Weapons Instructor for Police Threatens to ‘Start Killing People’
The CEO of two companies that provide tactical weapons training and supplies to the military and police — and who is a former Tennessee police chief — said yesterday that if President Obama uses executive orders to ban assault rifles, “I’m going to start killing people.”
James Yeager, CEO of Tactical Response and also of Tactical Response Gear Inc. of Camden, Tenn., made the statement as part of a furious, one-minute rant posted yesterday to YouTube. Today, after Yeager apparently thought better of his death threats, the video was pulled down. Hatewatch captured it, however, and it can be viewed here.
Staring into the camera and showing biceps tattooed with numerous spent shell casings, Yeager said that he’d learned that Vice President Joe Biden had asked Obama to bypass Congress and use executive powers to ban assault rifles and impose other gun control measures. And then he let loose.
“F--- that,” he said. “I’m telling you that if that happens, it’s going to spark a civil war, and I’ll be glad to fire the first shot. I’m not putting up with it, you shouldn’t put up with it, and I need all you patriots to start thinking about what you’re going to do. Load your damn mags, make sure your rifle’s clean, pack a backpack with some food in it, and get ready to fight.
“I’m not f------ putting up with this, I am not letting my country be ruled by a dictator, I am not letting anybody take my guns,” he said, his voice rising. “If this goes one inch further, I’m going to start killing people.”
In his company biography at the website for Tactical Response, Yeager said that he was a patrolman, K-9 handler and, ultimately, police chief of the Big Sandy, Tenn., Police Department in the 1990s. He also was a deputy sheriff with the Benton County Sheriff’s Office. In 2002, he says, he went into private-sector tactical weapons training full time, even while serving as the firearms and tactics instructor for the Camden Police Department. He says he worked as a civilian working in protective security in Iraq in 2004 and 2005.
Yeager said he had been featured in numerous publications, including being on the cover of S.W.A.T. Magazine, Kiplinger’s financial magazine and other publications. He also says he has written for a variety of gun magazines and been featured on TV shows including the Discovery Channel’s “One Man Army” and National Geographic’s “Snipers Inc.”
“I have taught multiple classes all over the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Central America and South America,” Yeager wrote. “I have extensive experience teaching in austere environments and I am a certified witness for firearms, tactical training and use of force.”
And that is precisely what is so scary about James Yeager.
