More evidence of the growing need to defend yourself

A few weeks ago I wrote about the changing urban self-defense environment. As if to underscore what I wrote there, I read two news reports today that drive home the urgent need to defend oneself against increased (and sometimes horrifying) risks.

First, from New York City comes this report about the 'Occupy Wall Street' protest camp in Zucotti Park:

They call the NYPD -- and it becomes abundantly clear that the cops down there are sick of the antics.

“Every single night it’s the same thing. I mean, some guy was a victim of rape!” an officer snarls. “There comes a time when it’s over. This is a disaster. It’s all we’re doing, every two seconds, is locking somebody up every time. It’s done.

“It’s done,” he repeats. “Occupy Wall Street is no longer a protest.”

Scenes like this -- and far worse -- have been playing out since the Zuccotti Park “occupation” began on Sept. 17.

The parcel is now a sliver of madness, rife with sex attacks, robberies and vigilante justice.

It’s a leaderless bazaar that’s been divided into state-like camps -- with tents packed together so densely that the only way to add more would be to stack them.

And despite an NYPD watchtower overhead and the entire north side of Zuccotti lined with police vehicles, it is quickly becoming one of the most dangerous places in New York City.

There's more at the link. Many who live and work in the area of Zucotti Park have complained of growing lawlessness, crime and anti-social behavior affecting their daily lives.

Then, hundreds of miles away in Socorro, Texas, we hear this sickening news:

Socorro police and the FBI are looking for four men who police say attacked and raped an elderly man who was out on his early-morning walk.

Investigators said the 70-year-old was walking Thursday around 6 a.m. at Valle del Sol Park on Valle Rico Road and Valle Fertil when they said four black men got out of a late-'90s Ford or Chevrolet van or minivan and demanded the Mexican-American man to give them money. When he said, "No," they allegedly grabbed him, threw him in the van and raped him.

Socorro spokesman David Garcia said the men yelled racial slurs at the victim as they assaulted him.

"These four people know each other well enough to do something like this in front of each other. This is an atrocity!” Garcia said. “This man was somebody's dad. This man was somebody's brother, somebody's friend."

He said the victim was so badly hurt, he had surgery and is in serious condition at a hospital.

Again, more at the link.

In my earlier article, I said:

• One is now more likely to be confronted with crime, whether at home, in the shopping mall, in parking areas, or at large gatherings;
• One is more likely to have to defend oneself and/or one's loved ones against danger from multiple directions and multiple attackers;
• The crime is more likely to be violent, with little or no verbal or other warning before escalating to blows or the use of weapons.
• The attack may be based solely on your race. Having the wrong skin color at the wrong place and/or at the wrong time may now get you assaulted, injured, even killed.
  

The reports cited above tend to confirm everything I said. The risks aren't going to diminish; they're going to get worse, with the economy still in the doldrums and the very real threat of a further economic downturn growing by the day. Desperate people don't care. They abandon civilized standards of behavior. You need to be prepared to defend yourself against this sort of attack.

Think it won't happen to you? I'm willing to bet that 70-year-old man in Socorro never even dreamed he might be gang-raped during his morning walk . . . and if he'd been armed, and trained to use his weapon defensively, I'm willing to bet he'd still be safe.

Be prepared, or be a victim. The choice is yours.

Peter