way to live your life.
That sounds really boring to me, and like you're letting
them win. I said, how about eat outside, but maybe
you know, put your back to the wall so you
can watch the street, Maybe sit near a big, heavy
(10:05):
planner that can possibly block a truck. Maybe know your
exits are to get out of that area, you know,
and have some capability to revive medical aid if necessary,
and then enjoy your meal outside. Just maintain a little
awareness when you do it.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
Trevor Thrasher, retired Green Beret, worked a security contractor with
the CIA, law enforcement military background and a frequent contributor
here on news Radio eleven ten kfab Trevor, thank you
very much for these details. Happy New Year to you
all right, good
Speaker 2 (10:33):
Morning, Stay safe,
And I want to welcome onto the program now someone
who has been a frequent contributor on this radio station
over the years. Retired Green Beret CIA security contractor, has
worked in law enforcement, and just a couple of days
after Christmas, he's the kind of guy who was sitting
around and decided to write an article online published on
(00:22):
December twenty seventh, titled staying Safe during vehicle Attacks. Trevor
Thrasher joins us here on news Radio eleven ten kfab. Trevor,
what in the world was causing you to think about
this possibility here in these holiday days between Christmas and
New Year's.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
You just said the first part of it right there.
Basically around holidays there's an increased likelihood of terrorist attacks,
and we also just had one in Germany. So these
attacks occur kind of contagiously. As terrorist or others see
them executed successfully in other areas of the world world, they
tend to imitate them. And these attacks are nothing new.
(01:03):
They've been encouraged for you know, well over ten years.
Isol or Isis specifically has told their followers to launch
these type of attacks and have actually given them instructions
and how to do them successfully. So This is nothing new.
We've had multiple attacks like this within the United States.
First Holidays and the recent attack are the main reasons.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
What's your read on what happened on Bourbon Street New
Year's Eve and New Orleans and city officials and we're
hearing today that they had these special stainless steel mechanical
barriers that were malfunctioning, so they just didn't do anything.
I've never heard of barriers barricades malfunctioning. They're barricades. So
(01:47):
what's your read on what happened and maybe what was
allowed to happen in New Orleans on New Year's Eve?
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Well, right now, it sounds like they got over complicated
with their barrier plans. So if you start relying on
high technology, then that technology doesn't work planned you should
go arrived very quickly there. It was definitely a failure
to barricade that area six completely. But truth be told,
it's nearly impossible to isolate people in an open street
setting from the possibility that a car can slip in.
(02:14):
One thing you learn as a police officer is that
if you're trying to put up a barrier, if there's
a way around a barrier, people will drive around that barrier,
and it's very, very hard to completely isolate an area,
but it's definitely something they need to do, and they
need to have maybe a little bit of standoff there
because it seemed like he was able to get past
the barrier that immediately have access before the police could
(02:36):
respond effectively. It's very hard to play defense in these cases.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Yeah, they talked about like, all right, people coming out
of a concert, for example, we need to have barriers
around this area around the arena. Well, on the other
side of these barriers, it's still going to be a
large crowd of people going through there. At some point
the barrier is in the barricades end, and that's just
a sada. Of course, you look at something like that
(03:03):
and you think, well, there's nothing that anyone can do
then individually to prepare themselves for this possibility. You disagree
with that rather downbeat assessment here, that's the basis of
this article. What can individuals do to be more vigilant, prepared,
and hopefully safe should something as horrific as this happen.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Well, you can't stop the attacks from happening, that you
can minimize the damage or the chance of damage to
you and the people you love. So some of the
basic things are is you have to respect the risk
of the event that you're attending. Large scale events like this,
you know, draw more attention. So when you attend one,
have fun, enjoy yourself. That's what these events are designed
to provide for you. But at the same time, just
(03:48):
spend a little bit of effort paying attention to your security.
So some things that you can do is basically be
extra observant for anything out of the ordinary, and that's
establishing a baseline of what's normal and being prepared to
act as soon as you detect something different. And the
only warning you might get is an engine revving, people screaming,
maybe a barrier getting run over, a police siren or
(04:10):
a police officer shouting. So when that happens, you have
to pick your head up out of whatever you're attending
to and see what's happening, and then have a mentally
rehearsed plan. Get off the X, move laterally, get behind
a herd barrier, and if you're smart, you'll stay out
of those extremely channelized thereas or minimize your exposure to them.
If you've got to have a little bit of a
plan in your family when you attend an event doesn't
(04:31):
have to be this big drawn out plan, just a
couple of things about how to alert, run high, fight,
and provide aid afterwards.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
What do you mean by get off the X.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Well, the X is the location where whether you're being
ambushed or attacked by a terrorist, the X is the
place they mark on the map where they want you
to be when they launch the attack, where they think
they're going to be successful. So it's kind of like
Wially Coyote and the road Runner. You draw a map,
you put an X on it. When the roadrunner's here,
I'm going to execute my ambush. So that's the last
place you want to be. And that applies to self
(05:03):
defense as well as dealing with one of these tides
of attacks. So don't be where the attacker wants you
to be. So you need to stink a little bit
like an attacker. And again, don't be paranoid about it.
Just take a moment to think, if I was a
bad guy, how would I attack people here, and then
avoid things that put you in that ideal position for
an attacker, like bread.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
Selling, law enforcement, military guys like our guest here, Trevor
Thrasher on news radio eleven ten kfab just think differently.
I was had had a few lunches with a friend
of mine in law enforcement, and it took me about
three times before I realized that he was always sitting
with his back to the wall where he could see
the entire restaurant, and I was always sitting with my
(05:45):
back to the door and everything else. And I suddenly
looked and realized. I said, are you positioning me here
as a potential human shield? And he smiled and said, well,
let's hope it doesn't come to that. Law enforcement and
military just think differently. But if you start training your
brain to think about these situations, what Trevor's talking about
(06:09):
here isn't too crazy to think about. One of the
things that you have here in this article, Trevor is
stay alert for secondary attacks. Explain.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Yeah, that's a big thing that people forget about. And
I saw some of the video of the incident in
New Orleans, and this is exactly what happened, and the
exact problems that I warn about occurred here. Because you
see a vehicle crash and what have you done? Intuitively
your whole life, you've frozen, You've thought about, oh, there's
somebody that dis wreck their vehicle, let me go and
(06:41):
see if I can help, or let me stand around
and videotape it. Well, these attacks are designed to start
with the vehicle attack and the end with the attacker
getting out and continuing to attack the crowd, so that
secondary attack is something you need to be prepared for.
The first rule of first aid is make sure the
scene is safe. So take a moment, get your wits
(07:01):
about you, get to some initial position of safety and evaluate.
Don't be in a hurry to rush in and help,
because you can completely expose yourself and I would be
one of the bet that you know the police officers
probably reacted the same way and thought, well, maybe we'll
rush up and help this guy that wreck his car
or see what's going on, and they weren't quite as
ready as they should have been for this attacker to
(07:22):
jump on and continue to attack. So yeah, we called
that the plus one rule. If the attacker's willing to
attack you once, he's going to attack you again given
a chance, and he's going to have another weapon and
another friend.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
Possibly, So don't be in a situation where you think basically,
think like a bad guy, and don't be out in
the open in a situation where if you say, if
someone starts doing something bad, maybe this would be a
place where they do it. I don't want to be here.
I want to move laterally, you know, out of the streets.
I want to avoid channelized spaces. If I can plant
(07:55):
myself behind a barrier, have a barrier between me and
it would be a driver of an attack vehicle like this,
stay alert for secondary attacks. This is part of what
Trevor Thrasher has written in this article. Now I found
this on LinkedIn, called staying Safe during vehicle Attacks. If
people aren't on LinkedIn, where can they find this, Trevor, Well,
(08:17):
I'm going.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
To post it on the Adia Tactical Facebook page as
well and a couple other social media places that I'm
involved with, but LinkedIn is one of the main ones.
I'll try to have it more widely available, But I
want to touch on one thing real quick before before
we end this. As you mentioned that police and soldiers
think differently. That's a luxury that the average person has
(08:38):
only had in this country for a very short period
of time, where we've been able to outsource our safety
and hope that someone else would handle all the problems
that's not the way it has ever been throughout human
history except for this tiny little window. It's important that
everybody is their own true first responder, police, soldiers, military, FBI.
(08:59):
They are all second their responders. Know it is more
responsible for you than your safety. And again, you don't
want to be paranoid about it. You want to be prepared.
You want to have some capability and some confidence that
you can protect your family in these situations. So I
don't just outsource it a little bit of time to
go a long way. Yeah, I one could be one
hundred percent safe, but you can definitely be one hundred
percent safe or just a little bit of effort.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Yeah, And you don't need to just decide, well, I'm
not going to go out and do anything anywhere anymore. Ever, again,
you can. You can still go out and live your life.
Because of course, if you just shut her down it's
a tired phrase, but it's an accurate one, then the
terrorist win. We still need to go out and do things,
live our lives as such, Trevor, do you think it's
safe for them to play this football game in New
(09:41):
Orleans this afternoon?
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Well, just to safe that it's probably more safe than
it isn't any other time where they're a little bit
complacent about it. And I had a friend that said
the same thing, goes, I'm never going to eat in
an outdoor patio of a restaurant again. I go, well,
that's kind of a dumb way to live your life.
That sounds really boring to me, and like you're letting
them win. I said, how about eat outside, but maybe
you know, put your back to the wall so you
can watch the street, Maybe sit near a big, heavy
(10:05):
planner that can possibly block a truck. Maybe know your
exits are to get out of that area, you know,
and have some capability to revive medical aid if necessary,
and then enjoy your meal outside. Just maintain a little
awareness when you do it.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
Trevor Thrasher, retired Green Beret, worked a security contractor with
the CIA, law enforcement military background and a frequent contributor
here on news Radio eleven ten kfab Trevor, thank you
very much for these details. Happy New Year to you
all right, good
Speaker 2 (10:33):
Morning, Stay safe,
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