So, why did I do it?

How do I feel about it?

Is the newspaper account accurate?

I could have turned away and never looked back. At the time I walked out the door, I was contemplating about whether I should ride my chopper to get some eats. Or whether to walk down the sidewalk, finish my smoke and order some biscuits and gravy from one of the mall shops located *at the opposite end of the mall*, from where the comotion was coming from.

If I had decided two seconds earlier that I was staying at the mall, I would not likely have been involved.

Because I had not decided to do either, I glanced back at the area that the screams had seemed to come from. At that time, I watched the gal running, pass the cash machine and continue towards the highway. Which seemed odd, and I realized that my first impression was incorrect, the person I was watching was a male.

He had been running almost straight away from me, now he was turned at a quarter to me. That mistake on my part caused me to look again at the area that the screams had originated from. Then I noticed that the people in that area were gesturing and generally behaving oddly.

I began moving in that direction, curiosity had me. :-) As I got nearer, I noticed that the folks were genuinely upset about something, that the screams had not been playful at all. I began to be angry.

I want to say how I feel about it before I say anymore about why.

I feel bad, I don't feel like a hero. A real hero would have leaped at the first scream. The gals who were the victims, were hurt, both physically and emotionally. A real hero would have stopped that man BEFORE he victimized those ladies.

My Mom raised us with solid values of right and wrong, we live in a complicated world, and some things get blurred, and in that grey area, but when it's right, ya gotta go with it.

As it was, They had already extricated themselves from his criminal intent, when I became involved. I didn't save anyone. It is possible that he could have escaped from the police, who were already on their way, but not likely. They were already looking for him.

Anyways, when I realized that something had happened, I started moving that way. I have training in advanced First Aid, and some background with a quick response security team. I noticed that whatever had happened was continuing inside the store. I felt that I needed to know who had screamed, and why the man was running away.

Somewhere during the time that I was approaching the scene, I had decided to be involved. I came to that decision almost unconsiously. As a human being, I feel that we are all responsible for the condition of our society, no one is exempt. Which rather makes me personally responsible for what had happened, and also responsible for trying to remedy it.

So there it is, I involved myself, because I feel personally responsible for the condition of our society. I don't expect everyone to agree with me, but that's the way I feel.

I cannot say how accurate the newspaper account of the crime was, as I did not witness that part, the part that I played was reasonably accurate.

My short time as a security person in the military had very little to do with this incident, my StepFather was a Deputy Sherrif in Washington State, he trained me in small arms use. After I left the military I became involved with a politically active grassroots orginization called ABATE, A Brotherhood Against Totalitarian Enactments, and joined their security team in WA State. I also became involved with a retired police officer, and ex-Seal team member who further trained me in tactics and methods for surviving conflict. Through Mike Looper, the ex-Seal, I met "Biker Bob" an agent for the DEA who was working drug enforcement on an Indian Reservation.

Bob and I were heading up to pick his lady up from work, about 10 pm one night to continue some debauchery at a local bar. As we got off the bikes, I noticed a police cruiser running hot with lights and no siren, then it stopped and a police officer exited the vehicle alone, and drew his sidearm and approached the local bank. Bob and I quickly decided that I should take the outside, and secure the perimeter, he would go inside and assist with backup of the officer.

As I recall neither of us spoke a word, it was obvious from our training and the situation what needed to be done. I drew my legally concealed pistol, and approached the cruiser, as Bob approached the officer, with his badge displayed. It turned out to be a false alarm at the bank, and no break in or robbery was actually happening, but at the time it went down, none of us knew that.

Last year in Plains Montana, Bikers from several states and all across Montana gathered at the fairgrounds for our annual Scooterfest. ABATE of Montana local chapters hold this event every year, the weekend before the Sturgis Rally in South Dakota. On Saturday night I pulled 2 four hour shifts as security personnel, with a 4 hour break, then I was going to pull another early morning shift starting at 4 am. During my 4 hour break, at least two individuals decided to try to steal beer from one of the vendors on site. The booth was closed, and one of them jumped over the counter and began tossing beers out to the other one, then they both ran off into the night. They were seen by bystanders and the security force was alerted, then the chase was on. I had been dancing to the excellent music, and had decided to get an hour of rest before my next shift, when the camp erupted with our on duty security mounting the 4 wheelers we had ready and fanning out to capture the suspects. As one of the 4 wheelers passed me I jumped on the back rack and involved myself.

We did find one of the suspects, near the bridge at the bottom of the river bank, blocked by the river and the bridge on two sides, a near sheer river bank and the approaching security force on the other two sides. There were perhaps six of us fanned out at the top of the river bank, but far enough back that the suspect could not have known we were there. I was the one who advanced to the edge, and watched as the suspect squirmed around trying to find a way out. He decided to go up the river bank, straight towards me. I used my voice, which is usually rather mild mannered, and ordered him to stop, and to go back down, I did have to repeat that twice, I imagine he was drunk. My posture and demeanor made it obvious that I was well prepared to come down the river bank, and he WAS going back down. When he did turn and go back to the river edge, our head of security was there, and took the suspect down, and dragged him from the scene. By the time I stood at the top of the river bank, a police officer was on the scene and witnessed the capture. Once the suspect had been moved from the river to the officer, the officer took custody, placing him under arrest.

I remember clearly, as the suspect was getting ready to get in the police car, he was vocally opposed to the legality of our capture, he said, " This isn't legal, they can't arrest me, they aren't the police." The police officer glanced at the surrounding mob of pissed off bikers, looked that studmuffin right in the eye and said, "Maybe you are right, I should just let you go, leave you right here." As I recall, the suspect elected to be in custody of the police officer.

Ok, so those are just two true stories of several. My point is, that the incident in the Gateway West Mall parking lot was not my first rodeo. I have been involved in several similar incidents, with similar outcomes. I know I am not invincible, and I HAVE been injured in some of these situations. I just can't help it, I seem to be hardwired to react this way.

I hope the good people of the Flathead Valley can accept me for who I am, not a hero, just another guy who was involved in a bad situation, that turned out OK, but could have been MUCH worse.

I repeat the words of law enforcement officers around the world, PLEASE do not intentionally place yourself at risk when a situation becomes violent or dangerous! Let the professionals handle the chasing, and investigating. Be GREAT citizens, by observing, and remembering what you observe so that you can give a factual account later. Becoming another victim is of no use to the police, the courts, your family or friends!