An email I received just before 9pm on Tuesday from VigilantSpectre:
Good day,
I have been featured on your blog (VigilantSpectre) . I think it is hilarious first off. What I am really contacting you about is this: I have undertaken much effort to conceal the identities of myself and those that appear in my videos. This is done because of the controversial nature of the content in my videos. Everything to that respect has been going well until lately. A select group has been trying to expose this sensitive information and distribute it. They are using forums like yours to solicit this information from posts made in discussion. It has gotten to the point where I have begun to receive threats to myself, property, family and friends propagated by your discussion board. It is beginning to feel unsafe. I do not wish to compel you to remove your posts about my channel, I find them constructive, perhaps a little biased and less informed about the actual processes than I would prefer, but constructive none the less. What I would like to request is that you remove the comments about my channel on your post and lock it down to disrupt the aforementioned collective effort.
Thank you
I look forward to your future correspondence.
That was in response to my two recent posts: Weapons Preparedness Training for the DERPocalypse and DERPnamic Secondary Presentation.
Preface:
Oh where to begin… where to begin. First of all let me just say that probably the most rewarding thing about blogging is when people get pissed off enough to email me, or forgo that all together and remove their video(s) from YouTube, or other content from a different website that is being criticized. In my crusade against DERP, I consider that a huge victory, and it generally just makes my day. It’s even funnier when someone backs up the video (or other content) and can continue to share the laughter with the internet for years to come.
My public reply to VigilantSpectre:
So you think the posts I wrote are hilarious? Well that’s good I suppose… but it seems to me that your initial goal at least was to provide training to your friends (or as you call them “the wolf pack”) and to educate the internet on how to properly train an prepare. Am I not correct in assuming that? Hardly something I think should be taken lightly.
You say you have taken much effort to conceal the identities of you and your friends. What? How do you figure that? Not only do your videos expose all of your faces but you also run a facebook page plastered with pictures of you and your girlfriend. You’re hardly some internet greyman. With < 5 minutes worth of research I was able to pin you down as [REDACTED]. Normally i’d be pretty impressed with myself, but this one was just too easy. [REDACTED], I know I insulted your intelligence based on what I saw in the videos, but I see you studied (graduated?) Biological Sciences at Ohio University. It perplexes me even more as to how someone smart enough to graduate high school and get accepted to a post secondary institution, would think that the VigilantSpectre Project is a good idea.
I nearly shit my pants with laughter when I saw your brother (Mr. Tactical Bacon) Kyle Hallstrom “worked at US Navy”. I’ve never served, and I normally appreciate and support those that have… but if he feels safe training (and I use that term loosely) with you and your “wolf pack” and trying to educate the rest of the internet through the VigilantSpectre Project, it kind of reflects bad on what they may or may not have taught him in the Navy. I’m sure there are plenty of active duty and Navy veterans following the blog that hopefully will chime in to help maintain my faith in the organization. Now that I think of it, I’m hoping “worked at US Navy” could even mean he had some administrative job where he didn’t train on weapons… but I’m still assuming he would have still had to go through the same basic training. Is that correct?
Last of all [REDACTED], in case you’re wondering, i’m not some kind of hacker. You left all this information sitting around in plain sight on facebook, and I just took a couple minutes to connect the dots.
Best of luck with the VigilantSpectre project, and your future endeavors. If you’re going to keep coming out with videos, please try not to hurt yourself or anyone else. If I were you i’d forget firearms ever existed and try and land yourself a good job in the Biology field. You’ll thank me some day.
—
Thoughts?
Comments
142 responses to “VigilantSpectre Is Concerned For His Safety”
Amen!
These guys have to be stopped :D
I have no problem with the occasional derp. Firing a S&W .460 at water jugs or possibly attempting akimbo Glocks (Personal experience: It’s hard enough to get decent accuracy with just one Glock, why fuck it up with two? Didn’t hit shit :p) is fun when you do it in a safe manner. Posting it on youtube and claiming it’s the way to go, that has to be checked.
My tip to VigilantSpectre: Leave operator training to the military and law enforcement, or proper veterans from those fields going into the private sector. Want the training? Join up.
I disagree about proper training being reserved for government only- if you own a gun you should know how to use it. HOWEVER, training is more than just watching free internet clips of some Magpul demo, playing a lot of COD, and then claiming you are some operator badass, who then becomes concerned for your safety after posting videos of yourself and your friends exhibiting poor and unsafe gunhandling under the guise of “training”. Save some beer money and get some professional training from somebody who knows what the fuck they are doing, maybe hit the gym once in a while too. Stop putting your friends lives at risk by doing stupid shit with weapons, posting it on Youtube, and whining about it on the internet when people call you out for your dangerous bullshit. Get serious and stop derping around or expect to be trolled hardcore when you put peoples lives at risk trying to look cool.
If you read what I wrote again, I also list ex-military or ex-law enforcement personell going into the private sector. I could have been clearer. What I did mean was, leave those guys to train customers and eachother, instead of just inventing nonsensical shit and drilling that.
So we’re pretty much in sync on this :D
curtis & kyle consider shooting videos with more girls.
Endo you always deliver
Mike you must be a Hacker, you got all that info of these very ” private ” derpas in under 5 min.
haHA yes, my hacking consists of me reading a couple things!
ENDO,
As a veteran of the USMC from the actual “Wolfpack” that is 3rd LAR. I want to personally thank you very much for posting the information/videos several others and myself sent you. It has provided my friends and I with plenty of gut busting entertainment over the last several days. Your blog continues to be a very informative and well written source of information.
Kurtis,
You posted the videos on youtube for all the public to see. I am sorry you cannot take the “trolling” lightly. You might find out the hard way that this blog has much bigger fish to fry other than yourself (Discovery Channel) and I can guarantee the comments will not be taken off for your “safety” and if you wish to make your channel and stupidity private from now on I would like you to know I have saved ALL the information and will gladly distribute it to co-workers, friends, family and every training/state qualification/ federal qualification course I have the pleasure of attending in the future thank you for MANY examples of EXACTLY what NOT to do with not only firearms but acting like a complete imbecile
Thanks again Keith. Those are some of the best vids anyone has sent me in a while.
dontcha just love tactical butterballs deepfried in “my ops are blacker then yours” losers.
ENDO-Mike, Keith, you just made my day !
Thank you!
Curtis, please take care of yourself and stop sweeping muzzle at the cameraman.
Personal note : “Hallstrom”, it’s funny this name doesn’t surprise me, you have kind of a “nordic” complexion/look.
I am calling shennigans on the Mr. Hallstrom being in the Navy. Even if you take the most extreme privacy rules like the guys in secret squirrel land want (see Naval Operational Security), still there are guys who would at least have a picture or two of them being in uniform. Whether, that is at boot camp graduation, first command, on the ship, some port visit, whatever. Yet all the accessible pictures are just of a large dude (who may or not have passed the Physical Fitness Assessment) in front of the mirror or on a range bench. Most folks are proud of thier service in some way shape or form and will have pictures of that pride.
As to the whole weapons handling thing. Most sailors are only given an introduction to firearms handling and safety in boot camp and as of 2010 the US Navy was averaging about 20 negligent dischages from all manner of weapons from 9mm up to the wicked cool 7.62 and .50cal mini guns on the Special Warfare Combattant Crafts (the SWCC boats which if you have seen “Acts of Valor are the small boats that destroy the narco-terrrorists GMC’s during the chase in South America); according to information from the Naval Safety Center. Heck, the US Navy only recently in the last four months had a SEAL school graduate die when he was showing off (and was intoxicated) to a girl, put a loaded pistol up to his head and pulled the trigger to show up some safety feature only to put his brains out the other wall.
These guys are just posers plain and simple. Any claim of tactical excellence gleamed from jokers is like trying to learn law enforcement skills from Barney Fife or Chief Wiggum.
You all realize that the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps all have civilian employees – they certainly “work for the ____” and their uniform typically consists of a button-down shirt and tie (on a good day).
Great post ENDO Mike, you nailed it.
And yet, he’s posted another video since sending this email to you.
hehe yea I see they edited one of their old videos in an attempt to extract the derp.
Yeah these guys are not smart. Mike you know that it is against the law to use someone’s name without permission right? Just hope you don’t get shut down because you pissed some idiot off on YouTube. Or worse.
Like I mentioned in the post, he made everything public… I just connected the dots. He agreed to all that information out there when he accepted the YouTube and Facebook Terms of Service.
Whoa now, Jimmy Murray. Do you have Mike’s permission to use his name?
“Mike you know that it is against the law to use someone’s name without permission right?”
Say what? Any reference to that law?
I think that was an attempt to apply either copyright law or libel/slander? Maybe? The problem is, it isn’t libel if Mike says “you are doing unsafe things with guns” and there are videos of you doing unsafe things with guns. Posting someone’s real name isn’t illegal either, unless Mike was selling Curtis H t-shirts (using his name and likeness for profit). Maybe Curtis forgot about all that after being thrown to the ground one too many times, or he and Charlie from IASIP got their law degrees at the same place.
I also don’t recall any threats of any kind on this blog. Unless “man, those guys are gonna accidentally kill themselves or someone else” is a threat.
VigilantSphincter burns me because there is already enough fake training out there (Tacticool Response, for instance) that we don’t need to confuse new shooters with even more tactiderp. One day, this fake movie training is going to be taken seriously and good people will get killed because of it, and while I’m a civil libertarian and not very litigious by nature, I think the instructors who teach this fake crap should be held liable in civil court.
Mike, i think you’re being an asshole. You are invading his and his friends privacy. even though he “published” it on facebook. I don’t think it’s right to insult someone you’ve never met basing only on their videos. What they’re doing is dumb as fuck, but still. would you like it if people made fun of you like that.
even though i know you would not make a iditic video like this. what if by some miracle (read: getting drunk.) you made vid like that. would you like people being assholes to you?
me thinks that anonymous might be one of “those” guys. there is no expectation of privacy when you post things on the WORLD WIDE WEB. Unless you have been living under a rock for the last 20 years you should know that. the internet was created for 2 reasons, PORN and making fun of DERPS. LEARN IT LOVE IT .. derp derp derp
yeh… true that. I’m mildly insulted that you said i might be one of those guys, but it’s basic logic to think so. i was just stating my opinion. not nessescarily the truth.
Opinions are like assholes…
These d-bags are obviously not really concerned about their privacy as they don’t even have their facebook profiles set to private.
Also, any adult with halfway decent long-term decision making skills would absolutely not post even one video of themselves playing army with their bff’s; because normal, intelligent people above the age of ten don’t dress up like retards and refer to each other by call signs.
The thing that mystifies me more, is that their are females willing to breed with these guys with full knowledge of their dumbfuckery.
Nutnfancy is to Downs Syndrome, as VigilantSpectre is to Anencephaly.
I’m definitely being an asshole. I’d feel bad if the criticism was biased, but it’s not. I’m not really into making videos, but if I did make a video which was as stupid, and upload it to YouTube, i’d fully expect a shitstorm of epic proportions. Unless these guys were drunk 150 times (that’s how many videos they have up) and didn’t think to remove the videos when they were sober, then that tells me they think this “project” is a good idea, and in that case I’m giving them some free exposure.
Yeah. now that you put it that way i’m really starting to see where you’re coming from.
Not trying to offend you or anything. just stating my (likely false) opinions
I just find the videos give me the Douche chills. To see grown men trying to play real life COD makes me feel bad for them. They are all wearing at least $700 worth of 5.11 gear that should have/ could have been spent on a proper training class and airfare to boot. Also what are they training for? Are they gonna walk down the street with that $130 thigh holster rig? Short answer no. Guys please get a life and some proper training and if your going to get all dressed up in your Tacti-cool gear make sure you are playing Army with airsoft guns so you don’t kill each other.
Douche chills. I gotta use that next time!
glad i could help the vocab
haha douche chills. Yea I agree on the gear, especially since they can’t even use it in that environment properly anyway.
“In my crusade against exposing derp…” Come on, Mike. You are against exposing derp? I know what you meant, but tighten up the grammar, particularly if you are going to bring someone’s education into the mix.
Thanks, I corrected the mistake. I’m a shitty proof-reader, mistakes are bound to happen when I try to proof read my own stuff.
I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say that this is some high level trolling, unlike anything you’ve experienced before. These guys are like the Al Qaeda of trolling.
hahah I hope so. Super advanced stuff, if you’re right about that.
I didn’t notice the top row of the site: “Excellence in all things dangerous”.
At least the name matches the product. They are excellent in doing all things in a dangerous way. And this IS hilarious.
Yea that motto is gold considering the context. hahah
Looks like Curtis’s Facebook page when poof…fail.
ah yea… he probably saw the post this morning.
It was my understanding that a boonie hat would conceal ones identity even on film. The world just keeps disappointing me.
I was thinking more defamation of character. He does have adds and stud on his videos, if you could get in trouble f
Sorry wrong key. For messing with his audience an influencing his “product”. If he is indeed a partner. Just playing devils advocate though, I don’t really know enough about the law to speak on it thoroughly
He’s only got 686 subs, so i’m sure he’s not a full YouTube partner… he also doesn’t have the banner etc.. If he was, he would be making money off the views, so it would kind of be a catch-22… embarrass self looking like a derp and make money in the process.
My understanding is that you have to PROVE loss to claim libel/slander/defamation. This is tough because he would have to prove that 1) he is incurring a loss, and 2) ENDO is the cause of that loss. Given that there were negative comments before ENDO, he would have a very hard time saying that Mike is the sole cause of people thinking VigilantSphincter is a herpaderp outfit. And if VS wants to claim that people are “threatening” him or his airsoft clan, the burden of proof is on him as the accuser. He needs to prove that people are hacking him or writing threats to him. And I stand by my statement that “these guys are gonna accidentally kill themselves or someone else” does not constitute a threat.
I don’t think Mike is over the line at all. Anyone who produces “training” videos that are blatantly wrong and unnecessarily dangerous needs to be publicly shamed. Train properly or not at all. These aren’t paintball guns and you can’t wipe off a bullet hole.
HE IS NOW EDITING VIDEOS !!
The Herters 5.56 Could suck less now has complete muzzle sweeping segments cut out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Grgg4v0QwE&feature=g-u-u
Oh look I spy a license plate number. EWT 1050 @ 1:25 If they were serious about keeping their identities safe they would do some serious editing. *sigh*
I just think he’s exhibiting butt hurt from being called out on the internet and is using some very faux liquid reason to get you to remove the videos.
OPSEC at it’s finest.
haha I thought that “new” vid seemed a bit short when I skipped through it last night.
ENDO – I get poking fun at these guys but at this point I think you’re just being a dick for the sake of being a dick. The first two posts about them were great but I think this one goes a little too far.
I’m definitely a dick for the sake of being a dick most of the time on here. In my world if you create content like VigilantSpectre does and you think it’s a good idea then you’re going to get some free promotion from me. It might not have a positive twist on it, but hey… they still have a chance to impress me. Even Yeager impresses me every now and then. Worst case scenario this is going to drive some more people to the VigilantSpectre channel, some of which will troll them, but others which probably think they are the coolest most high-speed guys since Chris Costa and Travis Haley.
Fattys… goddamn.
Taseless, I thought better of you and this forum.
I don’t see what past evidence there is to support that I was better than something like this. They are on my radar now, and if/when they come out with a video that impress me i’ll post it and praise it… If they continue to put out unsafe bullshit then i’ll continue to post those videos, that’s how it works.
dude, i get that you find their vids unsafe but this is going too far. i am all for safety and agree that these guys are morons. but you can’t preach safety then go post someones info in a public forum when you knew at least they took some steps to keep private. agree with terry, this is tasteless. i am disappointed.
They took NO steps to make anything private. NONE. Like I said to Terry, I don’t see what past evidence there is to support that I was better than something like this. They obviously still think these videos, and this “project” is a good idea, otherwise the videos would have disappeared days ago.
so cartoons of NutzinFancy sodomizing himself with a glock………..acceptable
publicizing a name that you could have easily found yourself………unacceptable
Endo, keep calm and carry on
VigilantSpectre is concerned for his safety? Join the crowd: everyone who has half a brain and has seen those videos is at least somewhat concerned for his, as well as the rest of Meal Team Six’s safety.
+1 to that.
Meal Team Six hahaha.
Tasteless is videotaping you and your friends “training” in the woods laughing and carrying on like its a fucking paintball game. If you want to be taken seriously by others you need to present yourself in a serious, professional manner. It amazes me that these guys are offended by the criticism they have recieved. Dicking off with your friends is one thing, doing it with loaded weapons, calling it training, posting it on youtube for others to see, and hiding behind an xbox gamertag posing as an operator is something completely different. OpSec? Opsec means NOT POSTING YOUR SHIT ON YOUTUBE! Get back on your couch and beat off to Act of Valor and Soldier of Fortune Magazine. You’re training to take lives. Have some fucking dignity and respect while you’re doing it, It’s not funny.
hahah exactly.
Hell, nutnfancy manages it. These guys copied him in name (adding “project”) and general theory of “not gonna use my real name in videos”.
Well herpa-do-da-day, you really shouldn’t have a facebook then, chief.
While we’re at it: Running up and butt-stocking a target with a carbine is unwise.
a) I gaurantee they would screw it up and get killed, and
b) Even if it works, you just broke your precious AR, jackwagon. Collapsible stocks were NOT intended as strike faces.
Wow Mike, you’re out of line! i can’t believe you would expose their dox! as a member of the “a select group” i must thank you for now bringing my magnificently diabolical plan to fruition!
brb, having samples of lube sent to the Hallstroms now.
check mate
I just don’t get how putting a video of yourself on YouTube and trying to conceal your identity go together…
I don’t get the concern over posting “private info”
If you do something stupid on the internet take your lumps or take your ball and go home…don’t double down by making some bs argument about privacy and safety (in an effort to get the sayers of nay to un-post said naysaying).
If you make said argument, don’t be surprised when someone calls you out on obviously taking no steps to protect your privacy by posting info that anyone who knows how to run a googlez search on the internet machine.
Finally don’t send people in to make legal threats or imply in any way that a blogger doesn’t have the legal right to 1.) post an opinion and 2.) post incontrovertible facts that are publicly available…otherwise the citizen media law center (http://www.citmedialaw.org/) or Popehat (http://www.popehat.com/2011/12/06/junk-science-and-marketeers-and-legal-threats-oh-my/) or various other bloggers rights promoters might get word and decide to make you one of their pet projects
You know not for nothing, but for argument’s sake you’d figure a guy like Derpulent Spectre wouldn’t be that concerned for personal safety. He OBVIOUSLY thinks he’s ready for full on firefights (reference: They have an AR-15 TEAM ENGAGING CONTACT video).
To quote absuperman (of “I Hate Glocks” fame): “Becuase on the streets of America, GUN BATTLES happen daily”.
“you find their vids unsafe but this is going too far”
Bull. New to the internet? Let me clue you in, EVERYBODY finds those worthless vids unsafe and being filmed by fools. Mike simply has a tool to smack those idiots around a bit.
Good for him!
ENDO Mike. You are being a complete asshole! These guys are clearly just preparing for some…er…blind goblin…invasion…apocalypse?
Just playing, broseph. Keep up the good work.
OP,
I do agree that you have the right to disagree and dialogue to ensue.
I also agree that generally speaking, it wasn’t that hard to identify these people.
however, most of the world isn’t even net savvy enough to do that.
By posting his personal information completely accessible on the web to all, essentially serving him up on a silver platter, crossed the line.
I’m not sure what possessed you to make such an ill-conceived decision, however the net result has been threatening harassment from people that gained access to this information through you.
i’m sure there are plenty of people that disagree with you, would you want those people having access to your personal information, such as your address?
(no matter how “good” you are, im sure it could be found if desired)
the bottom line is, you do in fact have the right to free speech, which carries the burden of accepting the consequences of your words and actions:
1. do you really want to piss off a group of people stocking a full arsenal of weapons and obviously preparing for some kind of war?
2. If said party finds the result to be overbearing, such as constant harassment, you would be held legally liable for “damages” in a court of law
3. if something were to happen to said party, such as being assaulted, let alone murdered, you would immediately be named as an accessory to whatever crime befell him.
if none of that bothers you enough to stop, and kindly remove his personal information, how about a little common respect and decency for your fellow man?
you may disagree, you may have completely different agendas, but the fact remains, at the end of the day, you and he are essentially the same.
you both make extensive use of the veil of anonymity of the internet(how much of that is an illusion is a non point here) to express your views and foster social debate.
at this point you have moved from the realm of public debate over the actual issues to character assassination, libel, slander, etc.
which whether you realize or not, has made a statement about yourself, you have resorted to the dirtiest tactic in debate, most commonly reserved for “i got no other valid points, so lets atatck teh guy not the issue”
so the net result of your actions,no matter your intent, has both made you look like you have essentially conceded that you can not win on the issues alone, and put your self at risk of legal and thereby financial trouble
this is the first i have seen your blog, prior to today, i had no idea it existed, however based on the attempted character assassination techniques employed here, it has condemned your credibility in every word you speak, type, write, etc.
i for one can not take your blog seriously no matter how correct some of it might be, simply based on the tactics you have resorted to
there are a lot of stupid people in this world conducting all sorts of “derpness”, however by stooping to this level you have actually joined their ranks, and have not scored a direct hit as you like to believe.
so i congratulate you in standing in your own way.
You and Charley Kelley obviously went to law school together. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvSx7-CTTl4
Mike doesn’t need anyone to fight his battles for him, but having dealt with civil law and having gone to pre-law in college, I think I’ll take your reply on point-by-point.
*the bottom line is, you do in fact have the right to free speech, which carries the burden of accepting the consequences of your words and actions:
1. do you really want to piss off a group of people stocking a full arsenal of weapons and obviously preparing for some kind of war?* ——This is a good example of making a threat online.
*2. If said party finds the result to be overbearing, such as constant harassment, you would be held legally liable for “damages” in a court of law*——–Blatantly wrong. To be held “liable” for anything, the complainant must prove a loss of some kind. Being harassed on your youtube channel actually generates revenue for you, so you’ll have a tough time selling that one. Also, the claim of libel and defamation requires that the accused (Mike, in this case) is lying, which he isn’t. The videos clearly depict incorrect firearms handling. Even James Yeager would probably agree with that.
*3. if something were to happen to said party, such as being assaulted, let alone murdered, you would immediately be named as an accessory to whatever crime befell him.* —– Also wrong. Just wrong. I’m not saying I agree with it, but bird-law in this county is not governed by reason.
This whole thing got blown out of proportion somehow. The main point is that the VS training videos 1) usually depict incorrect firearms handling, 2) generally show TONS of muzzle-sweeping with hot guns, 3) are generally made-up drills with NO relevance to reality, and finally 4) take simple tasks like firing from supine and make them incredibly dangerous for no reason. That does need to be publicly shamed before newbies think it is real training and get hurt doing it, regardless of legal implications, it is immoral to pass off fake and dangerous training as real and useful training.
Bird law LOL. Best… reference… ever!
Sir, pretty much word for word what I was thinking on the legal issues (and just basic logic).
That opening threat is just staggeringly stupid.
Wow. What a mess.
I appreciate the fact you took the time to craft such a long reply. Like overkill556x45 said, your grasp on law is obviously tenuous. I’m not going to address those points, but I will say I have nothing to hide from. You can see my face you youtube and post about what a derp I am on your own website, I won’t lose any sleep over it. In fact, if your website is getting a lot of traffic then i’ll probably see a temporary boost in sales which is always nice. I criticize derps and people doing derpy things which THEY made public. I didn’t record any of the videos myself with a telephoto lens from a white van parked 600 yards away on the road. Saying that my character assassination techniques condemned my credibility is priceless. Taking my blog seriously is the biggest mistake you can make.
You need to learn to use upper and lower case letters and spell check, hoss. And space. And apostrophes.
And for the record he’s hardly carrying out character assisnation. For the most part Mike’s been re-posting things that VS put up on youtube and Facebook. The man makes a derp of himself all the time. Mike just called him on it.
Mike, this is why I come to your site. You are the F’ing man!
Thank you for all that you do.
Now THIS is a proper veiled threat:
“1. do you really want to piss off a group of people stocking a full arsenal of weapons and obviously preparing for some kind of war?
Seriously? They going to sneak up to Mike’s door, fall down, then start shooting?
For an answer to a post a ways back on this thread, I went through Navy basic in 1997. We got next to no weapons training. We shot about 15 rounds through an M16 with a .22 conversion kit. No more of that unless you have a rate that requires you to handle weapons and they finish that training up in A school.
I’m curious to exactly whom the silver platter is being served to. This dude got real enemies? If so, why put your face on the web. The cold hard facts are this, the internet is a souless, remorseless place. You info is out there and easy to get.
I’ve found the trick is just not putting anything up that embarrasses you. Otherwise it’s fair game. I have a youtube channel with a bunch of stupid moves on there while playing airsoft including one where I sent my friend ahead as I covered him and drilled him in the head as he tried to combat roll over a counter top. It’s hilarious but at the same time I will modify the way we I play because of it. If you do something stupid, own up to it, learn from it, and most important, don’t do it again. Or you could keep posting videos…
Just goes to show that you shouldn’t trust everything you find on the internet.
I’ll share an example: I know a gentlemen who hasn’t gotten laid in 15 years dispenses advice on a self-help website on how to pick up women and curl their toes in bed.
These guys take felony stupid to a whole new level. Someone’s gonna get hurt and then the lawsuits will begin.
John
Sale on Haterade, aisle nine.
The surefire way to get lots of attention online is to make a video of something monumentally stupid. Weapons grade depleted uranium stupid. So…he did and now doesn’t like it. Kinda like those bozo private security boneheads featured on here a few months back.
I like how the reply was not tongue-in-cheek at all. Buddy, you’ve been peer-reviewed and we all think you are going to hurt or kill yourself or someone else. Just stop!
when you break it down people will get whipped up into frothy fit when you mention the government seeking personal information. People will yell and scream that the “MAN” has no right to look into your personal life. They will tell you that privacy is all inclusive and blah blah blah yadda yadda. BUT PEOPLE WILL WILLINGLY GIVE ANY AND ALL INFORMATION TO FACEBOOK AND TWITTER. Mike did a 5 min google search and found everything you need to know about Bilbo DoucheBaggens. If you want the expectation of privacy DON’T PUT YOUR SHIT ONLINE. Reduce your online profile, do you need to be on facebook or twitter? As far as this ASS HAT “feeling threatened” it look as though he and his little militia have enough firepower to take care of themselves. Really they should be more worried about shooting each other. YOUR MOMS BOX
Yes I am in the project. Yes some of what we have done is not safe and we are actively working on addressing it, largely in part to constructive criticism that we have received. We have also been given examples and advice on how to improve what we are doing. That is completely acceptable and welcomed. What we have also received however is flat out insults and threats. In a civilized world this is highly uncalled for and is flat out bullying. I would argue to say that those od you who have done nothing but flat out insult our character on this forum to yourselves on here and not to any of us is a case of an inferiority complex. It is a classic case of makong yourself feel better by degrading us and our group. If I am wrong about that i humbly apologize. That being said, by refusing to stop the insulting and degradation, even after being notified of us having received threats, really shows how immoral your character really is. You are actually acting as a hypocrite. You say you point these out for fear of our safety yet you allow continued access to our information for anyone that is too lazy to put forth the effort themselves. You are actually aiding a potential crime in so doing my friend. I would gladly I.vite anyone who has legitimate concerns to email me directly at [email protected] and we can gladly discuss it in a civilized manner. Best of luck to all of you in your future endeavours.
Sincerely yours,
CitizenSniper
I never threatened any of you. You’re threatening your own safety. I can’t control what stupid shit other people message you and post in your youtube comments. Besides the threats you claim you’re getting, I’d say the criticism is definitely well deserved. If you’re butthurt over it, a simple remedy would be to shut down the youtube channel, delete your facebook account, and never speak of “the project” again.
Potential Crime? LOL What’s that? Is that like if Walmart has 2000 rounds of 9mm ammo in stock, then potentially 2000+ murders could be committed with that ammo? Walmart would be liable? Come on CitizenSniper… get real you’re embarrassing yourself.
The email I just got from Citizen Sniper:
My public reply to your email:
Crave attention? Dude I have a blog, If I didn’t care about getting any attention why would I spend several hours per day working on the blog?
How would I know you’re actively overhauling your “tactics”? Either way.. “we’ll see…” is all I have to say to that. It’s frightening that it took a few days (or more?) worth of brutal internet criticism to make you guys reflect on the fact what you are doing is unsafe and retarded.
I don’t stoop as low as to make fat jokes. If you’re working on slimming down I happy for you, if not I really don’t care.. it’s your body/life.
People always ask my experience and I say the same thing. I’m just a guy with a computer and an opinion. I plan on possibly taking classes someday. Anyone with a grasp on firearms and safety could tell you that your videos are bad and contain loads of wrong and unsafe information.
CS, I’m a Corporal of Marines. I’m an (0311) Infantry Rifleman, and a Fire Team Leader. My military resumé includes a trip to Iraq, Combat Marksmanship Coach (MOS 0933), a trip to the Kingdom of Jordan to TRAIN their Army to go to Afghanistan, and making it to Marine Corps Championships. If you and your friends are that butthurt over such comments, you’ll never make it in the Marine Corps, and probably not even the Army for that matter. One hour in an infantry company (much less than 3 months of boot camp) would probably make you cry. I’m also an NRA Certified Pistol Instructor, and even with years of experience coaching Marines proper marksmanship on the rifle and pistol range, I feel I’m still too inexperienced to teach people to shoot with just the basic fundamentals. Grow a pair, get over it, and get some legit training. An hour on the internet and no more than $300 will get you signed up for a good NRA Certified Instructor class within a month or two from now. The real world is brutal. If you want to succeed, grow tough skin and suck it up.
hahahahahahahahahahahahaha
I just inadvertently ran across your facebook page just by searching VigilantSpectre. You’re a complete embarrassment to the Army uniform, even though you’ve obviously never served.
The NRA Range Officer and Chief Range Officer courses would be a great start guys, and I’d follow them up with at LEAST the Pistol Instructors course…you have NO business being on a range and giving instructions without some sort of training and clear, written guidelines for firearm handling and emergency procedures. I would also see that every shooter went through a pistol course under an experienced professional, which none of you are and none will be for years to come if ever. I too have a few videos up on YouTube and Facebook featuring mostly full auto shooting and have yet to get any negative comments on firearms handling or range procedure, but we all have RO certs from at least one organization and decades of firearms usage and training. Feel free CitizenSniper to check out some of our shoot video from late last month (https://www.facebook.com/subgunners) to see how a range is run properly. Nearly every individual there was someone I have shot with for years and trust as much as trust anyone…and if they had not been present for the exact same 30 minute safety briefing we give at every shoot we do, they would NOT have shot on the range that day. Why? Because any newbies would have to do the same and “veterans” being held to the same standard sets a good example, that’s why…you are NEVER too ninja to go back over the basics. Never. If a experienced guy makes a newbie mistake, he gets treated like a newbie (actually, he’ll probably get much, much worse abuse!)
Really guys. Find an IDPA match you can all drive to even it’s a long trip. See how they run things, check out their rules, study their stage design (not just where they put the target and how they position them but WHY), learn about your targets and how to safely implement them, make SURE there is a well stocked first aid kit with trauma supplies and multiple persons with knowledge to use it, etc. These are NOT OPTIONS if you don’t want to experience tragedy! You don’t want to bury your shootin’ buddies because of an accident caused by ignorance, you want to bury them because they had a heart attack while at the drag strip last Friday doing something else they loved (which we sadly did this morning with our dear friend Howard.)
You may be getting a bunch of ridicule but it’s because people want to impress upon you the seriousness of what we see. You guys are violating rules that were nearly second nature to me when I was 12-years old, the very basics of what I would ASSUME a shooter would know when stepping on a range I was running seem to be completely unknown to you guys. You guys seem to think it’s more important to make excuses for your actions than to take full responsibility. Suck up the abuse, show some goddamned humility, and make the NEXT video posted one that shows you’ve heard and understood what is being said. You guys have gotten lucky so far, I’ve watched guys take hits when everything was being done right…don’t be a fucking statistic.
Mr. Sniper, as you so boldly imply, I suffer from no “inferiority complex”. I do however suffer from being a professional and watching kids who got thumped on in high school play GI Joe in the mountains with each other. I mean no disrespect, however much I feel your actions shine a negative light in the public eye about what type of people train in tactics and soldiering. Get into a REAL training group, get fit, get your mind right, and get training if you so choose. The mentality I see in these videos shows an extreme lack of bearing and professionalism. Don’t let the blind lead the fucking blind. You and you’re friends are no Rambos. You are training to fight and kill other humans, something I know you have never had to do because if you or any of your comrades did you wouldn’t be making light of it. Man the fuck up.
hey man…
ive been following your site for awhile, and everything about it was excellent… except the postings on people failing with guns. it was fine for awhile, just for laughs, to show what they’re doing wrong, and just plain old make fun of fail. classic. but when you go straight for a guys proverbial throat when he was being so cordial, mate, thats just cruel… makes me feel bad.
youre one of the few sites around that has everything i look for in a gun blog, but the hate and… well… the video games…. those dont really fit in, and put your site a little lower in the water. cmon. laughs are fine, but be humane. one poke at their fail and be done with it. after that… too far.
I figure a lot of the video game stuff is gun related (has guns in it), and I’m amazed how advanced it’s getting so I put the occasional post about that on here. The only reason I gave this any more thought after the first 2 posts is because of the email in this post where he claimed to be some internet ghost, specter if you will, that has gone to such lengths to remain anonymous. Like I mentioned in some of the other replies, they (VigilantSpectre) could make this all disappear in a heartbeat. Why don’t they though? Because they still think it’s a good idea. These posts definitely have the potential to send a lot of like minded people there way and help them grow their “project”. Even Costa and Haley (to name a couple popular firearms instructors) have haters.
im for you making this disappear yourself. just kill your acknowledgement of it. you are a noticeable blog, and your posts do make a difference in the gun world. is this where you want your stance on a bunch of noobs trying new sh++? we were all excited misguided noobs once. i could tell you a story or two where i made a fool of myself with a firearm… cant we, of the gun loving sort, just support eachother? even the noobiest? its gotten to the point where he feels threatened… of course hes gnna fight back at you, hes got his manhood to protect. help him out. youll be helping out our gun owners image too, and prevent this infighting… we are weak and divided enough.
Calling these guys out is the right thing to do. Especially for their attitude when told how unsafe they were was to just say “It is the camera mans responsibility to make sure they weren’t in the way of the muzzle…”
Also they aren’t explaining they are novices and they are presenting the videos as if they are experts and know what they are doing. Only now when people are harassing them is that tune changing, still if you view the videos, the descriptions are antagonizing, ignorant and smug when they have ZERO reason to be. The blatant disregard and cavalier attitude towards gun safety is shocking and for that alone is reason enough to bag on them and call them out.
They don’t deserve death threats or phone calls but they should neither expect privacy or respect after how they handled the response to their VERY public videos and Facebook profiles.
It is like calling a kid out for playing with matches and gasoline and the kid saying “Whatever if you’re scared that is your own deal by the way everyone this is how you should light any matches you find, stand over an open vat of gas fumes….” To those with a shred of sense, they know how truly unsafe that kid’s action is, how that kid is going to hurt people they don’t want to hurt, how that kid is going to ruin their life and another life for no reason other than looking cool on Youtube to their friends.
If you don’t want people seeing your videos make them private.
If you don’t want people looking at your Facebook, page make it private.
If you don’t want people calling you out on your bullshit, don’t make a website about it.
The sad thing is it is obvious that none of the VigilantSpectre crowd stopped to think for a second that all their videos, images, comments and stupid internet bullshit would be evidence against them in any criminal or civil cases when one of them eventually fucks up and shoots, blows up or harms someone else doing the stupid shit they are doing in the video. It would make a prosecutor’s day to see the supine drill video and then use it as evidence of unsafe firearm handling when charges are brought up over an injury/death/or damages.
It is better to be thought a fool, then to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt.
hm. ok. that makes sense. but im still for abandoning this ragefest before it goes further. some followers have already taken it too far, threats etc. if we actally care… report it to youtube. facebook. kill it there. present the case with them.
“If you don’t want people looking at your Facebook, page make it private.”
Its not like it’s 1998 and no one has no idea how to work computers. If people really don’t know how to make their facebooks private, Google how to do it. If they can’t even do that, they should not be on a computer, much less handling firearms.
VigilantSpectre, suck it up, learn from your mistakes and move on, really. Two weeks from now, this won’t even be an issue.
Endo-Mike, Keep up the good work man, love this stuff!
Isn’t the Wolf-Pack some kind of WWF thing?
No, the Hang Over and the Hang Over part II
Dammit, once again I missed the show! Both videos are now private. Has anyone got around to putting them up anywhere else yet?
Anon delivers –> http://cdn.anonfiles.com/1337220378885.zip
Both videos in .FLV format. VLCplayer recommended.
Mike, this has got me thinking: is there anyway to create a Hyper speed Negative drag Tier one Assault Operator Team 12 “Call Sign generator”? I want to go ahead and call “Pedantic StrikeViper as mine own before any of you pussies tries to claim it for yourselves. From here on, I’d like to only be referred to by this assuredly wicked awesome name on thy internets.
hahah yea that would be a pretty funny idea for a site.
Most of the vids are marked private now… but, not all of them. I found this gem. Link provided at the perfect time… “We’re kind of fuck ups” <- Yes. Yes, you are.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=oMOW73Ew78g#t=43s
Come on, I can’t be the only one who enjoys this…
http://qkme.me/3pbki8
I would like to let Mike know that today in response to his actions I have filed a police report pertaining to the distribution of my personal information. Listed in this report is EveryDayNoDaysOff.com and Mike himself. I have reduced the amount of content on my page in order to comply with the parameters of their investigation.
Distribution of information you made public though youtube and facebook? I don’t get it. Well thanks for turning a few more LEOs on to my blog that might not have already known about it!
Rotfl! I imagine the computer crimes division told him to settle it in civil court then take a hike. I’d be floored if you received as much as a phone call Mike. Keep us posted.
Mike check out the Citizen media project, and popehat blog …they may be able to help you out on a counter suit if these jokers actually make good on their legal threats
Looks like you dun goofed! They called teh cyber police, and now the consequences will never be the same!
Man, I needed a good laugh today, thanks!
Idiot.
Hahahahaha holy shit. A police report? You have to be fucking kidding me, not only do you not understand how to use firearms, you don’t even understand basic legal issues especiallly when it comes to public information YOU published.
What’s your next plan? Having a gasoline squirt gun fight and then suing the online Yellow Pages? Don’t ever learn about FOI requests you may spend all day filing more worthless police reports like the old ladies angry about all the minorites out there listening to the jazz.
Fucking hell, I bet the cops are laughing their asses off at you. Yes officer, I want to report mean people on the internet calling me a dumbass because they watched a Youtube video I posted.
And you say people are too ‘soft.’
Curtis,
I think you need to have your Mom drive you back down to the police station so you can apologize to the nice officers for wasting their time.
You should also work on attaining some self-awareness to prevent any further internet dick-slappings you may receive.
Amen !
Dear Curtis:
Cry me a [deleted] river. You chose to make your face, your identity, your location, and all kinds of other OPSEC-fail information public on the intertubes. Assuming people will not connect the dots you so kindly proffered up to the public is idiotic thinking in the extreme, and only you are at fault for people exploiting those dots and connecting the information you provided.
If you do not like it, stop posting your information on publicly-available sites.
Sincerely,
The Internet (apparently we have not met).
On a more serious note, ENDO did not post any personal information that Curtis did not make publicly available already, and, so far as I can tell, he did not post any personal information until Curtis whinged at him about posting personal information. I guess that falls under “be careful what you ask for”.
Likewise, these jackoffs are unsafe to the extreme, and observing that, and holding up their “example” as a warning is a completely reasonable thing to do. Easier to learn from their faults than replicate them yourself.
And speaking as a former Naval officer, it is entirely possible to serve in the military and not know a damned thing about firearms, which is kind of sad when you think about it.
Yea, these internet grillings are brutal in the extreme, but they are necessary and valuable. The fact that one of you tards could have been seriously injured or killed is a much bigger price to pay than people on the internet….telling the truth about what they see in your videos.
Even more scary is the fact that someone who doesn’t know any better, like yourself, could have watched these videos, taken it as a learning experience and then gone out and actually tried to replicate what you did. You mentioned several times the ref of legal action…my friend you have no idea how “open” you are in posting such incorrect techniques on your videos, either loosely or indirectly implied as instructional.
I was Navy Firecontrol for almost a decade. When I went through boot camp in great lakes way back in 1999 they “trained” us how to shoot with M16A1’s. These were no ordinary M16’s either. These M16’s had no felt recoil, did not eject brass, and fired a directed beam of light at a target. They shot lasers. Yes. Lasers. You literally shot a light sensitive target and they passed or failed you off of that. They did make you treat it as a real weapon however, so he should have at least gleaned some safety training from that affair. Once I got to Pacfleet that all changed. I had to (really begged to) qualify on the M14, M92FS, M16A1, M79, 25 mike mike, gau, M60, M2B and the shotty. Good times. Working SSDF, VBSS and the armory with the GM’s on an amphib had it’s benefits. Anyway, long story short..Military range time is no joke when it’s real. I hated qualifying because I knew at some point in the day, I would forget a step, position myself wrong, eject a round, not eject a round, fire one too many, fire one too few, drop a mag and get my ass chewed. In no way would anyone I know and knew in the military ever endorse, duplicate or encourage this kind of wanton stupidity unless they were deviously trying to get these guys killed on purpose. No…I wager that no one in these videos actually had ANY military weapons training to speak of. “Served in the Navy” probably means he failed his laser M16 pew pew test and got kicked out.
Wow, still doing the laser M16’s in 1999? I wonder if it’s still that way now. It started shortly before I arrived at great lakes in August of 1997. They shut down the live fire range (which was M16’s converted to .22 LR) due to ricochet issues. That’s the story we were told anyway.
As for his firearms training in the Navy – who knows. The only firearm training I received was the laser M16’s in boot camp. They instead trained me how to repair fire-control radar systems – a much more high tech way of delivering projectiles to their targets ;-)
From what I understand the Navy uses the 92f w/ lasers for familiarization then you do live fire with them and a shotgun. coming from a DEPer (not a DERPer, pay attention) waiting to ship.
I was in DEP for 8 months or so before boot camp too. Good luck man. Don’t know how much has changed, but it’s not bad if you stay out of trouble.
Tyler, they use M9’s to be technically correct.
Right, I knew that, just didn’t see the need to change it after posting it.
Nice! I was 1147 and CWIS as an FC.
I was an AT, worked on the radar packages in the F-14, F/A-18 and S-3 from my air conditioned shop while we cruised around in circles in the gulf, hehe.
ENDO Mike,
This blog is golden. I love reading the discussions online, and I generally dislike reading through pages of debate.
But on a serious note, how big is your e-peen right now? How many of these tools have been directly impacted and in turn removed their videos? You have done some good in this world, my friend. The sooner these videos disappear from general circulation (e.g., not shared via ripped YouTube videos) the better.
Also, the Al Queda comment was golden.
And yes, these guys are really this dumb. No trolling here. A troll on this level would likely be a pretty smart person, and a pretty smart person would not use live ammo – ergo, no video.
haha hey Chris. My e-peen is as big as it has ever been. I just saw some more of the replies and visited their channel and I now see there are 43 videos on it only. Earlier this afternoon (https://www.everydaynodaysoff.com/2012/05/16/vigilantspectre-is-concerned-for-his-safety/comment-page-1/#comment-59087) I made a comment that they had 150 videos up. 107 videos removed in one day? haha that’s what I call an impact in the good fight against DERP.
Good work Mike, I applaud your efforts to help remove DERP from the public. We need more people like you.
The hard thing about these types of grillings is that it wouldn’t hurt if what Mike was saying wasn’t true. If Mike was wrong, he would be called as such, or nobody would have posted. I hope these guys walk away and take the position that they are probably in need of some serious formal training. That would be a good, if they took a class, then they could learn to handle weapons safely. And after all, that’s what its all about. This argument is not about tactical or practical maneuvers , its about safety. You guys are so lucky…to be alive.
Internet…Conceal…. LMAO
Aaaand they’ve pulled them. Anyone got a backup?
Anon delivers –> http://cdn.anonfiles.com/1337220378885.zip
Both videos in .FLV format. VLC player recommended.
Your work is much appreciated sir.
lol! wow, victory!
I thought this was supposed to be a blog about guns….
And derpin’ w/ ’em.
These guys really don’t know how to internet.
If you put yourself out there being legit there’s going to be people who ‘hate’ on you. You know you’re in the right, no need to argue or defend yourself to them.
If you put yourself out there being a jerk-off and making a joke (while at the same time being extremely unsafe) of something many people take very seriously (life or death in some cases); you’re going to generate some real hatred. You realize you’re being stupid, stop being stupid, and drop it.
What you don’t do is antagonize the situation by arguing your point. Not only is arguing on the internet like running in the Special Olympics (even if you win you’re still retarded); but if you were dense enough to post videos (which just happened to be linked to your pictures, names, locations, etc) then you’re probably slow enough that you’re just going to end up making yourself look more ignorant than you already do.
Mike: You probably shouldn’t have posted their names (but that’s your business).
Watchful Ghost Shooting Club People That Make Me Ashamed to Also Be From Ohio: Go get your shit together, get some real training. Don’t be stupid. Don’t expect anonymity on the internet, especially when what you’re doing is tied to Facebook. Finally, don’t pretend you’re something you’re not; you’re not 10 years old playing cowboys and Indians in the back yard.
The problem is that they didn’t do it as if it were some kids messing around in the woods. They did it as an organization offering knowledge, and their knowledge is bad and dangerous. They even have a web site to accept donations for their “project”. And the leader guy touts himself on that site as the main strat/tactical guy who designs and develops the lesson plans for …whatever it is they are doing in these videos.
I’m sure many here are hitting it hard just to break stone unmercifully, but many are also concerned that someone looking for knowledge in this area, may actually buy into this, cause they are just starting out and don;t know any better, and think that these guys are a good source of info and training. And that’s kinda what gets folks all geared up, at least it does for me. If they were just some goofballs shooting guns and posting on the web, I dont think many would care. There are tons of videos like that on youtube.
The problem with guns and the internet is that everyone is an expert and they believe that their opinion matters. Its not so bad when its a gun review because those reviews are simply the reason to buy/ not buy something and why this gun is better/ worse than another gun. The big problem is that these guys are effectively advertising a poor physical technique that could or could not make you more trained with something that could potentially kill you or someone else. In their case its both. Preforming what these guys have done will definitely get you or a buddy killed. Uninformed people looking to gain an “edge” or more knowledge regarding firearms will look at these videos and think that this is the way to do it. Theres more than one way to skin a cat but I can tell you that these guys videos are neither.
Purchasing multicam, mollee stuff and an AR with an ACOG does not make you an expert in your field. I could wear a pilot uniform but I still dont know how to fly a plane.
I spent 8 years in the Army Infantry before I got out and became a Deputy Sheriff. I have an extensive amount of training and I have never seen anything like this. I am saddened that these wannabes would hint that they are vets with training. Hopefully they will continue their antics and the problem will solve its self.
You know what gets me guys? None of you have mentioned the fact that a handful of military and law enforcement professionals die every year in extremely safe training environments. Are these guys kinda turds? Hells yeah. Are they being unsafe? Sometimes yes. Have you guys seen their 500 pound friend who can’t manipulate a sidearm? I never knew being morbidly obese could keep you from being safe with guns but this guy is incapable of it because of his size. That’s what I’ve found most shocking about their vids.
This one’s been washed, dried and fluffed enough so I’ll just add these quick thoughts; Everyone does stupid shit, no one is immune. I done a book (novel) full of stupidity in my lifetime. These guys don’t seem to be assholes even though they’ve exercised some bad judgement. My suggestion is to leave ’em be. I think they’ve digested any teaching moment that’s been offered here.
I REALLY enjoy this blog; thank you!
I also left some hate comments and was responded to with some nice and professional emails, little do they know I’m trolling, it won’t work on me because my goal was to let them know how dumb they are.
Why are guys like this almost always severely overweight? They preach readiness, yet in reality if it went down for them, they wouldn’t last the length of a 20 minute workout with all their gear on. Being ‘tactically fit’ and ready consists of more than wearing CDI gear and talking the slang. It consists of more than simply shooting. It consists of more than being a track star. It starts with a mindset, then blends the rest of the equations above together.
And even then, be sure to be right with God.
All I can say is WOW!
These guys are a walking reason for prophylaxis…Thanks for turning us onto these clowns. We are getting a good laugh. RLTW!!!
The VigilantSpectre workout or a day in the life of…
1. Hide muffin top with $500 worth of kit he’ll never actually use correctly!
2. Rock out to Billy Ray Cyrus.
3. Discuss CQB (or insert any OMFG Delta!!!!! Type topic here) near girls–EPIC FAIL!!
4. Begin Tae Bo workout (Navy SEALs approved.lol–girls love it).
5. Be gentle. Cuddle–err–spot each other.
6. Call each other by cool nicknames…even at home (PERSEC is vital)-THAT’S ALSO GAY!
7. Stare in the mirror and cry.
8. Stare at other guys at the gym. Cry some more.
9. Go to smoothie bar and get a cheeseburger.
10. Go home…to mom’s house.
REPEAT EVERYDAY