In recent months, I’ve been using OSINT to track activity across a wide range of political groups. What I’m seeing should concern everyone, regardless of where you stand on the political spectrum. This is no longer just a “right wing” or “left wing” issue — groups from all sides, including socialists and communists, are aligning in ways they never have before.
On September 1st, I warned people on my Facebook page — through my sock puppet accounts I had been tracking Groups across Social Media — that these groups weren’t just chatting anymore. They were re-strategizing. They was discussing with federal and state agencies pushing back, members began openly floating ideas like doxxing or even swatting police officers’ families, federal agents’ families, military personnels’ families, and politicians’ families. That’s not talk you can ignore.
The Overlooked Role of Security
Most of the public still thinks of security officers as “rent-a-cops.” What they don’t understand is that on private property, security often has more authority than law enforcement and THEY ARE THERE. Our job is to protect:
- People — employees, customers, visitors.
- Property — assets that, while replaceable, should never be left vulnerable.
Yet, too often I see companies hire guards who lack training or are paid so poorly they’re likely to run at the first sign of real violence. That’s not just bad business — it’s a liability. Federal law is clear: if inadequate or negligent security leads to injury or death, both the business and the security provider can be sued under premises liability and wrongful death statutes and a lot of Security Companies believe the insurance provider will foot the bill but they are looking at ways to drop your insurance under the same cause.
First Amendment Auditors
About eight years ago, I listened to a podcast with a man who travels the country doing First Amendment audits — filming schools, federal buildings, city halls. He admitted people were funding his travels through cash apps. Why would anyone pay someone to crisscross the U.S. just to “sightsee” with a camera? The answer seemed clear to me: intelligence gathering. That realization set off alarms.
With the tools we have today — private security can and should be operating with the same awareness and capabilities as law enforcement. Too often, we are not, and I can point out case after case of incidents that could have and should have been stopped.
The Charlie Kirk Example
When the Charlie Kirk incident surfaced with grainy video, most people would have thrown up their hands. But with reverse image searches and tradecraft, I traced the clothing — the shirt sold secondhand on Poshmark, the shoes identifiable across thousands of social media images. Nothing is off the table in intelligence work. Everything leaves a digital trail if you know how to follow it.
So when I see a man casually filming a shooter before an attack, I can’t help but ask: where was the “see something, say something” mindset? That one call could have stopped bloodshed. Security, For a company being owned by a former Secret service agent it looked like a barny fife training video.
The Hard Truth About Security Today
We are not living in the 1940s with a handful of criminals anymore. Social media, TikTok, YouTube — they’ve glamorized violence. They’ve normalized mayhem. Every viral clip teaches the next actor that violence gets clicks, attention, and followers.
And when someone sets out to commit violence, they don’t care if your uniform says police or security. If you are in the way, you’re the first target. Once you’re removed, your “flock” — the people you’re protecting — are defenseless.
I’ve seen too many preventable deaths, too many attorneys shake their heads at cases that never should have happened. The failures almost always come back to the same issues: under-trained, underpaid security officers and companies unwilling to think outside the box.
My Warning
Businesses and Security companies need to wake up. Threat levels in the U.S. are rising, not falling. Groups are aligning, tactics are evolving, and the “old way” of standing a guard at a post for $15 an hour is nothing short of negligent.
We have the tools —and decades of proven anti-terrorist techniques. What we lack is the will to use them. Until that changes, businesses, schools, and the public remain at risk.
It’s time we have this conversation seriously, because the next headline may involve a preventable tragedy — and the courts nor the jury will forgive negligence or a preventable death. It’s happening more and more that Businesses and Security companies as-well are losing big. Insurance Companies more and more are dropping clients and finding loopholes to use to get out of paying lawsuits and when that happens you as the owner are paying out of pocket. I can give you 20 different cases just in the last couple of years where that LLC did not shield the business owner and they lost either everything they owned or if they had the money Millions.