Cleared Hot - Powered By BRCC - BUD/S Was Hard, But It Wasn't Real | Full Auto Friday with JP Dinnell | 6.05.2026

Episode Date: June 5, 2026

Usually Full Auto Friday is just me and the questions. Not this one. JP Dinnell is in the seat — former SEAL, came up through Ramadi, now chief training officer at Echelon Front — and Michael is running the stories. We start where it counts. Whether anything in BUD/S ever matched the field. It didn't. BUD/S is hard. It's also a controlled environment with a safety net. The real cost came later, with the guys who didn't come home. Then Michael started pulling things off the internet. A Texas plea deal that put a child predator back on the street in a day. A paraglider clipped by a Cessna over the Alps. A man in flip-flops trying to kick in a stranger's door. My son stepping up in at a grocery store. JP's daughter waiting around a corner with a bat. A gate agent getting screamed at, and what it takes to step into that. A bank hostage standoff that ended the way those always end. And the Bitcoin I didn't buy at fifty cents. The through-line is simple. Crazy exists. Have a plan. Be capable. Enjoy. Join the Cleared Hot Newsletter here: https://www.clearedhotpodcast.com Today's Sponsors: Helix: Go to https://www.helixsleep.com/CLEAREDHOT for 20% off sitewide LMNT: https://www.drinklmnt.com/clearedhot  

Okay, got the red smoke. I'm looking at danger close now. The hardest part about today... I don't want to call from Laif. Hey, JP. Just skip it. That's what the little red icon is for in the phone when Laif calls to yell at you. You just beep, sorry, I'm doing something else.

The hardest thing for today will be, what do we call this episode? So Fridays, if I'm by myself doing Q&A, it's a full auto Friday. I mean... But every other Friday, it's me and Michael. And we call those ND Friday. because he's kind of like a walking ND. We're working on it. I don't know what we call today.

Suggestions? Fire team Friday? It works. We're a little short of a fire team. Yeah. What do you think? What do you call your episodes that you do Q&A on?

It's just Q&A. And we're not as, I want to get back to where it's consistently one Q&A session in the week. Our episodes come out every Friday. Yeah. And then we were doing Q&A's, But you know my schedule.

And we're like, if we're just getting one Friday and occasionally in Q&As, we're happy. The production calendar is harder to maintain with professional travel than people would imagine. Yeah. I'll lay out my entire month. Like, ooh, that's going to be a busy day. See you tonight at 9 p.m.? Like I have to record everything this day for a tick, tick, tick, all the way down. And Lucas is awesome.

There's times we'll get stuff. And then, but, you know, he's got young kids and he's a pastor of a small. Baptist Church and so we're trying to like fit it in and uh sometimes we'll do Riverside while I'm on the road just for a quick like hey we need one um but he's super flexible there's been times where I'm like hey bud here's my schedule he's like late night I'm like if you're okay with it yeah and his wife's awesome she's like yes like and we'll be recording until 2 a.m. but get it done though yeah yeah so we don't call him anything um what should we call today Michael do you hey were you a sniper yeah

I mean, it could be Overwatch Friday. Are we overwatching, Michael? Because he definitely was not. No, I don't know. I need some supervision, honestly. He, the term sniper for him is more, have you seen that cartoon? Sniper, oh, no, that's swiper. Swiper, no swiping.

Do you know what I'm talking about? Yeah, door this floor. Ayutem. Yeah, I thought it was sniper, no sniping. No. Damn it. I thought I was going to come off the top ropes with that one, but it's swiper, no swiping. Yeah, we were both snipers. But then.

Hmm. We're not going to call it echelon on anything because Jock will get all mad. Even though I don't think enough people make fun of him. So I try to do it for most of them. See, Leif would be stoked. He's like, fuck yeah. You guys are representing what? Like, late.

Like, that's why I love Leif. I was joking when I was like, I don't want Leif mad at me. Dude, he is, this last year been so awesome for me, like, pouring into me for my professional development because he's like, hey, man, I know you've never had this type of a position in the military or outside. And so he's, him and Jocko have been really boring end to me, which is nice. What position do you have now you didn't have before?

Like a senior, senior position. I'm our chief training officer and part of the executive leadership team. CTO and ELT. CTOE.O. Yeah. We have to work on that. We're going to have to work on that.

I mean, you normally just do full auto Friday. That year, it's different because you're here. I would say Frogman Friday, but Ryan Parrott has that. did you carry a saw when you were in? I did. Mark 46. Is there something there? Hmm.

Fuck it. It's full out of Friday. Go ahead, Michael. I mean, bro, yeah. We can see it all day on ID8 on stupid terms that only you and I would understand. The audience would be like, next. Today's episode is brought to you by Helix mattresses. I had been talking about these guys for quite some time.

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site-wide. That is helixleep.com slash cleared hot. 20% off site wide. Helixleak.com cleared hot. You will not regret it. Well, I mean, yeah, you could say, hey, normally solo, but we're keeping it because I got another machine gunner

from the SEAL teams with me. I was never a machine goder, though. However, I was always carrying rounds. Well, you could say, I have a machine gunter from the SEAL teams with me. Yeah, I was always carrying rounds for you guys. My favorite thing was contact drills in... Take it and throw it.

In Ireland. Regardless if asked for or not, if I was coming by, you were getting a box. Yeah. That was super fun. I don't have anywhere to put it. And then they put it in your backpack.

No longer my problem. Yeah. I remember one of the dudes unsiped my pack and put it in there. I was like, what are you going to do? Nothing. This is the point where you take over. I'm assuming I'm looking this way. You can look at it wherever you want.

You can look whatever you want. Surprise yourself. You can look directly into that light. You could look up. I mean, it's cameras everywhere. We got a wide angle one. That's rare. What are you going to go with, Michael?

Okay. I'm going to go with an actual question instead of a topic. Okay. Is this a question for me? you from me for you both of you guys interesting tell me more um were you guys ever as uncomfortable out in the field i guess i know this uh as you were in buds or any sort of training thing never been asked this before i don't want to make buds sound like it's easy it's not it's not however comma thank you if you were to rate it from a cold perspective

tired perspective, physical pain perspective, psychological loopiness maybe just from being up for so long. I'm not even putting it anywhere near what the real world presented. Not even close. And I don't know if your instructors told you that Buds was going to be hard, but not the hardest thing you ever did. It's like, why are you guys lying to us? I thought there was no way because Bud's I was just turning 19 it was my dark night of the soul which is the worst thing that's ever happened to you that was 19 also so at that point I didn't have a lot of context holy cow I mean it was hard for sure but pales in comparison to some of the stuff

they asked us to do for sure yeah I would agree and but when you also think of it from like when you're 19 going through buds you have advantages and disadvantages yeah The advantage is you're 19 and you're in phenomenal shape. The disadvantage is, at least for myself, was maturity. Unfortunately, I had good older guys in the class that would be like, hey, hey. And then at SQT, when I started working under Seth and Lief and Andrew Paul, they really helped, really helped guide me with my maturity. But, yeah, no buds. An SQT didn't even come close to actual combat operations and deploy.

and then life. Where's the coldest you ever were? Because it certainly wasn't laying in the Pacific for a couple hours with five-minute breaks in between. No. I would say my, hmm, I think I have two that are probably tied. My first deployment doing PSD, we went up into the mountains of northern Iraq. And this is in the wintertime. Of course, you brought all the appropriate kit, right?

Of course, because none of it had really been issued that time. And they realized that this was going to be a problem. So guys are stoked that we have these north face jackets and all these things. And even with like layers and a nice, like at the time, a really nice north face jacket, I was absolutely miserably cold. And we were outside holding your external security while there's this little meetup. I'll find a picture later and show you to you at the top of a mountain. It reminded me it was like something from a movie because the helicopter landing pad was up there.

You could see everything below you. that was by far the coldest I'd ever been and for a long time after and then in Afghanistan but we were in a warmer region because I know buddies that were in different areas were as much colder and that was again outside just hating life I don't like the cold in those situations yeah I mean now if I'm coming up here to vacation and it's different You're going snowboarding, which I love to do. I'm dressed. And you're moving instead of just standing in one position, looking and scanning,

and hoping we're going to rotate position so I can get some blood flow and actually move around. It was. Yeah. Yeah. And you know, the bathroom situation is out there awesome. They're pretty dope. Yeah. Clean.

Five stars. Yeah, yeah, for sure. Coldest I'd ever been was in the desert for sure. And it was on one of the hottest days that switched to one of the coldest days. So we're talking a triple digit temperature swing in a single 24 hours. hour cycle. So smoking hot, but up at altitude. And then when the sun went down, damn near freezing. And it just was the coldest I've ever been, that swing between the two. That's, it was horrible. I've never heard of that in a 24 hour window. I felt bad for Benny when

we left Ramadi because he had about a triple digit swing going from Ramadi back home and then back to Wisconsin. I leave. But that was all within a weekish. Yeah. And I thought that was horrible for that transition, but in 24 hours? Yeah, that's rough. What, uh, what do you think the hardest thing you had to do in the SEAL teams was? No. For me, it's not one specific thing. It's more the, uh, the environment or, I'll put it like this, I suppose.

And this will maybe answer Michael's question. Looking back, Buds was difficult, but it wasn't real. No. You know what I mean? It was a controlled environment. It seemed very real in the moment as a student, but then at, And you saw this as an instructor. The safety net there is robust.

It's crazy. It's crazy. The students don't know that for good reason because a little bit of that you need to play into the psychological aspect of it a little bit too. But it wasn't real. Students, of course, have died there. They probably will continue to die there, which is a horrible thing. But I do think probably essential for that to continue to happen. I don't want anybody to die.

But the cost of training that hard is the cost of training that hard. you add the loss of life of your friends or if you're in a leadership position and people are relying on you to make the right call. Dude, that was harder than anything in buds. Yeah. Way harder than that. That's what I was going to say. Yeah.

In Ramadi losing Mark, Mark Lee, who was killed on August 2nd, 2006. I mean, even before that, when Cowie got wounded and sent home, like really bad. Like, guys were like, we're not sure if you're going to make it. Okay, cool. He's going to make it. Is he going to keep his leg? Okay. he's going to keep his leg.

And so you're like going through that. And then also we were very close with all the soldiers and Marines that we worked with. We had an incredible relationship. These soldiers and Marines were some of those brave humans I'd ever fought alongside in Ramadi. And we're losing those guys all the time. And so we're going to every single memorial service that we could if we weren't out on a combat operation. That was a rough of a sense. And that was the first thing that we did as a task unit.

First thing in country, memorial service were 13 Marines. I believe it was 13 that got ambushed and killed and murdered out in the streets. And that was like, welcome to Ramadi. And then a few weeks later, Cali, and then the gunny sergeant with us that I dragged down the street. And then more guys, and then Mark was killed. And on that same day, Ryan Job was wounded. And guys were like, I don't know if he's going to make it. Okay, cool.

And then he's going to make it, but we don't know what it's going to be like. And then towards the very end, then when Mikey jumped on that grenade, it was just that one erected me. because all of them were really hard, but Mikey was one of my new guys. And, you know, when we're in Camp Corrigador, the way we have the room set up that we built in this old blown-out building, Mikey was one wall on the other side

and Benny Olson was on the other. And so, like, you know, that was when, and I wasn't on that operation because I had cut my finger down to the bone a few days prior, got life-lighted out to a larger base because I thought I was going to lose my finger, had emergency surgery. I ended up making my way back because I was supposed to stay down there for a while

and I was like, no, I'm not staying here. And I like just jumped on some convoys, got my way back. That's exactly. You know, team guys doing team guys stuff. But they wouldn't let me stay out at Crigador. So I had to pack up all my gear and go back to the main base. Yeah. And I remember going out for a run that day.

And Ray Baviera pulls up next to me in one of the high-lux trucks. And I, you know, I look over smiling. It's like one of your close friends. And he was just like, hey, man, a couple of guys got really messed up. We got to go back to the talk right now. And that's when I found out that Mikey had died. To flip the question on its head, do you think that Buds is hard enough? I don't know what I would add to it.

I was going to say, yes. When I first came back and I was at Buds for a little bit as an instructor, because I had to have some surgeries after deployment. I got pulled for my platoon, which is a whole other thing. we'll probably talk about tomorrow, but I was a psychopath. Again, maturity thing. I turned 23 right before Ramadi. So now I'm fresh out of Ramadi, got pulled from my platoon,

where Seth was going to be my tasking commander now, who is my OIC, and he's my big brother. He helped me become a young man in the SEAL teams. So I'm now getting pulled away from Seth. I go to Buds. And all I can think about are our guys and comparing every single one of them to Mikey and Mark and Cali and Ryan who were wounded. And it wasn't fair for me to compare those guys to them.

And so I was a complete psychopath to the point where, and I love when Jocko tells this story. He's like, hey, you remember Rambo when they're like, come get your guy? They call Jock and they're like, hey, man, come get your guy. Hey, your boy's not okay. Yeah. And he pulled me over to trade it to have fulfillment of actually teaching something of value

instead of just being an in-doc instructor. I think that's where you and I actually finally met. in the hallway somewhere. Oh, no, I remember walking. Yes, yeah, absolutely. But to answer your question, I wanted to give all that because back then when I was young and immature and I didn't look at things from a strategic standpoint,

I would say, oh, yeah, we need to make it harder. Buzz is so well designed. I think we should maintain the standard and it should never lower. But man, Buzz has been working pretty well for a very long time. The numbers are the numbers. I mean, how much money has the Navy thrown at trying to increase the numbers.

Or study people who makes it through and who doesn't. And they don't change. It doesn't change. I don't, you know, the pre-training program, which I heard went away and then may have been coming back. I think what did it add? Eight to 16 weeks after boot camp, people could stay in great. Oh, yeah.

I don't think it changed. It didn't increase the numbers. The percentages are the percentages. You know, one of my favorite things about Monsour is that he didn't make it through training the first time. I love sharing that story. Yes. Neither did Mark Lee. It is people think that it if you fail that, then you are a failure.

It's no. Only if you let it define who you are. Exactly. It's one of the things I wrote about actually in the book. I loved being at Team 3. I would stop and I would stare at Mikey's body armor on the quarterdeck, which is a naval terminology for a front office. Yeah.

Front desk. Yeah. Front desk. It was unmanned, but in a lot of military installations, I can, I'll speak to Team three. There's like a picture of like the crest of what your command is going to look like, and then historical pictures and stuff. And there was a lot of pictures of your guys task unit down the hallway. Yeah, but his gear was right there, front and center. Fuck, man, that Medal of Honor citation, if that doesn't get you to question whether or not

you have the stones to take the same actions that he did, and the limited amount of time he had to make that decision. So there's one thing wrong with that citation. Really? It says two other guys. There is three. On the roof, you mean? On the roof. Okay. They're talking about Doug and Mike that were right next to him. But Benny was just as close to those guys. How did they make that mistake? Well, because Doug and Mike sustained the most of the injuries.

Got you. Benny had injuries. He had trap metal in him. Like, he was bleeding. But it doesn't mention him because the injuries that Doug and Mike endured were horrific. Yeah. Like really, really bad. That's the only thing that's wrong with that citation is it should have included three men.

Benny Olson, almost incredible frogmen I've ever known. And a little fun fact about that machine gun, Benny Olson is the last human to ever shot it. Really? Because when he was working on Mikey and then Doug and Mike and, you know, everything, he picked up his machine gun to fight off enemy fighters and engage him over that wall and ran that gun until it went dry and then went back working on the guys.

He was the last guy to ever shoot Mikey's machine gun. The hardest part for me to imagine about that is that he could see over the wall. It's a short wall. Or he's on his tippy toes. Or I don't know. He might have been... Are we talking like one of those little concrete curbs that...

No. Yeah. He might have been standing on Doug. Here's the thing. Maybe he's not in the citation because he just wasn't tall enough to be meant. I mean, how tall is Ben? Four, six? He's five, eight.

He's five eight. Let's be honest. He's wee. I love Benny. Like I said, we spent a lot of time together in 2010. He is fantastic. He's a wee seal. Yeah, and he's awesome because you look at them, like most of the guys in our platoon, kind of unassuming.

And then, you know, you have West Baldwin and Smurf and Benny and myself. And it's just like, you guys aren't team guys. We're like, cool, whatever. Do we even remotely answer your question? Yes, actually. Okay. Sounds like there's just no real way to replicate what you would go through. I don't know how you would actually safely.

replicate combat. You can't. I don't think you can. No. Even with the best simulations, fake gunfire, fake explosions, fake IEDs,

fake RPGs, role players. Which you get versions of that as training progresses. But you know it's fake. Yes. You know what I mean? And you know subconsciously,

and consciously at times, it's still controlled. That's what you're saying. There's range safety officers. There's instructors everywhere. And it has to be that way. Yeah. Yeah, I just don't think there is a way.

Not that would be accepted from a risk tolerance perspective. And I also think the reward would nowhere be near the risk. Because look what the impact guys and the SEAL teams have been able to do real-time overseas in some of the most crazy environments with the training that we have. So I would say spot on. Keep doing it. Just hold the line. Agreed.

Okay. I think you could just clip just to that, I guess. for time. Michael does the clips. Who knows? That will trend well. It'll open with the question. That direct answer,

done. For more access to the actual answer is good to our Patreon page. God, I have not figured out Patreon, man. I don't get it. I guess it's a thing. It's not a thing I'm going to try.

Okay. All right. I don't know if you guys have heard of the Ken Paxton. This is where the shit starts getting out of control. Yeah. Because Michael's internet surfing history. is probably way different than you're an hour.

Well, your listeners are going to be really disappointed with my answers when I'm like, I have no opinion. Ken Paxson, who's running for something in Texas, used to be the Texas Attorney General. Ken Paxon used to be the Texas term? Yes. So, JP is from Texas. Are you familiar with this guy's name? No.

Okay. Texas, for people don't know that, pretty big. Yeah. And for those that are about to learn, J.P. doesn't spend a lot of time of wasted energy and thoughts in politics over things that I can't really control. And if this guy's not in your district anywhere, influence. Yeah. If it's not in your district, it's, you know. Yeah. But anyways. So when he was the attorney general, he gave a plea deal to a sex offender that had habitually abused a child, essentially. I know where I'm going with my

answer. That was one day in jail. The judge then gave him a much long 60-day jail sentence. I just saw this actually. Okay, so hold on. Peace are furious. So Ken Paxson was the AG. So I'm going to assume that means he was prosecuting this. I believe so.

Okay, agreed to a, so what we got here? A first degree felony of continuous sexual abuse of a child. That sounds like it should be associated with the death penalty. Yep. Okay, following a mistrial, I wonder what the mistrial was about. Prosecutors with the Texas Attorney General's office offered him a please. deal that included just one day in jail and no requirement what to register as a sex offender. Okay, so a judge intervened. The presiding, visiting judge rejected the initial one-day sentence

instead of posed a 60-day jail sentence, along with the surrender of Hoffman's law license, which I bet you that was probably the most that judge could do. Public fallout. The plea agreement caused intense political backlash for Ken Paxton, particularly during his campaign for U.S. Senate drawing heavy criticism for both sides of the aisle. The resolution, the resolution. The resolution was Hoffman served the 60-day sentence with time off for good behavior and was released from the McLennon County Jail in late May. Is that late May of this year? Oh my God, it is. I believe so. Yeah. What is your home state up to, JP? Because this is public, I have no comment. It's okay to have comments. I have no opinion that I'm going to share at this moment. That's ridiculous.

How can people have, I would love to know, Michael, can you quickly Google what led to the mistrial? Yes. How was it Hoffman? And it's like if there was a mistrial, and for people who may not know this, I'm not a lawyer, so I have no idea how this stuff goes. But if there is a mistrial, I'm wondering if you could charge him again, you know what I mean? Maybe it's disqualifying, but I would rather go through the entire process again than offer some bullshit one day in jail. Yeah. This guy's currently running for office right now?

Yes. I believe Senate. Yeah. And his opponent, Tala Rico, is going to have a field day with this. Yeah, he's going crazy with this. As he should. Yeah, as he should. I mean, this is insane.

I'm looking up the mistrial. I have a lot of, I try to have a lot of grace for just about anybody living their life the way they want. So this Hoffman guy had a law license as well? It looks like he was an attorney. Former Waco attorney. Oh, I missed that. I did as well. Okay.

And Hoffman was the one originally charged in the first degree felony of continuous sexual abuse. So I wonder if there's Hoffman and Paxon guy had worked together on something before in the past. You know how you saw this? No plea deals for predators. That shouldn't even be an option. And that's what I don't understand. And we've had, there's been a couple cases that come up.

And sometimes it seems as if the victim's family is involved in the plea and they have to agree to it. And other times, they're just, that plea deal is offered and the family is not even considered or communicated with, which I don't understand how there's any level of feeling like there's justice in the justice system. Did not work. Okay, so they didn't work together as colleagues or co-counsel before the trial. The prosecution, the first trial was originally tried for continued sexual abuse. But the case ended in a mistrial after the, oh, so the jury deadlocked? How? I don't know.

I don't think you should be allowed. Here's how I think you solved this. If you are a predator, specifically a predator to a minor, pleadials are off the table. Yes. And I don't know much about mandatory minimum sentencing, but I think it should be way more than a day. And 60 days isn't enough either. and I think you should be really strategically placed in a prison, specifically in a prison population area that's not going to be receptive to the reason that you're there. Yeah, that's an easy solution.

Because I have never been to prison, but from what I have heard about prison, they police themselves oftentimes to a degree that could be argued a little bit better than the civilian world when it comes to punishment for actions. Yes. we are aligned. Yeah, I don't, again, if it's consenting adults, I really don't care what people do. I don't have to morally agree with it. But one of my hard lines in the sand is if you are praying upon children, I have absolutely nothing for you except for a potato peeler. Yep. So I don't, I don't get it.

I'm disappointed in that, especially the jury. It's tough because we didn't see the evidence. I know, for sure. So to try not to go too far, I'm talking for myself or to, try not to go too far into it. A mistrial followed by a one-day plea deal where you don't have to register as a sex offender does not, I don't see what that does. It's not going to make the victim or alleged victim feel whole or vindicated or seen. Yeah.

Because the person is not going to have to register as a sex offender. It spends 24 hours. This is like an Epstein prison deal. Good God, Michael. You're just Googling because the defense successfully cast doubt on the reliability of the victim's testimony and the forensic evidence resulting in a 7-5 of split in favor of a guilty verdict. A hung jury in 2025 led to a mistrial. Because the victim was unwilling to endure the trauma of testifying a second time

the Texas Attorney General's office led by AG Ken Paxton and prosecutors struck a plea deal to reduce the charge to misdemeanors rather than taking the case back to court. And see, and this is where it gets weird because you can't force the victim to testify again. And that's horrible for them to have to have to. relive that and talk through it. I mean, you and I were talking briefly about team guys having to talk through stuff that we endured in combat and how hard that is, which is, it's good, it's needed, and it's healthy. And you're talking about this decades later. Decades later. And we were hunting evil people. Now, we would see horrific things happen to

innocent people. We were never on the receiving end of being in an innocent position and something horrible happening to us. And we're men, grown men, matured. This is a kid. Sometimes I just have Michael pull up that video of the man who was the parent of a child that was abusive. He's sitting at a phone bank. Oh.

When a guy walks by, he smokes him in the year. I love that little video for Father's Day. Happy Father's Day to the best father out there. I'm not advocating for behavior. I'm just saying I really like that video. Yeah. I also really liked law-abiding citizen. Which was this one? This is a movie.

This, I feel like this is a fictional movie. Can we pretend it's a documentary? I wish. Who was in it? Is it recent? No, this was 2009. Okay. I feel like it's in line with what we're talking about. Just check it out later. Some highlights from it and you'll... You get on the wrong side of the wrong people. And I mean, if that happened to my child, I'd,

don't think there would be anything or anybody that could stop me. No, I agree. So be careful who you fuck with. Moral of that story, you might get heel hooked. Yeah, in the ghee. I don't see why the ghee matters in a heel hook. Is it because there's more friction? Yes.

All right. I don't really have an argument. I mean, I'm not saying I agree either way. I'll just squeeze my legs to. It was just really awesome watching. you do that over and over and over. Choices have consequences. I am glad that the internet exists for reasons like this because the people in this area

who will vote for this person can look at things like that and hold him to account for the things or the choices that he made. Yes. However, I can't see an aspect of this. Not that I agree with what he did, but even if he wanted to full back dive and go back into a second court case, if the victim is unwilling to do so. That sucks, man. That sucks.

But I don't think a one-day plea deal that reduces them to misdemeanors and the person doesn't have to. That's why I think there's some connection. There has to be. I mean, I've watched the show billions. There's connections. I haven't gotten into that one. Is it good? Just when it comes to this world?

Yeah. Now, there's some weird stuff on billions. So I'm putting that asterisk out there. Yeah. Like weird stuff that you're like, why? Why does this have to be in this show? Because all the legal stuff is fascinating. The business and legal connections and ties is absolutely fascinating.

So that's why I jokingly said there has to be a connection. Unless this guy is just a horrible person and he agrees with what this guy did or maybe he does that too. I don't think the world needs any more of that. They don't, but it's out there. How big of a problem do you think it actually is? I think it's much bigger than we actually think it is because we don't want to address those things and think about those things. I mean, you saw how quickly all the other stuff. I'm talking about EPSC now?

Yeah, it's not. So I completely agree with that. None of that makes sense. And I hate that transparency was one of the talking points and running points. And at this point, it's so polluted that I don't think even if they said, hey, we've released everything. Nobody's going to agree anyway, right? So I don't think we're ever going to get resolution. Because nobody's going to know what's actually true or not.

I do worry, though, that people will go so far and they'll say, well, they're all. pedophiles. Like, listen. Which is not the case. But that's, and that's also not how you get to the bottom of it either. You can't paint with a broom like that. Yeah. It's tough. Yeah.

I think it is a problem for sure. And I don't think necessarily it's a problem in politics or in power or with people with money. Maybe they have more access to that. There are just people who come out of the box broken who were into that. Yes. And the only solution again that I know to that involves a potato peeler. I just don't know how big the size,

scope and scale of that problem is. I would like to get to the bottom of it. Yeah. Wouldn't it be to, well, it would be to everybody's benefit except for that small community of people to get to the bottom of that. Yes. Yeah. All right, so we don't like this guy, Michael.

Yeah, I'm not a fan, personally. I also don't live in that district. So anybody in Texas who does, do your research on who you're going to vote for. Yeah. Yeah. If I did live in that district, I would vote for the other candidate. Personally. Yeah.

That makes sense. Do you have anything that doesn't involve praying upon children for champions? Yeah. I'm like level 10 on the inside over here. You like to do this. So go nuclear and then come back. Like, have you seen this video of a bear on a skateboard? Yeah.

This one's pretty crazy. I'm sure you both have seen this. It's been making the rounds. Oh, yes. I think five people sent this to me. You think those are rookie numbers. Yeah, I have had 1,500 people at a minimum 70. I can imagine. You know what my default was? I saw it and I was going to text it to you. I'm like, he's already seen this. Hundreds of people. Killed a volume.

The cat was with the canopy of a paraglider, sending her plunging to the ground. My God. Oh. Scrambles to pull her secondary parachute. It deploys, but it's terribly twisted, sending her spinning out of control. Then it fully inflates. Sabrina regaining control. Thank God. You can see the dangled primary shoot trailing behind high above the Austrian Alps.

Tracking data shows Sabrina's flight over the mountains, capturing the moment she suddenly fell out of the sky, dropping 2,000 feet in two minutes. Serena later writing, I actually still can't believe that I'm sitting here typing this and that aside from a few nasty... Hey pause right there, Michael? Yep.

Because that's the perfect image. First off, 360 cameras are dope. That's how we have this. image. That's unreal. I, yeah, I was asked about this. I addressed it on last Friday. There is so much blue sky in this picture and in the world in general, which I believe to be round, even though there is a community of people who believes it's flat. I won't put you on the spot because sometimes it's sensitive for people to discuss the true feelings on that. It is amazing to me how often with all of the blue sky out there. It's crazy.

things want to connect. The mix of airplane versus paraglider is no bueno. And at least in the U.S. in areas that have a bunch of paragliding activity, it's on the charts. It doesn't mean you can't fly there, but maybe the classic head on the swivel, or maybe just don't fly there. Yeah, go above it, go around it. Let them have the, it's probably going to be around mountainous terrain too because they're going with the lift, that were graphic lift and all this stuff. from what I've heard, I believe it was either a student pilot or a teenager flying the aircraft.

The canopy had to have done some damage. I, it's fascinating. So I've had a bunch of paragliders reach out. Sometimes these people have two to three reserve parachutes. For this reason? I don't think specifically for this. But for the reason that there's that many potential issues while paragliding? I don't know.

I feel like, well, like we did. some robust contingency planning. If we were paragliders, I don't think it would make my list inadvert in contact with the Cessna. Yeah. Maybe other paragliders, maybe a bird attacks my canopy and rips it into pieces. But my thing is like, if you have to switch to reserve, is it not part of just a game plan that we're done flying now?

Oh, yeah. Why would you have two to three more? Do you plan on just going, well, got lucky. Because let's keep rolling. You know this saying. One is none. And two is one. I have no idea.

I don't know if you can cut away the... Well, on a skydiving rig. So did you get freefold? I did. Okay. So you know on the rigs, did you always jump with your RSL attached or reserve static line?

I would think so. Probably. Yeah, I would... A lot of people did. So anyway, it's actually a very... It's a very... I've saving piece of equipment. Yeah.

It is, if you cut away, it is a... to your riser and at a certain level of extension, as your risers are separating from your three-ring release assembly, it pulls the pin on your reserve. It's one of the checks that you do as a military free fall jump master. You're looking to make sure that that connects. Yep, I remember that pin.

It's a little circle that is connected. So at least you are separating what I will call the bag of shit that is above your head. Because what was left after this, which shouldn't surprise anybody, is a non-flyable paraglider wing. Weird. When an airplane flew through it?

I mean, it was probably providing a little bit of drag on the way down, but nothing great. But you can't get rid of that. So you're throwing reserves into a pile of trash above your head. At least on the military rigs or skydiving rigs, you should have separation. I used to always disconnect my RSL specifically if you're jumping with a camera because entanglements with main risers and or lines with cameras can happen. Yeah. And what you don't want is a reserve fire into your canopy if it's attached to your helmet. Yeah.

So anytime I've ever had a cutaway, I give myself clearance and then I'll fire my reserve on my own. Yeah, but your level of jumping proficiency, like we're not even, you and I aren't even in the same country. I just have more reps at it. Exactly. Yeah. But so an RSL or reserve static line, I think is a fantastic device if used properly. There can be issues, and I do know of a guy, Mikey Bearden, who was killed because one of his risers released. And it was the side with the RSL when it fired his reserve.

into his main that was still trailing on the other side and it killed him. Holy crap. Yeah, it was the first fatality. He was at Team 5. It was the first fatality I was ever around in the SEAL community. So that was probably in 97 or 98 that he died. Point is though you can get rid of what's over your head. So maybe that's why they carry so many because, I mean,

a good rule of thumb is get everything. And like, if you're going to go in, get as much fabric. out there as humanly possible. I guess so. So, I don't know. But can you imagine you're out there? I don't know what it's like to paraglide because I'm not crazy. And it's a little sack.

This is what I'll call that. And you're just minding your own business. Maybe humming, Bluetooth thing, just whatever. Yeah. And then, you know, no, I can't. Michael, does this inspire you to paraglide? Not particularly. I actually do think paraguadding, it seems fun.

Why don't you try it? Yeah. That's not the one with the, what's the one you're hooked to like a, you're seated in like a propeller chair? Powered parachute. A powered parachute? Yeah, yeah. That also seems fun, but both of them seem cool. Are you going to give you there a try?

Yeah, I would give it a try. Let's recreate this. I'll be in the helicopter. You mind your own business and just fly around up there. Well, sky joust. Yeah, that's a good idea. Would you, could you have a thing that transmits your location with you as a paraglider? I feel like they showed an example of that when they were showing the altitude.

Yeah, they showed the track. Gotcha. I don't know if that is mandatory or optional. I would imagine a lot of people who do have that. It's because they like to nerd out on the data. And there's probably a community of people that show and they share their flights and like trail runners. Yeah, because it said flight tracker or something. Like something.

Something. It's, but I bet you that they look at the data and then they can probably look at the terrain and the weather conditions. And it can help educate them as to where to fly to get lift and stuff like that. Nice. What else you got, Michael? See, it's a lot lighter than potato peeler type of shoes. Yeah. And this one is. In between?

It's in between. It's funny, but not really for the right reasons. Today's podcast is brought to you by Element. Let me ask you if any of these things sound good to you. driving increased energy production, sharpening your focus and clarity, boosting recovery and sleep quality and protecting against cramping. I'm a hard yes on all of those, but also I want to work on my hydration game. This is where element comes in.

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absolutely tackle your electrolyte and hydration, game. Element is the way to do it. They have the flavors that you want and the delivery mechanism that is the most convenient or pleasurable for you. Drink elemente.com slash cleared hot. Back to the show. It's scary now after the fact or funny after the fact. Okay. So a little bit of backstory. Oh. Have you seen this? I have seen this one. I have not. So this guy. Hold on. First, what state is this in? Because I don't remember. changes a lot of things. It does.

If this happened in Texas, I think it might have gone a different way. In Montana, I am certain that what you're about to witness is a completely justifiable home defense situation. You say, and I love how he said, I'm certain. That's what I'm going to use to convince my wife to move up here. Yeah. This is in California, though. But me in Texas, like, yeah, I know what I'm doing in Texas, especially if my family's home. and this, which I'm assuming, I don't know, I haven't seen this yet.

Yeah, it's insane. Starting off normal though. A man dressed in black demands to enter a private residence in Fairfield, California. Open the door. Wait, wait, he kicks the door and falls off the top. What do he falls? You notice his chosen combat footwear his flip-flops with socks? talking about.

While claiming to Harry Dresden, a popular urban fantasy character. You then hear the homeowner, who was away at the time, repeatedly tell Nichols to leave. Can you leave my house, please? You open the door, please. Oh, this is a door, uh, he's talking to him to the doorbell. You have nothing to do with my house. Can you leave my house? Triggering this terrifying reaction.

Rounds would be going through that door. According to a police statement, a woman and child were home when Nichols entered You know what my wife would have done. And, hit pause, please. I just want to look at his weapon of choice here. I mean, it's a snow shovel, which they're not using that for snow there.

I mean, I would have gone with a digging shovel. I feel like it has a heavier head and a longer handle. Yeah. I mean, Fairfield, there's a high chance a guy might have some, like a pickax. I would maybe even use the folding step ladder. Yeah. Dude, how awesome would be to open the door with a weed eater?

Running or not running? No, just open it up and you're just like, like pushing the weed eater. Open it and the guy sees you, but you have your hand on the pole start. And he sees you starting it while you're making eye contact. No, it's ready. It's already going. It's ready. And then you open the door.

You might give yourself carbon monoxide poisoning a little bit. I'm worth the risk. Turn the fan on your oven. Yes. Yes. Or use the Reobi one, battery power one. So then he doesn't even know. That would be dope.

It's like a suppressed weapon. An electric weed eater. I have one. It's awesome. To the face, that would be damaging. I would go for the throat. I don't think it would. They also have.

Imagine the welts. But if you had time to like change out to where the plastic ones that they're made for like thick weeds. Let's not get. With edges on them? JP. They're serrated. Let's keep it in the realm of the reel. We don't have time to change out.

We got a crazy dude at the house. Okay. We got to go get the weed whacker and the condition. But what if you practice the changeouts? I have no problem with that, obviously. Okay. But I need to see the training protocol and have... It's really quick on mine.

Usually it's just a twist and rotate. Yeah, I will say when I'm changing out stuff, I act as if I'm having to change it out for a stressful situation. Yeah. Just for zero reason. when I'm edging the grass of our house. So this dude came around, he, go back like five. So he snuck in through us.

I want to hear this. Did he actually enter the house? No, no, no. That was. Well, he, so after he did. Nichols gained entry through a side door. Okay. And it, but the guy was home at that point?

I guess, um, he had come home. I thought Nichols was the owner. Like he gained entry through a sliding glass door. Nichols is the, uh, open the door dude. No way. I think, yeah. Okay. Hit play Michael.

Let's watch us. Nichols entered through a separate sliding glass door before the homeowner finally arrives at the residence armed with a shovel. I don't know what you are. According to the statement, the altercation turned physical with both sustaining head injuries. It's unclear if Nichols had any connection to the homeowner or his family. Minutes later, police arrest Nichols now charged with four felony counts,

including threatening a crime with intent to terrorize. Michael, go back to that real close up of his face. He's going to get more jail time than our previous subject. He might. Can you make it so it's not blurry? I'm going to change J.P.'s profile image on my phone to this. Michael. Perfect.

Got it. I need to get a picture. Everyone's going to think you had him on the podcast. Dude. That would be a crazy episode. There's actually a lot to dissect in this. One is you need to have a plan. Like, this is statistically anomalous for sure.

But that doesn't mean you shouldn't have a plan and talk with your family about options that you have available. Escalation of force and things that you can do. Because the time to figure that out is not when this dude's at your doorstep. And, you know, and we live in a good neighborhood. And I still, like, we'll talk with the kids and my wife. And we talk through these things. Like, hey, if we're running to the store and it's just you kids here, you know, all doors are locked. If you're letting the dogs out, you let them out, you lock it for weird stuff like this just in case.

And so, and it's funny, I forgot that we had like ingrained that into our kid's head. And I'll be at the house and I'll go to grab something. I'm like, oh yeah, that's right. I want the doors to be locked for my kids. Like the fact that it's my kid's habits to come in, close, lock the door. I'm good with that. And some people are like, well, you know, your kids live in fear? No, they're being aware of their surroundings.

They're being smart. And so, yeah, the fact that this is happening and no, like the mom didn't think, let me go lock all the other doors and windows right now. I didn't even think about that. Yeah. That she just assumed that the front door was going to be enough to stop. I mean, I get that this occurred in California. I lived in California for a long time.

I was born and raised there. Yeah. It's, yeah, there are different gun laws. They're a little bit more restrictive in some senses. But you talk about, okay, a woman and a child. are left home alone. I love jiu-jitsu. I love fighting.

I love violence. I know we're both in the same boat. And I like doing that in a controlled manner because I don't actually like fighting people because I don't want to. I'm the same way. However, if it's my wife and child at home, I don't care how much they practice.

There's one tool and one tool only that levels the playing field in this situation. And that's a firearm. Yes. And you have to talk about where it's going to be stored. Usage, actions after usage as well, calling night like all of that stuff has to be discussed as well hoping that the homeowner can get home and find a fucking shovel somewhere is crazy is crazy also i'm going to go out on a limb here

and say the guy didn't know how to fight no he didn't because they both ended up hurt you should be able to absolutely demolish mclovin yes that actually might be the name i put in under your contact with the photo I'll screen grab it for you when I'm done. Don't worry about it. Thanks. This is going, beginning of this trip is awesome. You should be able to destroy this person.

And I'm not advocating for people to be a violent savage going out there looking for fights. Absolutely not. It's the opposite of that. It's so that you can do your job, which is to protect your family. You need to be capable. Yes. Crazy does exist. I'm glad the doorbell cameras exist like this as well too.

what a great use of that technology. He's talking through him. And you know the guy didn't just stay where he's at. Yeah. He was headed home. Like, if you see that? Oh,

you're freaking. Yeah. And if I'm not home, I have a handful buddies that are close enough. I'll put out the group text and then start calling individually. They are breaking every law to get to my house. Yep. And also pays,

I have a really good relationship with your local PD. I would call my guys there. Correct. And they would, also that's a great, the wife immediately get on 911. Like this is what 911 exists for is stuff like this. Yes.

Like get a higher level of care moving in that direction. So hopefully there can be some convergence. Yeah. I mean, clearly the guy is not well. No. But actions have consequences. Yes, they do. Also, the bell only needs to be rung three times.

Did you see how he just abused it? Yeah. He'd never make it through buds. I have seen people ring that bell, though, way harder than that. Oh, because they're so mad at their life choice. Yes. It's a sturdy bell though on that pole. Oh, I bet.

Yeah, it takes it pretty well. Our, because we talk about these things with our kids. You have to. Yeah, our kids were babysitting some of our friends' kids and we went out on a date night. And it was at somebody else's house. So it was three couples who all went out. And our kids, it was the first time at these people's house. And so we hung out, we got there early hung out, made sure everyone's comfortable.

Kids were good. And, you know, so we have twin daughters. They're 14 now. And they were 13 at the time when they're babysitting. And so we all, and we're close where we're going to dinner. We come back earlier than expected. And I guess earlier somebody had been knocking on the door at their house. And our kids knew like, hey, don't answer it.

Don't engage. Like nothing. And it was some kids in the neighborhood or what, our teenagers or whatever. But when we come home and they hear us coming through the door, they think something's happening because we're back earlier than we expected. and there's like no kids in the living room or whatever and we're like walking in and i just and you've met my daughter before so this will be no surprise to you cora had so cora had had had nola her twin sister take the other kids into a room in a closet to hide and cora was standing around the corner

with a baseball bat yes had i not seen her off the reflection of one of the windows as i'm walking through the house with the other couples. You might have eaten some teeth. My kneecap would have been absolutely destroyed or my hip because she was ready for it. And I was just like, and so I create a little bit of distance and pie the corner wide on my corner. And she's like, I was like, cool. And she's like, no, you come out. It's safe.

It's just mom and dad. And I was, I just thought that was super cool that my kids were able to think through that because we talk about, hey, if this happens to do this, just something. to think about. Yeah. But also, like, our daughter's intuition is much higher than most humans, which is really cool. There's a difference between living and fear and living in reality. Yep. Oh, that's a good.

Yes. Well, the statistics, thankfully, the statistics still show that almost nobody ever is in a violent confrontation. But my question to people is this, if you do end up in one, how do you want that to go? Also, you may not be the person who's directly involved in it, but are you? you're going to sit there and do nothing if you watch something else going on so yeah that's like another question that michael could have just asked us like hey if you see something happening what do you do i know our answer so i got a call from my son yesterday you'll like this tyler's story he almost got

kicked out of whole foods in bozeman he is in there first of i don't know why he was in there he's very money conscious okay whole foods is not traditionally known for the cheapest of fair. Yeah, you know, the nickname, whole paycheck. You're spinning your whole paycheck there? So he's in there and he says they have a little sushi section, which he thinks that they outsource and somebody from in town comes. And he happened to be walking by and he noticed a woman standing next to a man behind the

counter there and he was being really aggressive in the way that he was talking to her. And then he grabbed her and he started shaking her. And my son and me was like, hey, and was like starting to make a scene. And it was like, stop doing that shit. Like take your hands off of her. Yeah. So the guy looked at him. Stop for a second.

Tyler went to go turn away and he grabbed her again. And he smacked the top of the glass. He's like, do you think this thing is going to stop me from coming back there and ripping your head off like a candy wrapper? What? Yeah. That's what my son said to the guy. Oh.

Your son said that. Because as he turned to leave. Got it. Got it. Got it. The guy grabbed her again. And my son was like, smack the glass, said that to him. They separate.

He immediately went to got a staff member. They booted the guy out and gave him 50% off on his groceries. That's awesome. And I was like, hey, buddy, fuck yeah. That's exactly what you do. You have to do that. I always told my kids when I was growing up, when they were grown up, if I ever catch you bullying somebody, it's going to be your ass. But if I ever hear that you were there when somebody was getting bullied and you didn't step in,

that potentially might be worse. Oh. I mean, yeah. You have to step into the void. There has to be people out there willing and prepared to step into that void to protect those that can't protect themselves. Yeah.

Because otherwise, we're fucked. Yeah. And then the predators win. And I refuse to accept that that's going to be the case. Yeah. It's not going to come from our boatline. That allows that to happen. No.

No, it certainly will not. And I'm glad that he gets to go and continue to shop at Holford. Yes. That's awesome. No, I heard this story. I'm like, that's spectacular. I had an incident like that happened.

I was in an airport, small airport on the East Coast. I can't remember what city has flown out of. It was in South Carolina, but it doesn't matter. And weather, there's like some weather issues and then mechanical and then weather or whatever. And I'm just like, all right, like getting upset about this fixes nothing. So I'm working through contingency plans. Like, hey, can I get to a different city that has a connection for? like it was going to be a nonstop so that's convenient but like hey cool as long as I can just

get back and this guy starts getting really mad at the gate agent which happens all the time and they're prepared for that they know she's de-escalating a few things though this guy was about my age so at the time he was probably 3940 and this was an older smaller lady working behind the counter and he's starting to escalate and I'm like man she's doing a good job, but I could tell it was like really starting to upset her. So I get a little bit closer, a little bit closer. I actually did that today at your gym. I know you're rolling.

I think your wife might have caught some guy came in and was just talking to your friend desk lady, but he was a little... It happens every once in a while and I do the same thing. And I just drifted over there because the things he were saying were just a little unique. And I was just like, they're out of context. That's how I'll catch that stuff sometimes. That's perfect. It's like a non sequitur behavior.

There's normal conversation. and then there is. Let me just get close enough. Closing the distance a little bit. Yeah. And I just, at that point I had my phone on my hand and I'm like,

no, it's going to go on the counter in front of me. My sunglasses are going to sit right next to, because I don't want to ruin my gators. Yeah. And it was funny. Like, I even checked to make sure my fanny pack was zipped shut

because I was just, you're getting closer. So going back, so I'm at the airport at this time. Now the guy's escalating and I'm like, okay, this is a point where I have to, get really close or step in.

Let me get really close. Maybe if I get really close, the guy will wreck it. Oh, shoot, somebody's around. De-escalate. But I'm also thinking, I'm like, man, I don't want to get into altercation in an airport because I fly for a living, not as a pilot, but in order for me to make my living with echelon front, I travel two to three, sometimes four different cities a week. I can't be banned from flying.

But then I'm also thinking, well, I'm not starting anything. I'm finishing it. I can de-escalate. I was like, this guy, cool, he has a jacket. I'm going to grab that foot sweep, you know, neon belly control him. Like, I'm already like pre-planning everything that I'm going to do. And it will be clear based off all these 1,700 cameras in this small area that I came in to help.

So I'm like, plus the witness that's directly involved. Yes. And I'm like rolling through all that. And then it got to a point where this guy is now like yelling and getting super aggressive. And he's not in front of her anymore. He's now coming to the side and she's going the other way to create that distance. And it was at that point, I was like, you know what?

I'll drive to every gig. Like I can't let this happen. Like worst case, I can't fly anymore. Like, you know what? I'll just, we'll figure something out. Joccol and Laef will figure something out with me. How do people get code black like that? I don't, especially in public.

Not that it's okay to do that in private, but you would think that the additional level of eyeballs. Obviously what you're describing, heads are starting to turn. People are starting to pay attention. Oh, 100. 100%. I don't understand how people escalate to that code black. Yeah. So I finally just, as he's trying to go around and he like back stepped up a little bit to go. I just stepped in between. And I was like, hey, man, you're done. Enough. And he just like,

looked at me. I'm like, hey, relax, dude. She has done nothing wrong. She is the only person that can maybe fix this situation for you right now. And he just like, looked at me. He's like, what are you going to do about it? I was like, such a stupid question. And I'm standing there and I'm like looking up at him. And I said, I promise you this does not end well for you. You need to get away. And I just was like,

go. And he's just like looking at me. And the reason why I said go and kept my hand up was to have it close to my head to like protect myself. And I was using my other hand like I was just like, hey man, what are you doing so that it's close? I can strike,

whatever, pull him in and head. headbut him. Like I was rolling through all these things and then finally he looks and he's just like, you. It walks away. I was like, have a great day, sir. And I turn around. I'm like, man, and she has tears running down her face. And I'm like, hey, are you okay? She's like, yeah. And I was like, hey, can I give you a hug? And I like, I like went back there and like gave her hug and she like held on to me. I was like, who do you need to call? And she's like, okay. And she like gets on the phone. And I was like, this is absolutely crazy. How many other people saw that too? I did. Nothing.

Crazy, bro. Crazy. But she got me on a nonstop first class seat. That's how that goes. The next morning and ordered a black limo service to come pick me up and bring me to the hotel, which they also paid for. And I was like, cool, man. I hope that dude's having fun sleeping in the parking lot.

Did you at any time in your contingency planning consider pulling guard? And he'll hooking? I am not. Do not accuse me. You would have had to elevate first, so I mean, maybe just pull guard, play whatever game you want to. Well, if I'm a pull guard, I'm going to go to Formiga's move, and I would butterfly sweep him over my head, end up on top. Yeah. And then tickle him.

I'm just saying, how bad would that be if you, let's just say you're in that guy's situation. You just, you can't get out. And you get pinned down and the dude's like tickling you or going, what are you going to do? Just tapping the nose. Boop. Boop. But you wish you had better control of your temper. Boop boop.

The co-black thing, man. It's crazy, man. They don't go from A to Z either. They go through the entire alphabet of escalation. And at no point in time do they realize, hey, this is not good. They don't have the same thought that you did. I might get banned from this airline for life. I may never fly again if I keep this up.

I don't know what it is. I mean, you and I are very fortunate and blessed because of our backgrounds and our training. And we understand how detachment is so important. I don't know if I would have gone come black on anybody, even without. that if I had been a botanist for a living. I'm just saying we have that advantage to look at people. I'm like, that's crazy. You know, I was a hot head growing up.

I used to lose my temper. And I just thought, you know, okay, that's just, you know, but it would never like, like that. I don't, I think, man, I don't, I don't know what it is. I have no idea. So, you know, here's the other thing. I also don't know what that guy had been through that day. Yeah. Like, do you find his old lady cheating on him?

Is this one of his kids sick? Is he trying to get home? Is his kid dying of cancer? Did he just get fired? Is he getting evicted from his house? You know what I mean? That's the other thing. He's like, I also don't know what is going on in his life.

It's true, but you know whose responsibility it is to handle that shit? His 100%. I agree. So I've been really trying to be more mindful of like, what's their perspective? Yeah. I've been doing that a lot too. I try to see it through other people's eyes as well. And I also understand like, hey, man, I don't know what they're going.

through. You know, and that's one of the things that we teach at Eschelon Fraud is like, hey, what's going on with somebody? Instead of just going level 10, like, hey, you're not performing or we're going to fire you. Check in on your people. Yeah. Hey, is everything all right? And so. And for people hearing this, I mean, I don't work for Eschleon front, but don't ever take what he's saying as an excuse because you are going through something to treat somebody else like shit. Yes. That's not what I'm saying. No, that is our point is like, don't treat people. Yeah. So anyways, there is never a reason for somebody to do what that guy did at the airport. or what this, unfortunately, mentally unstable young man is going through.

He looks like he has it together. I mean, I don't, does anybody's face look great on a doorbell cam that close? I mean, yeah. That is so 100% your profile picture in my phone right after this episode. I hate you. One more, Michael. There is a severe cost that comes with this friendship. I'm enduring it right now.

I thought we're going to get to all 12. Oh, there's no way. I know for almost an hour. Let's see here. The ones I have left are kind of downers, if I'm being honest. Like super downers? Not super downers. Actually, I have one that's a little good.

Okay. So have you guys heard about this bank hostage situation? No. So this was going on like two days, for two days, I think. What? It finally ended. How in SoCal again? Whoa.

Bakersfield. Not far from Fairfield. Totally. Good God. An hours long standoff began Tuesday came to an early when it came to an end early was after the suspect who had barricade himself inside a bank Was shot by FBI Personnel. Okay Scroll down a little bit. Yeah

Bomb threat. Okay, that seems to be the classic bank robber technique as I have a bomb give me the $50 you have in your drawer Police responded with SWAT teams hostage negotiators and a bomb squad It was no stranger to law enforcement. Yeah. Oh, oops. Previously been dishonorily discharged from the US Army for going absent without leave, also known as AWOL. From his service from 2006 to 2007, so he's a career army guy. Also a registered sex offender. Wow, this guy has got the doucheback Bendigo card just filled out.

Ten people, all identified by the superintendent of school employees, were taken hostage. Five of those hostages were tied up. Claimed to have a bomb, attached explosive devices to several hostages. He was neutralized. Jesus. It's not a Hollywood movie people. I remember saying it has to see him at 4.20 a.m. local time. I wonder if they stormed the building.

Shot off all the power, hopefully. Yeah. Dark. You know a better way to say neutralized? I learned from Matt Hasby that I incorporated into my talk sometimes when we're talking about combat. We shut off birthdays. Shut off birthdays. I feel like that might go over some people's heads.

It's amazing. because I'll pause and I'll be like some of you guys are trying to figure that out and then it's everybody clicks and everybody loves it even the people that you're like if I would have just said we were killing bad people would have been offended when you say and we were shutting off birthdays

yeah pause anyways let it spin so they shut off this guy's birthday at four something in the morning the morning let's see what we got the hostages were on harm good attempted to negotiate the release and more hostages failed so we let two out oh they went into the building

Man, that is not tactically fun. To go into a barricaded suspect, that is just the worst, man. Scroll down more. 110 miles north of L.A. That's up in the agricultural belt of California. Yeah. That's crazy. Just kind of more of a breakdown.

J. Top of at 1. The motive held a grudge against law enforcement and media over how his past criminal cases were handled. Of course, it's anybody's fault but his own. He targeted the building because the prominent Chase Bank branding on the exterior would ensure a large police response. That's a weird thought process. So he wanted to either try to hurt as many law enforcement personnel or suicide by cop. I feel like any hostage situation, though, would draw the same response. I think it depends on how.

I mean, you can give you can give up. I mean, the police are governed by very strict rules of engagement. Which is crazy what they have to do. they I mean which I know it's by design yeah but man like I have a lot of buddies at Denver SWAT which all those guys are a big fan of your podcast sweet and um when I get when I work with Jesse and a lot of his guys that come down and help the FTXs and they'll like talk about some of the stuff and you're just like I mean sometimes their hands are just completely tied dude you know it's wild for me is I work with some federal agencies and if

they engage somebody they instantly switch from being a law enforcement They're still a lawn personnel, but then it's life-sustaining care in an instant. I mean, they're cuffing the person, and then it's, like, they asked me, like, so how would you guys handle the situation? I'm like, we would continue shooting until you introduced enough wounds that are not compatible with life. I mean, yeah, I like what you said, and I want you to repeat it. Once the cuffs go on, they then are professional enough to be able to, like, Like I know I can speak for my friends.

Even if the person had just tried to kill them. I know. They will do everything they can to save that person's life. Unreal. Like Jesse and his guys will tell me stories. And like one time I, he was sharing the story at an FTX like debriefing after like the field training exercise that we run. And he was sharing a story. And it was awesome because everyone was able to hear this perspective.

And he was relating it to how detachments is superpower. you were just in a shootout or you're a high car chase or you're dealing with this guy who is just shooting at your partner you guys engage you didn't eliminate the threat now it's they having to switch to okay cool now we have to render medical aid and care to keep them alive and to me I have so much respect for those guys to have that ability to do that because like you and I we never had to do that well it wasn't the name of the game no it wasn't if it was if a threat presented itself you drive that thing to the ground until it's no longer a threat hard stop Yep. I mean, the police, it's such a hard job. It's a hard job. And people, so many people think that service in the military directly applies to law enforcement. And that gap right there in differences in ROEs is one of the main reasons where I cautioned. Like, listen, some of the stuff we did would work really well.

Some of the stuff we did would not work. No. And the context of the environment and the job that you, are being asked to do has to tie into that. But yeah, nothing but respect for, I watch these agencies train and that switch is just, I mean, everything they do everything they can, neutralize the threat, contain the threat,

boom, life-saving care. Good on you, man. Hats off. Uptmost respect for that ability. I don't think it's a good idea to Rob Banks. No. I don't think it's a good idea to take hostages. No.

I don't. Have you ever heard of one where the... And all the explosive devices were fake. Of course they were. Have you ever heard of a bank hostage situation that went well for the hostage taker? No. I don't think I have either.

Because... Do you research people. Not that I'm advocating for behaviors, but this is batting the average of zero percent. Don't do this shit. How many... I mean, obviously, you know, Hollywood glorifies it with these long,

thought-out game plans and months of planning rehearsals so that we can enjoy those movies. How many, like what percentage of the bank robberies would you say were actually well thought out, rehearsed and planned versus emotional decisions of, I'm having a bad day, I want to go rob this bank. Or I don't have any money and I'm going to go rob this bank.

It's a split of both, I think. And I say that based off of a robust amount of documentaries about bank robberies. Some people, some people think, think it through pretty well. That still doesn't work out. It does until it doesn't. If you extend the timeline, but the reasons they get caught,

the most successful ones almost lose their operational edge. They are so successful. They're in and out. And from what I would get like I'm some expert on bankruptcy, never business in law enforcement. I watch a lot of fucking documentaries. Yeah. They're fascinating to me for the reasons that you're talking about.

Is this an emotional thing? Is this somebody really thinking of truth? The emotional ones seem to get caught. a lot faster. There was one, I believe it was up in the Pacific Northwest. This dude lived in a tree house. It was crushing banks for years. It would go in and a disguise, would walk in, walk out.

They couldn't catch the dude. But he had enough volume and he presented just enough of a pattern. And I think it's been a while since I've seen this one. I think it was the day of the week. And so they started canvassing, just throwing out random canvases to shorten their response time, which led to a foot chase, which led to, I think he killed himself. But he died in a police standoff.

There you go. The treehouse guy? Mm-hmm. Damn, Michael. It's over there just crushing, crushing stuff. He was at this for years. That's impressive. He wasn't dumb.

No, clearly not. So, and he wasn't emotional. He, I can't speak for the guy. But he was too structured. And that rhythm and structure caught up to him. Yeah, he, dude. The treehouse bank robber. Yep.

William Scott Scurlock. Nearly 20 banks in the Seattle netting roughly 2.3 million. Funded a massive three-story tree. So in this documentary, he chills out in this treehouse. He doesn't wear clothes a lot. His dick is just out in this documentary. Just dong everywhere. I don't know what the deal is with that either.

So unfortunate. The modus operandi. I need to use that term a lot more. It's masterful of use of professional makeup, prosthetic noses in theatrical disguises. I mean, that's not an emotional thing. No, this guy was planned out. Totally. 1,500 square foot tree house in the woods of Olympia.

Yeah, it was in Washington. Multi-tiered structure, electricity, plumbing, fireplace, even a fire pole. Thanksgiving Eve in 96. We had two accomplices. Attempted to rob bank for a record, $1 million. They were spotted by police and engaged in a shootout. He escaped on foot, tracked down by authorities the following day, cornered in a backyard camp or he died by suicide.

He died by suicide. He had to the way capture. The unique tree house was eventually sold by his parents to settle his debts and was collapsed in 19. So again, even if you think it out, if you extend the timeline long enough, I guess other than the dude, they think that jumped out of that airplane, what's that dude's name? Oh, D.B. Cooper. Yeah, nobody knows, right? I like to believe he's out there somewhere. He's out of money at this point, though, because I think he had like a suitcase. I mean, unless he put it into Bitcoin. You know what people ask me, what would I tell my younger self?

Oh, I know exactly what I tell. I wouldn't believe my younger self. If I said, dude, just please put your entire reenlistment bonus, which was like $4,000, just put it into Bitcoin. Be like, no, I'm going to spend it at the bar. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

One of my buddies introduced me to Bitcoin when it was 50 cents or like maybe $1.50. There is a cents included in it. Yeah. So it was either 50 cents or $1.50. and we actually linked up. He was telling me about it. And he's like, bro, you got, I was like, oh, and he's like running through it.

And then at the time, he's like, yeah, so if somebody wants to buy my coins, you have to meet up, they have the money, they give it to you, then you transfer, and it's also, and he's like running through all this stuff and everything. I was like, man, that seems super shady

because it kind of was back then, because you're meeting somebody, you're verifying, you have the money, and then it's like this transfer to a wallet. And, um, So I was like, man, he's like, I'm telling you, man. He's like, yeah, this is all the money I put into it. I was like, huh.

Well, I had some penny stocks that had done nothing and just sat there. And I was like, oh, okay. Maybe I'll just transfer that over. And, yeah, so I told Amanda. And every time we talk about this, she's always like, man, I'm so sorry. But you know you would have sold it at like $3. If it had doubled, that would have been my problem. Like you get in at 50 cents.

If it hit five bucks, I would have convinced myself it can go no higher. So I must exit now and take my gains. So like only, yeah, maybe or I don't know because then it like jumps so quick. But yes, I probably would have or if I would have listened to him. Well, yeah, because I was going to buy 15,000 of them, bro. Dude. I know. Don't do the math on it.

Especially when I got over 100,000. Yeah, that was. Yeah, you have to turn your phone to the side side to see it on the calculator. And but Amanda and I, when we talk about, because people talk about crypto, she'll bring it up, I bring it up. And people are like, what? And I'm like, I can say this wholeheartedly though now. I'm actually really glad that never happened.

Because when we've done that, Amanda and I were still married. And then Amanda and I, as you know, were divorced. When we were trying to work through and get our marriage back, that's when the price is started going up. And I don't know if we ever actually would have gotten remarried had all of a sudden I had this. And not because I made all this money, but it just, that would have added way too much chaos to my life.

Yeah. It just, and because when you do that and then we were super stable, got remarried, you know, got my family back and everything, like I know we'll talk about tomorrow. When I tell people that story, and I can, like God is my witness, I can say, I'm, I'm glad it didn't because I would never trade anything for my marriage and my kids. Nothing. Like I would never like it doesn't matter. You can do the math, whatever.

Now, Leavitt always jokes about it. He was like, hey, man, I gave you some horrible financial advice. Remember when you told me about Bitcoin at 1500 and I told you no? And then you called me. You're like, man, it's up over 3,000. And I told you not to do it. I'm really sorry. And I'm like, hey, I'm a grown man.

I made my own decisions not to rebuy. And let's not forget, for every Bitcoin good story, there's a variety of bad. Millions of bad. Totally. Millions of bad. This is the next Bitcoin. Yeah, I'm actually, I don't know crypto. I never have.

I don't understand it. The concept of it scares me. And I'm okay with that. Well, what's really frustrating is my buddy when he was showing me all this stuff, he's like, download this wallet, blah, blah, blah, transferred me 10 coins. That's not bad. Don't know where those are. Unfortunately, they're not worth much.

you know thanks thanks have no way oh no those guys that's in the ether somewhere i have that little app still because i always like when you get a new phone it's logging into that thing i know that's like it's gone so just a smooth what is it now 60 or 70 000 i think yeah drop down imagine now i think that if somebody became a bitcoin billionaire they probably would write down their login stuff in multiple places or get it

tattooed on the inside of their eyelids. Yeah. Like, can you imagine updating your phone and you were worth a billion in Bitcoin, but you couldn't figure out a way to get into your app? I would offer up 25% of it to whoever could figure it out. Because there are, you can. No, there is an AI system, Claude or Cloud or whatever it is. Yeah.

That some guy, like, they just brute force it at it. He ran through it and he's like, hey. And so basically verified from what I've been trying to do research on this now because I'm like, wait, hold on these. points. Yeah. Yes, absolutely. I support this.

Yeah. And so he used that AI, like system. And because it had been transferred to the devices that he had, it wasn't like off of somebody else's device, it figured it out. And it got his money back. I was reading an article recently. There's a guy. I think you know.

So if anybody out listening, if you have this ability, 25% goes straight to you. That's legit. I was reading an article. There's a guy in the UK, I think the UK, who was petitioning to dig into a landfill because this hard drive that he had all his Bitcoin on, he threw it away by accident. And I'm pretty sure it was nine or ten figures.

And he finally gave up on it because they wouldn't give him permission to go dig for it. I wouldn't be asking for permission. Nine or ten figures? He was still an active landmine, or not landmine, garbage area. Oh, and he's wanting them to shut down and then fill the filters through everything.

He wanted to get permission to basically go and find that nine or ten figure hard drive to which he said no i feel like you could negotiate with the state and be like hey i'll donate this to you oh yeah good good luck sucks to suck all right boom let's get out of here