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This article is not for the faint of heart. If you´re a parent like me, you´re going to be angry. As a minimum. A knife attack is bad enough, but one against babies is unspeakable.

If you are too sensitive towards violence against small children, stop reading. And avoid opening the links or looking at videos related to this case, please. You won´t understand how people were so impotent to defend their offspring against a crazed psycho with a knife coming for them. 

The details of the attack you can find in the provided links. The basic story is this: a former official of a foreign Middle-East army (a “refugee”) produced a combat knife and started running all over a park in the city of Annecy, France, stabbing toddlers and anybody else he could find in his path.

It’s odd to see how things like these, even in countries like my own, with a well-known violence record, never happen. Crazies down here may be crazy. But they´re not that stupid. Mess violently with someone´s child, you won´t make it even to the nearest commissary. If someone does that and gets there alive, surely a few parts will be missing. Officers will take care of the rest. Most cases of such violence against children are because of their druggie parents or “caretakers”

It’s interesting that few people have heard about this event but we don’t need to wonder why.

Wait…they’re saying this wasn’t a terrorist attack?

I apologize, but this sort of thing seems to be happening, and society’s morale seems to be accepting and condoning these actions. For whatever reason they want to allege. If a crazy migrant, with a military past, toting a huge knife and running free, stabbing people in a park filled with toddlers can´t be called “terrorism”, then W…T….H???

What is the definition of “terror” for those politicians?

Is French society so…damaged that a foreigner can go on harming small, innocent, and DEFENSELESS children without anyone condemning the aggression and asking for him to be deported or hung?

What would happen if the grandson of one of these politicians would be in the park, God forbid, and got stabbed? They would think the same?

What were the reasons behind the attack? The silence is overwhelming. 

Nobody stood up to the attacker.

This is something that, at least to me, it´s amazing:

Nobody dared to face the attacker. That´s why the damage was so much. Two small children that, thank God are now out of life-threatening danger and recovering. But they will grow up with the scary product of a deranged, uncontrolled psycho that attacked them without any reason.

People should have faced this man with their bare hands. 

I should point out this: I´m as cowardly as anyone else. Maybe more. But…small children? in their carriages? That´s where teeth become weapons, amigos. When reactions are so fast that everything becomes a blur. The moment you can lift a solid rod bar weighing 15 kilos or 30 pounds with one hand and wield it like a broomstick and your normally soft, kind voice becomes a lion-like roar: “COME ON HERE YOU ********.” 

I know this because I have been in that place. I won´t give too many details, but it was a very tense situation that didn´t evolve. Otherwise, it could have ended poorly for the guy at the other end of the bar. 

There are two possible reactions. I have had both of them at different times in my life. But by now, I´m too old to run. Communists banned guns from civilians almost a decade ago. We can´t shoot anyone legally. Our only possible option is to fight. With whatever we have at hand.

How sick as to be someone´s mind to choose to attack babies in a park, practically in their mom´s arms is beyond my understanding. 

I don´t think that anyone reading this can ever understand it. 

My take is that the killer was under a delusion based on religion and fanatism. Most of the victims that day in the park were peaceful, harmless women. I know a few mothers that would rip the face-off to anyone coming too close to their babies with a knife. Eyes included. And would hang them with other delicate body parts as trophies in their living rooms. 

The importance of improvised weapons

Once the situation has been described, let´s extract the lessons of such a horrible, awful event. 

Thinking about this makes me sad. The only blunt object available to stop that psycho was a backpack that a Catholic pilgrim had on his back. Nobody had an umbrella. Not even a cane, which would be almost an ideal deterrent to someone armed with a knife under these circumstances. I know that with a cane, former military or not, none of us would have hesitated to stop that feral animal. To the point where he would have to be rescued, I´m sure of that.

People, it doesn´t matter where you are. It doesn´t matter if you think you won´t need something that could marginally use as a defense tool where you go. Just take with you that favorite tool, as long as it´s legal. I do it, even with the draconian restrictive laws down here. Why? Because a friend of mine is alive thanks to his cold blood and a tool in his pocket.

A real survivor. He was almost killed in an armed robbery but fought back. Things ended poorly for the thugs.

If you think you don´t have any weapons, think again. If you can get close enough to the attacker, an elbow (hard body part) to a soft body part (eyes, nose, mouth) will make wonders to inflict pain. (Check out this article and this one on improvised weapons. As well, here’s an article specific to knife attacks.)

I know…all kinds of forces ranging from the Boy Scouts to the most fierce elite groups of every army in the world will have a feast on this topic now in the comments section, enumerating all the 101 ways to crack the attacker´s nuts: Krav Maga being the most popular, maybe. 

I can hear your knuckles cracking from here, fellows, while you prepare to write. LOL.  I´d love to read about your experiences too.

As general information, my formal training in personal defense ended when I was 16 years old. After that, I never had harmful physical contact with another human being. Street fighter 100%.

But I am prepared to, and showing it has avoided physical confrontation. My speed of reaction has changed very little. I try to keep myself fit, and active. I highly suggest you do it, too. In one of the links, they mention the men detaining him were two seniors. 72 and 78 years old. Go figure. Grandpas rule, or what?

If a guy like that psycho has already harmed someone, why should anyone show him mercy?

It´s like a feral animal. Even worse, it is a crazed HUMAN hurting babies. “Clean” fight? Guy deserved someone ripping off a bench park and getting his back broken with it. Throw a foldable baton in your backpack. It won´t weigh and could save your life. It´s designed for that. Use a cane if you have one. 

There were possibly many options to stop that deranged beast, but something in the mind setup of people in the surrounding stopped them until it was too late. Did civilization neutralize their primal instincts perhaps? 

A full aluminum water bottle inside a scarf makes a VERY good defense tool. Remember the proverbial sock full of quarters. Recently I had to travel to the city and packed my lunch in a small, light bag. My mil-spec plastic canteen was almost full, and I knew it could hit hard.

You have to practice

I believe this case needs a much more complete study. Females can react very fastly (and violently) when their children are under a deadly threat. 

I´ve seen it happen. When my now ex used to take our kid downtown, I bought her pepper spray and made her carry it on a belt cellphone case. I even asked her to practice getting it out fast with the “baby” (a pillow) on her. A few dry runs and her technique evolved to the point where she would back up after looking for obstacles behind her, get the spray out, and get him instinctively far away from the spray, with her body in the middle facing the attacker, arm and spray pointing his face. Mind you, Venezuela has had some dark times when baby kidnappings suddenly rose. And my kid was too cute.

My precautions generated a whole change in my mindset. Even detecting a couple of suspects in the middle of Caracas. They were coming too close, one on each side of the walks looking to surround us (I was carrying the baby) so I fastly got into the car, started it, and burning rubber, I got out of there. She was in an office with some paperwork, so I phoned her and told her what had happened. I drove around, very carefully until she left out twenty minutes later. The funny part was when we saw the guys again and took some pictures of them. With a finger crossing my throat and pointing at them. Bad guys don´t deserve mercy.

If you have to face someday a psycho (or more than one!) like that, and I honestly pray to avoid any of us going through that, remember this:

Show no scruples, no mercy. Because he (or they) won´t show any.

Use surprise elements. If you´re close to a sandbox, throw a fist of sand at the eyes of the guy. Kick him in a kneecap with all your strength. If it sounds like breaking, great! Wrap something around his neck, and choke the beast until someone comes to help you.

Unless the attacker is high on some substance and doesn´t feel any pain, the fight it´s almost finished once he´s on the floor. 

If you think you´re too old or don´t want to carry a gun (or forgot it at home), get an effing cane instead, Grandpa.

Just make sure it is made with a solid steel rod in case you have to use it to fend for yourself. 

What are some other options?

Have you ever used an improvised weapon? Have you ever witnessed a horrific crime like the one in France? What are your thoughts on this awful situation? How can you become better prepared to defend yourself? Let’s discuss it in the comments section.

I will support TOP´s fight against censuring for as long as I can. I have found in this community wonderful people that I´ve learned to appreciate. Join my YouTube Channel, and visit the public posts on my Patreon site, where there will be some useful devices I have been putting together, and I hope they can find a place in your survival infrastructure.

Keep tuned, and stay safe!

J.

About Jose

Jose is an upper middle class professional. He is a former worker of the oil state company with a Bachelor’s degree from one of the best national Universities. He has an old but in good shape SUV, a good 150 square meters house in a nice neighborhood, in a small but (formerly) prosperous city with two middle size malls. Jose is a prepper and shares his eyewitness accounts and survival stories from the collapse of his beloved Venezuela. Jose and his younger kid are currently back in Venezuela, after the intention of setting up a new life in another country didn’t  go well. The SARSCOV2 re-shaped the labor market and South American economy so he decided to give it a try to homestead in the mountains, and make a living as best as possible. But this time in his own land, and surrounded by family, friends and acquaintances, with all the gear and equipment collected, as the initial plan was.

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