This video was filmed live on Facebook on 8/2/17 as part of a Go Live Every Day in August challenge. An active shooter event, or different active threat may cause a crowd to become dangerous or deadly. The information in this live video is not only applicable to active threats, but other situations with crowds and swarms of people. And because it was filmed live, sometimes there are other tangents due to comments and thoughts that come up. Learn from the video and enjoy live safely.
SURVIVE A MOB SURROUNDING YOUR CAR
Avoid The Area
The best way to survive a mob is not to be there in the first place.
I’ve taken some flack before when I’ve shared advice from Robert
Richardson’s book “The Ultimate Situational Survival Guide.” However,
I still believe it to be good advice. This is what he wrote: “Stay
away from any type of social justice rally especially if it’s a rally
to protest a prior act of violence. Ironically, these types of rallies
often have a way of inciting even more violence and can quickly get
out of control.
Follow news reports and social media activity to know where high-risk
activity is taking place and stay away. If you see something up ahead,
such as a mob blocking a road, get away. Stop, turn around and get out
of there. One more reason to be paying attention to the road and not
your phone.
Avoiding the area really is the best way to ensure your safety.
Push With Your Car – Don’t Run Over People
Despite the advice of some, and the flippant tweets that may be out
there, just running over rioters is not an option you should take
unless you are in fear for your life and have a reasonable, and let me
repeat, reasonable, belief that you will sustain serious injuries or
be killed if you don’t run over the aggressors to stop them and get to
safety.
While running over a rioter may be self-defense, you will have to
articulate why you were justified in using lethal force (running over
someone can cause serious bodily injury or death).
In response to the question, “is it lawful self-defense to run down
rioters surrounding your vehicle?” attorney and author Andrew Branca
answered, “In short, one would apply the usual five elements of a
self-defense justification to evaluate such a use of force against
others, just as in any other instance of self-defense. Those elements
are, of course: innocence, imminence, proportionality, avoidance, and
reasonableness.”
This means it can be self-defense if you run over a rioter, but you
will have to prove the elements that make such an action self-defense.
Here is another important point that Branca made in his answer to the
question, “It is also worth noting that if you respond to even a
legitimate threat that is non-deadly in nature with a deadly force
response, it’s quite possible that you will be deemed the deadly force
aggressor, even if the other party was the non-deadly force aggressor.
In that case the other party could well be legally justified in using
deadly defensive force against your deadly force aggression.”
A better tactic if your car is surrounded it to push or bump people
out of the way. This can also be considered vehicular assault, but is
a better way to get out of a mob than running people over. Try to keep
a steady move forward. Don’t stop. Once you are clear of people, get
out of the area as fast as safely possible.
Be sure to keep your doors locked. Many automatically lock when
driving these days, but if yours don’t, get in the habit of locking
them when you get in before you start driving. Here is a tip I got
from a blog by Greg Ellifritz: “Cracking your windows and turning off
your ventilation system would also be a good idea when driving in
areas were crowds may gather. Windows that are down approximately one
half an inch are actually harder to break than windows that are
tightly closed.” (I highly recommend Greg’s Active Response Training
blog.)
Be on the lookout for other kinds of roadblocks and it would also be a
good idea to educate yourself in basic escape and evasion driving.
Obviously there is more that can be learned, but this will give you a
heads up if you encounter a mob while in your vehicle. I sure hope you
don’t, so stay aware and avoid these kinds of areas.
Crowds and Safety
A few tips regarding crowds:
• Don’t be there if at all possible. Avoid crowds, especially crowds
of young men, and especially of young drunken men.
• If you’re in a crowd by choice, pay attention to your intuition and
your feelings (the atmospherics or situational awareness) of the
energy/mood of the crowd.
• If you’re in a crowd by choice, have a partner or several friends.
Don’t be alone and don’t allow yourself to be isolated in the crowd,
especially as a woman surrounded by men. Look for other women or men
who will stand with you or stand up for you and ask for help.
• If the crowd gets ugly, get out as fast as you can. The earlier you
sense the change and the faster you move, the less likely you are to
get caught up in it.
• If you become a target, keep moving. Move away, don’t stop and don’t
let yourself be stopped.
• If you are grabbed, you must have previously made a decision about
what to do and act instantly on it. A fast decisive attack may
dissuade, distract, or delay others for you to get away…or it may
incite even more violence. If you are fighting bare handed against a
mob focused on beating and or raping you, it’s like fighting a tidal
wave.