America's Most Wanted: Leading the lambs to slaughter

Mendocino

New member
I watched AMW tonight and was very disturbed by a segment where they staged a "mugging" of a man and woman by an BG w/gun. The BG generally seperated the couple, and put the woman in the trunk of the car and drove off. There were about eight couples that ran the scenario. They chastized the men that resisted, and praised the men (read: spineless sheep) that complied as the BG drove off with the woman in the trunk. My letter to them follows:


Dear America's Most Wanted,


You are accessories to murder.

Tonight I watched your show with interest and horror. Your Survival School segment particularly disturbed me. As an avocational firearms instructor that works with and trains with law enforcement, I find it unimaginable that you would air this segment. At the least it was dangerous and reckless and will likely result in the murders of innocents.

The premise that one should comply with the demands of an attacker so that they won’t get hurt is inaccurate when it comes to deadly force. You have hundreds of examples on your show where seemingly random acts of violence occur to otherwise unsuspecting people. Would you have them bare their necks for decapitation at the hand of these thugs? You logic escapes me, and the bitter irony is too sad for words. How do you reconcile your praise for the women that resist, and then chastise the men that fought the attackers, claiming that they were dead? They may have been dead, however they may have only been damaged. The woman put in the trunk was most certainly dead.

This segment of your show fostered a helpless attitude in the public that is irresponsible and inaccurate. The police do a fine job at what they do, but do not have a unique relationship with each citizen, which insures the citizen’s protection. At some level members of the general public must take responsibility for some portion of their defense. Your show could be of great assistance to this end. Instead you lead the lambs to slaughter.

Jeff Hamilton
XXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXX

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It is far better to dare mighty things, though riddled with failure, than to live in the dull grey of mediocrity.


[This message has been edited by Mendocino (edited February 27, 2000).]
 
:eek:

Didn't they stress (as well as many other "public safety shows/segments") that you DO NOT ALLOW THE BG TO TAKE YOU TO A SECOND LOCATION. It surprises me that they air such a contradiction.

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"Ray guns don't vaporize Zorbonians, Zorbonians vaporize Zorbonians" The Far Side
 
I just looked at http://www.amw.com and clicked on the survival school link. Under one of the ten things that adults can do is:
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>
Don't carry a weapon. You lose, whether you use it or it's used on you[/quote]

We're doomed...they want us to live in fear and be helpless.

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It is far better to dare mighty things, though riddled with failure, than to live in the dull grey of mediocrity.
 
I watched in total disgust too, ol' John's at it again!
Chances are the SOB will probably kill ya' anyway, and if I'm gonna' go I sure as hel! ain't gonna' go without a fight! :mad:
Besides that, my conscience wouldn't let me live with myself knowing that I could've saved someone from rape and murder, and instead just cowered down like a . . well, a sheep!
As close as that guy with the gun was, he could've EASILY been disarmed!!
I know, I've done it! ;)

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We ARE the Militia!
 
As I watched these scenarios with the Mrs., I couldn't help but comment: "If this bozo got that close to me in this situation, he'd have to hunt me down by sense of smell, since his eyeballs would be 3 cars away!"

The show is to be commended for locating and assisting in the apprehension the BG's, but as far as promoting security/self defense, it's a loser!
 
Some fates are worse than death. I don't know how a man could live with himself after allowing his spouse to be taken away for gruesome torture and death. Sometimes a man must stand his ground and fight, the personal consequeces be damned.
 
First of all, for their tests they used some goober news anchors. I mean, what bigger whimps could you find? These are the type of people that are anti-self-defense and what do they do in the situation: go and try to defend themselves (very poorly!).

Also, in the irony, they JUST showed a case that same night of a man and a woman in a convenience store that was robbed. They complied and when the robbers were leaving one of them casually shot the pregnant woman on his way out the door, for no reason at all. She was killed.
Oh, and let's not forget the other case of a gansta who got out and pulled a gun on three teens, who complied, and then he proceeded to shoot two of them in the head....then he went on to capture another teen, take him into his car, gouge his eyes out and throw him off a cliff.

THAT is what you get when you comply.

After all those examples of what happens to people that comply, they go and tell us that our best weapon is a cell phone and that we should comply with bad guys and let them drive off with our girlfriend.

I am going to go ahead and send them this in an email.

How about...when the guy comes up to you, you are alert and you place your hand near your gun. When he says "I have a gun...give me all your money" you pull your gun and shoot him. While this is not the best thing we would like to happen, it is a hell of a lot better than letting them drive off with your girl to rape and kill her, possibly kill you in the process while you are digging for your cell phone.
People defending themselves and making crime a tough job....what a concept!

[This message has been edited by CassandraComplex (edited February 27, 2000).]
 
I saw it, too. I was pretty turned off, but you have to remember that the broadcast is aimed at unarmed sheeple who have never been in a confrontion unless you count their last schoolyard fight. I personally investigated a case involving a serial rapistwho broke in on a couple. He raped the woman while the fiancee was held at gunpoint on the floor. When he couldn't stand it any longer, he started to go for the guy, and got a .22 slug in the eye. He sure wasn't much help after that. The woman got raped anyway, needless to say. Who won that one? It's easy to sit back in an easy chair and say what you would do, but remember that sometimes you are flat out-flanked and all you can do is make the best of a loss. Also, AMW and police agencies will never give confrontational advice due to civil liability reasons, along with the fact that they have no idea as to WHO or WHERE the advice would be used. I don't know that I am agreeing or disagreeing, just wanted to point out some things. I know one thing, a percentage of the folks who read this wouldn't be walking around unarmed and would at least have some options the boys with the nice hair do's on AMW won't have. See my signature line...

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When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; IT IS that they shall be destroyed forever...Psalms 92.7
 
I was a little surprised at that segment because as jcoyoung said, don`t let the BG take you to a second location. On thinking about it, the whole thing was staged anyway. The guys knew they were going to be jumped sometime. The camera was right there. I`m sure they were told the BG was an actor/stuntman and they wouldn`t be harmed. You`ll notice even the guys who fought back didn`t use any disabling tactics or just grab the gun. If they knew he wasn`t really a BG, they`re not going to kick him in the groin, stick their keys in his eyes, etc. Not the best scenario or advice I`ve ever seen. I`ll go along with the liability thing, but there were opportunites for our "heroes" to use a firearm if they had one. And if the woman had a gun, she could have ended the attack while the man was distracting the BG!
 
Well there comes a point, when you are in such poor shape, have no training, have no clue to what goes on around you, that you can't defend yourself. Sadly, much of todays America, is this way. So what does the media do? They get fools to go on TV and tell people "It's OK to be a disgusting clueless sheep. It's better not to fight for your life. ETC ETC" It allows these sheep to feel good about themselves. And that is what our society is all about, isn't it? Not reality, but perception? Feeling good has become a national pastime. And worst of all, these spineless feel good nerds have passed laws making it illegal to act like anything other than a sheep. And so we spiral downward.....Semper Fi...
 
Dinosaur, when we're training fresh meat...I mean, new officers, :D -- it's pretty standard to find that they refuse to use disabling tactics. Matter-of-fact, most of them, even the martial arts guys, keep wanting to "fight fair". No groin strikes, no throat strikes, won't land on the critter when he goes down.

I have no doubt that the majority of the civilian popuation has the same idiot mindset. Sigh.

LawDog
 
Disgusting show. The macho guys who fought
tried for the All American Head lock.
What is this the WWF? Not one strike.

Also, the most obvious tactic was to run
like a scared rabbit. They were in an open parking lot. The idiot woman (true she was
in on it) just stood there going EEEEEEK.

She should have boogied. Hell, they both
should have boogied. Shooting a moving target
isn't easy.

That show is dogpile.
 
EFMike;
Then I`m screwed any way you look at it. I have a heart condition and walk with a cane. I`ve thought about it a lot. In this particular scenario the woman would have a better chance physically than I would. Let`s say I don`t resist and let the BG go with the woman. Do I get an adrenalin rush and it kills me? Do I resist physically and get shot? Same outcome probably. Or do I do what I`ve been trained to do? Again, maybe the same result. I don`t think I have a choice but it`s scary. The only good thing is if I survive I`m pretty sure no one will say I didn`t retreat first. Small comfort. :( I try to avoid confrontation at all costs but where can I draw the line? In this case, the line`s been drawn for me.

Lawdog;
I wasn`t a P.I. in the Academy but I do know what you mean. I still remember gym class even after 25 years. :D A lot of people found out the hard way how little the BG`s were impressed with the authority to arrest we had. Me, I ain`t sayin nothin! :o

[This message has been edited by dinosaur (edited February 27, 2000).]

[This message has been edited by dinosaur (edited February 27, 2000).]
 
I saw this bull. Was p.o.ed all day Sunday at work. Wrote one short and a three page letter. Haven't E-mailed them yet. I'm going too though.

The women all knew what was going on and how to react!! That was stated at the start. How can anyone react to this type of situation in which everyone Knows its fake? Just like they did. Nothing but a WWF pay-per view.

There was a one second, one sentence disclaimer also. Something like "This may not be appropriate in all situations".

I'm done with AMW. I may de-link there site from mine.

Sgt.K
 
I'm old, slow, weak, and small. Comply/fight fair my butt! If for whatever reason I can't draw or am unarmed (shudder) I will kick, bite (Hmmm - an ear - tastes kinda like chicken...), scratch, gouge and use anything I can lay my hands on as a weapon. I will not go quietly into the night!

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"...and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one."
Luke 22:36
"An armed society is a polite society."
Robert Heinlein

[This message has been edited by mk86fcc (edited March 01, 2000).]
 
To hell with "fighting fair". The BGs don't, why should we? I'm 5'6" and not as young as I used to be (obviously). I should worry about the Marquess of Queensbury rules? NOT! As the wise man said, "God didn't make all men equal, Colonel Colt did."

Here's the protocol when faced with physical threat: Disengage if it can be done safely. If not, if you must stand your ground, use the maximum response at your disposal. That doesn't only mean a firearm. There was a carjacking attempt in the papers recently, the "victim" (NOT!) spun his wheel to the left and stomped the gas, smearing the perp across the median. No charges filed against the driver.




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Dave
Deep in the Florida Swamps
 
Why do Americans love to tie their own hands with made-up ROE? The enemy never follows our ROE, so we sustain more losses than we should. This is on a National and individual level.
The Chinese are going to love our ROE when they finally start.
 
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