Personal Security in an Age of Extremism
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NOTE: If my previous post was the diagnosis Part One was the diagnosis—an honest look at the rising threat of mission-oriented violence—then the following is the prescription: the mindset, tools, and tactics you need to take back control and protect what matters most. Let’s dive in.
The Hard Truth about Personal Security
What do we do in the face of all this terror and extremism? What do we need to know to protect ourselves and our families? How can we possibly keep ourselves safe in an environment like this?
Here’s what every executive, public figure, and frankly every American needs to understand: Personal security is an individual responsibility. Hoping you won’t be targeted is not a strategy. Law enforcement, despite their best efforts, cannot be everywhere. The Minnesota officers who responded to the Hoffman shooting had the presence of mind to check on other potential targets, but they arrived to find the killer already at Hortman’s home.
This isn’t about paranoia or living in fear. It’s about accepting reality and taking practical steps to reduce your vulnerability.
The uncomfortable truth is that we’ve entered an era where the threat matrix has fundamentally changed. It’s no longer just public figures or high profile CEOs who need to think about security. When a clothing company can market a “CEOs Most Wanted” card game and social media celebrates assassination, we’ve crossed into territory where anyone with any level of visibility or success becomes a potential target.
This democratization of threat means the old models of executive protection—bodyguards for the ultra-wealthy, security details for major politicians—are insufficient. You can’t outsource your survival instincts. You can’t delegate situational awareness. And you certainly can’t assume that keeping a low profile will keep you safe when extremists are expanding their definition of “legitimate targets” by the day.
The good news? Most of what you need to protect yourself doesn’t require a massive budget or a security team. It requires a shift in mindset and some basic preparations that our grandparents would have considered common sense.
Situational Awareness: Your First Line of Defense
Most people walk through life in what security professionals call “condition white”—completely unaware of their surroundings. In today’s environment, that’s a luxury you can’t afford.
Put the phone down, and start noticing who’s around you. Not in a paranoid way, but with the same awareness you’d have while driving. That person who seems to be following you through multiple turns. The “delivery driver” who doesn’t have a company vehicle. The stranger asking oddly specific questions about your routine.
Learn to spot surveillance. Understand how extremists conduct pre-operational planning. Know the warning signs of escalating threats. Most importantly, train your family and employees. Security isn’t a solo sport.
Your Vulnerability Assessment: Time to Get Ahead of the Curve
Most people want to be left alone. Because of the dynamics of what’s going on right now, we have to pay more attention to personal security because we can only take care of our own domain. It’s time to get ahead of the curve because, frankly, this is going to get worse before it gets better.
Start with a comprehensive vulnerability assessment of your personal security:
Home Security: Beyond Locks and Alarms
Your home should be your sanctuary, but it needs to be a smart sanctuary. This starts with the basics: robust locks, security lighting, analytic cameras that can alert you to suspicious behavior before an intrusion. But it goes beyond hardware.
Establish protocols. If someone claims to be police at your door in the middle of the night, you have every right to verify their identity before opening. Call 911 to confirm. Real officers will understand and wait. The Minnesota shooter dressed as a police officer exploited his victims’ automatic trust of authority.
Create layers of security. The goal isn’t to make your home impenetrable—it’s to make it a harder target than the next one. Extremists may be motivated, but they’re still looking for easy targets – to get delayed, caught, or stopped before they can succeed, equals mission failure. Deterrence is achievable.
Workplace Security Evaluation
Assess your office building’s security measures. Know the exits. Understand the response protocols. If you manage people, consider specialized training and protocols for high-risk terminations, and ensure all your staff are trained what to do in the event of an emergency.
Emergency Preparedness: When Systems Fail
The surge in extremism coincides with increasing systemic fragility. Power grids, supply chains, communication networks—all are more vulnerable than we’d like to admit. When extremists strike infrastructure or when violence disrupts normal operations, you need to be ready.
Keep at least two weeks of food and water on hand. You don’t need a survivalist bunker, just practical reserves. Ensure you have cash available (ATMs don’t work without power). Keep medications stocked. Have battery-powered radios and flashlights.
This isn’t doomsday prepping. It’s the same logic as having a fire extinguisher. You hope never to need it, but if you do, you’ll be grateful it’s there.
Training: The Multiplier Effect
All the security measures in the world mean nothing if you don’t know how to apply the human factor. Training is what transforms preparation from theory to practice.
This training should include scenario planning. What do you do if there’s an active shooter? How do you communicate during an emergency? Where are your rally points? How do you fight back if you need to? The military maxim applies: We don’t rise to the occasion; we fall to the level of our training.
Take Care of Your Own Backyard
The question isn’t whether the threat landscape will continue to deteriorate. It will. The question is whether you’ll be ready when extremism comes knocking on your door.
Extremism feeds on division, but it also feeds on complacency. Every time we shrug off political violence, every time we say “well, they had it coming,” every time we treat assassination as just another news cycle, we’re chumming the waters for the next attack.
The Minnesota shooter had a list of seventy names. He made it through two homes before being stopped. How many copycats are out there right now, making their own lists, planning their own attacks, convinced that they’re heroes in some grand struggle?
We cannot control the strategic forces driving extremism. We cannot prevent every attack. We cannot stop the notoriety-polarization cycle that creates more extremists every day. But we can refuse to be helpless. We can take responsibility for our own security. We can reject the normalization of violence, regardless of who the target is.
Most importantly, we can recognize extremism for what it is: a political engine that runs on fear, division, and the abdication of personal responsibility. What can we do about it? Take care of your own backyard.
The five-second window works both ways. Prepared individuals can use those same five seconds to disrupt, escape, or neutralize threats. The church shooting on June 22 proved it. The key is ensuring you have the right measures at home, at the workplace, in the domains that you can control. You are responsible for taking care of yourself.
The knock on the door at 3 AM is no longer just a metaphor. For the Hortmans and Hoffmans, it was horrifyingly literal. When extremism comes knocking on your door, will you be ready?
Your life may depend on the answer.
Protect your future, yourself, and your people
Your security is not just an expense; it’s an investment in your leadership, your people, and your future. Don’t wait for the next wake-up call—be ready today.
Get started on your own plan:
Read LiveReady: A Guide to Protecting Yourself in an Uncertain World for guidance on conducting your own vulnerability assessment.
Contact us here: Reach out to discuss staff training, vulnerability assessments, or executive training.
NEXT WEEK: We’ll shift from the threat to the response, with practical solutions for what you can actually do to prepare, protect yourself, and take ownership of your personal security in a world that’s rapidly changing.