PATRIOT INSIDER
When the streets erupt, do you know how to get out?
When the grid holds and life is calm, most people never think about how they’d move across a city when it turns hostile. But once civil unrest, riots, or martial law hit, simple mistakes — wearing the wrong clothes, taking the wrong street, trusting the wrong crowd — can get you detained, robbed, or killed.
Escape and evasion should not mimic Hollywood heroics, you’re caught or dead unless your can master being forgettable, invisible, and smarter than the chaos around you.
Let’s break it down.
1. The First Rule: Don’t Look Like Prey (Or a Threat)
In unrest, there are two kinds of people predators look for:
Targets — flashy, distracted, easy to rob or intimidate.
Threats — people who stand out, look armed, or look like they’re “on a mission.”
You don’t want to be either. You want to be the gray man: the person no one remembers.
Practical tips:
Avoid tactical gear in public. A camo pack screams “I have supplies.” A cheap canvas bag or grocery tote says “nothing worth stealing.”
Dress one step below the average crowd — not the poorest, not the richest. Look unremarkable.
Keep your head on a swivel — but don’t look like you’re scanning. Predators notice people who are “too alert.” Practice relaxed awareness.
This is just as true when traveling abroad. Pickpockets in Europe or South America don’t go after the local-looking guy in jeans; they target the loud tourist with a Patagonia jacket and new camera bag.
During martial law or riots, main roads and intersections become choke points — patrolled, blocked, or watched by mobs. The fastest way is rarely the safest way.
Tactics:
Think in layers: Move one or two streets parallel to main roads. Secondary streets are less monitored and still connect you to major hubs.
Use terrain masking: Large buildings, overpasses, and alleys hide your profile. Keep something between you and open sight lines.
Memorize alternate routes now: Walk your city. Find stairwells, parking garages, alleys, fire escapes. In chaos, GPS may be down or useless. Your memory becomes your map.
Fact: During World War II, resistance fighters in occupied cities often used sewer systems, utility tunnels, and rooftops to move undetected. Most modern urban dwellers don’t even realize how connected rooftops and maintenance tunnels can be.
3. Blending Into Crowds Without Getting Trapped
Sometimes the safest way to move is inside the herd — but not in the middle of it.
Tips for crowd blending:
Stay on the edges. The center of a crowd is where stampedes or mass arrests happen. The outer third lets you move with flow but exit fast.
Mimic emotion, not volume. If everyone is shouting angrily, keep a stern face and mouth words — don’t stand there calm and silent (you’ll stick out), but don’t scream your lungs out either.
Control your pace. Predators scan for people in a hurry. Walk like you belong but never linger.
This skill is useful at sports events, concerts, or even airports. If you’ve ever had to slip through a rowdy crowd to make a flight, you’re already practicing low-key evasion.
4. Checkpoints: Getting Past Without Raising Eyebrows
Under martial law, checkpoints pop up fast. The wrong move gets you searched or detained.
Checkpoint survival tips:
Keep a cover story simple. “Going home from work.” “Visiting family.” Complexity gets you grilled. Saying the sovereign patriot line: “I do not answer questions” will likely get you investigated - remember that martial law is not a routine traffic stop.
Carry decoy items. A bag with a sandwich, water bottle, and cheap phone charger looks normal. Your real supplies should be hidden elsewhere (sewn pockets, waistband, secondary bag).
Demeanor matters. Nervous = suspicious. Aggressive = hostile. Calm, compliant, but not chatty = invisible.
Even in everyday life, having a “cover story” works. When questioned in foreign airports, simple, believable answers (“business trip,” “visiting family”) speed you through. Over-talking raises suspicion.
5. Safe Havens: Where to Duck and Regroup
Not all shelters are equal. In unrest, public buildings and open businesses draw mobs. Police stations may be locked down or dangerous if authorities are hostile.
Better safe havens include:
Hotels: Staff are motivated to protect guests, and lobbies offer anonymity. (Tip: don’t check in — just blend in.)
Hospitals: Usually guarded, open 24/7, and rarely looted first.
Churches: Historically places of refuge, often overlooked in urban unrest.
Transit hubs: Not the main hall, but maintenance corridors, stairwells, or waiting rooms provide cover and exits.
You don’t need to hide in a bunker. Sometimes a hospital cafeteria or quiet church pew is safer than your locked apartment when mobs roam.
6. Escaping Pursuit
If you’re identified or followed, your goal is to break line-of-sight and create confusion.
Evasion tricks:
The cut-through: Enter one door of a store, leave out the side or back.
The disguise tweak: A hat off, jacket reversed, or new gait can throw pursuers off in seconds.
Natural obstacles: Crowds, construction zones, fences — slow them, not you.
Facial Decoys: Might be a good time to get some decoy glasses and costume realistic facial hair. Easy to slip on along with a lightweight ball cap to when just out of sightline.
Law enforcement trainers teach that most pursuits end in under 2 minutes once line-of-sight is broken. Escape isn’t outrunning someone for miles — it’s breaking their visual lock.
7. Daily-Life Applications
The beauty of these tactics is that they aren’t just for “end of the world” scenarios. They apply when:
Traveling abroad in sketchy neighborhoods.
Avoiding aggressive panhandlers or potential muggers.
Leaving a political rally before it turns violent.
Teaching your kids how to act if separated in a crowded mall.
Escape and evasion — it’s practical awareness.
Civil unrest and martial law are extreme scenarios, but the tactics to survive them are useful every day. Don’t be memorable. Don’t be predictable. Don’t be trapped.
If you practice these principles now, you’ll have the confidence to move safely when chaos hits — whether it’s a riot downtown, a protest gone bad, or something far worse.
Stay gray. Stay mobile. Stay alive.
—George Shepherd
Remember: The best time to prepare was yesterday. The second best time is now.
Forward this newsletter to fellow patriots who value self-reliance and preparation.
Stay vigilant, stay prepared, stay alive.
