Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / Murder in the Shadow of the White House: Dr. Sunny Slaughter on the D.C. Ambush

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Murder in the Shadow of the White House: Dr. Sunny Slaughter on the D.C. Ambush · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

0:00
Speaker 1: Y'all. The new year is fast approaching, and I am
0:03
Speaker 1: telling you twenty twenty six, we got big plans over
0:07
Speaker 1: here at Zone seven. We are going back to once
0:11
Speaker 1: a week releases. Now listen before y'all get upset, Doctor
0:16
Speaker 1: Priya and Josh are going nowhere. What we're gonna do
0:21
Speaker 1: is once a month, have them with us, and it's
0:25
Speaker 1: going to be incredible. But you also have the opportunity
0:31
Speaker 1: to meet them in person. In twenty twenty six, that's right, honey,
0:36
Speaker 1: we are hitting the road. Zone seven is teaming up
0:41
Speaker 1: with Body Bags and Crime Stories and we are doing
0:44
Speaker 1: a national tour called the ten eight Tour. We're kicking
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Speaker 1: this thing off in Atlanta, January twenty third, twenty twenty six,
0:55
Speaker 1: at the original Zone seven Manual's Tavern. Good stuff coming up,
1:01
Speaker 1: see y'all in twenty twenty six. Doctor Sonny Slaughter, y'all.
1:15
Speaker 1: She is a law enforcement instructor, an expert witness, a
1:20
Speaker 1: TV commentator, and a crisis communication strategist. Let me tell
1:27
Speaker 1: you how important her work is. It centers on emerging
1:32
Speaker 1: threads and crisis ready decision making. This is my favorite
1:39
Speaker 1: thing about her. She turns complexity into clarity. Listen. Now
1:47
Speaker 1: complexity into clarity, and that's what we need tonight, Doctor Slaughter, Sonny,
1:56
Speaker 1: welcome to Zone seven.
1:58
Speaker 2: It is and honor to be on with you. My
2:03
Speaker 2: admiration for you personally and professionally is at one hundred
2:08
Speaker 2: percent plus, Okay, So I am deeply honored to be
2:13
Speaker 2: on with you, to be on Zone seven. I follow you,
2:17
Speaker 2: I listen, and it is an absolute pleasure and thank
2:21
Speaker 2: you for having me.
2:23
Speaker 1: Are you kidding?
2:24
Speaker 3: Listen?
2:27
Speaker 1: I could take the rest of our time tonight and
2:30
Speaker 1: talk about how I adore you, admire you, want to
2:34
Speaker 1: be more like you. There is so much that you
2:38
Speaker 1: give and show and teach every day and it's incredible
2:43
Speaker 1: to me how you keep up with all that you
2:45
Speaker 1: do and it looks flawless every single time, every single time.
2:51
Speaker 1: So I appreciate you.
2:53
Speaker 2: That is just by the greace. Okay. You know from
2:56
Speaker 2: all of your years and this work that it's not
3:01
Speaker 2: about religion. It is about faith in yourself, belief in
3:06
Speaker 2: the work and the purpose that you have and showing
3:09
Speaker 2: up and to make making it look easy even though
3:13
Speaker 2: the work is heavy and it can be hard and
3:17
Speaker 2: it is challenging. I think you know you someone that
3:22
Speaker 2: I admire the guests that you've had on and the
3:24
Speaker 2: others that work in this space with us. It is
3:28
Speaker 2: it isn't calling, a very unique calling. And you know,
3:33
Speaker 2: sometimes I always tell people if everybody and anybody could
3:36
Speaker 2: do it, they wouldn't even want to do it, because
3:40
Speaker 2: it is a heavy lift to be responsible for showing
3:47
Speaker 2: up and trying to make a difference, even though you
3:53
Speaker 2: have so many things in your own life going on.
3:57
Speaker 2: So thank you for your service, thank you your listening
4:01
Speaker 2: audience for their capacity to continue to go and grow
4:07
Speaker 2: at you. And I'm just deeply honored. As I said.
4:10
Speaker 1: Earlier, y'all see why I love her, I told y'all,
4:15
Speaker 1: And tonight it's so important to me to have you.
4:18
Speaker 1: Because two National Guard members were shot November twenty sixth,
4:25
Speaker 1: just after two o'clock. Both were from West Virginia. They
4:29
Speaker 1: were shot at close range, real near the White House.
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Speaker 1: I mean, this was a straight up ambush. It was
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Speaker 1: a straight up targeted murder, and you know, both in
4:40
Speaker 1: their twenties. I mean, I just couldn't think of anybody
4:44
Speaker 1: better to walk us through this. Let's talk about the crisis,
4:48
Speaker 1: Let's talk about maybe going forward, some positive things that
4:53
Speaker 1: can be put in place, some things that need to
4:55
Speaker 1: be put in place. But you know, I've got a
4:57
Speaker 1: lot of questions for you, but I'm going to let
4:59
Speaker 1: you lead us. So you know, we know, you know,
5:03
Speaker 1: Sarah Beckstrom was twenty she died, and Andrew Wolf twenty
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Speaker 1: four is still in critical condition. And the third you know,
5:14
Speaker 1: soldier that was with them returned fire, but again was
5:20
Speaker 1: in that battle right there.
5:24
Speaker 2: You know, I live in the area I am. I'm
5:28
Speaker 2: fifteen minutes from the Whitehouse, a place that I have
5:32
Speaker 2: been numerous times for work to engage in that area
5:39
Speaker 2: regularly the same path that they were walking I have walked.
5:44
Speaker 2: And when I heard about what happened, it was deeply disturbing.
5:54
Speaker 2: And to understand that these two very young individuals, for
6:02
Speaker 2: three of my four adult children are in their twenties,
6:06
Speaker 2: actually they're in their mid twenties, and these two very young,
6:13
Speaker 2: very dedicated public servants were gunned down in such a
6:20
Speaker 2: horrific way in the nation's capital. And they were there
6:27
Speaker 2: because they have a calling and had a calling to
6:34
Speaker 2: serve in government to protect our communities. And it's hard
6:43
Speaker 2: to talk and think about Sarah, who had just been
6:48
Speaker 2: sworn in recently left her family to come here to
6:55
Speaker 2: protect the community and the people here. We are in
7:00
Speaker 2: such a critical crisis at a time when compassion must
7:06
Speaker 2: be high for those that are in uniform, for those
7:10
Speaker 2: who are serving, and for those who choose to protect
7:15
Speaker 2: us because they don't have.
7:17
Speaker 1: To and they don't have to. And let's talk about
7:21
Speaker 1: Sarah for a second. She volunteered to do this tour
7:26
Speaker 1: so that other people with children could go home for Thanksgiving.
7:32
Speaker 2: Right, I mean, she's young, She was committed, and she
7:42
Speaker 2: already understood the value of family because that's how she
7:47
Speaker 2: was raised. She believed that others it was a selfless
7:53
Speaker 2: act and then then the selfishness of an individual. And
7:59
Speaker 2: we still know line to take such drastic measures. You know,
8:09
Speaker 2: I studied hate crimes and extremism while as an instructor
8:18
Speaker 2: with the US Department of Homeland Security FLEXING. I was
8:22
Speaker 2: allowed to go and do training that was for sworn
8:26
Speaker 2: law enforcement only, And it was the hate and Extremism class,
8:30
Speaker 2: which wasn't just like a class for one day or
8:32
Speaker 2: a class for one week. It was a college course.
8:36
Speaker 2: It was deeply embedded in understanding the actions and the
8:41
Speaker 2: response necessary to address threats extremism, terrorism and things like that.
8:48
Speaker 2: And now more than ever, I find that the work
8:53
Speaker 2: and the lens of what I was taught, and you know,
8:57
Speaker 2: in interacting with my classmates is more critical. Now I've
9:01
Speaker 2: been focused for the last several years on national security issues,
9:05
Speaker 2: traveling around with members of the Senate, members of Congress,
9:12
Speaker 2: and if folks want to know who I travel with,
9:15
Speaker 2: I work with everyone. I don't. I don't tick a side.
9:21
Speaker 2: I stay out of the weeds of the politics. And
9:24
Speaker 2: I have no problem at all correcting anyone, including our
9:29
Speaker 2: elected officials, about their language, how insightful and incendiary it
9:36
Speaker 2: can be. Pray all so there is no leftists, no right,
9:45
Speaker 2: and on no aisles. I stole down the middle on
9:49
Speaker 2: conversations like this and in rooms, I am unafraid. I
9:55
Speaker 2: am vossed, unbought, and very critical that everyone needs to
10:01
Speaker 2: take the temperature down to zero and stop citing the violence,
10:08
Speaker 2: the political violence, see the propaganda and which makes people
10:16
Speaker 2: like Sarah and Andrew, those Gothlic servants, law enforcement and
10:22
Speaker 2: others political pawns and puts them in the direct line
10:29
Speaker 2: of fire, which is what happened on that particular day
10:33
Speaker 2: when they were just walking in the community. I loved
10:41
Speaker 2: what you said.
10:43
Speaker 1: You are unbought, You're not afraid, you are not gonna
10:47
Speaker 1: just be intimidated. That's what it takes. But you do
10:51
Speaker 1: more than that when you are at that table. The
10:55
Speaker 1: people you're speaking for, I don't even know if they
11:00
Speaker 1: realize you've got somebody calm, intelligent, with a heart, Sonny,
11:07
Speaker 1: because again, you're not just talking about Sarah like, well
11:11
Speaker 1: there was somebody shot in DC. No, you're understanding her.
11:16
Speaker 1: You're wanting to, you know, give homage to her parents
11:20
Speaker 1: the way they raised her, to let people know, hey,
11:24
Speaker 1: she was putting family first and not her own but
11:28
Speaker 1: somebody else's. Any job, but especially your job. Leading with
11:35
Speaker 1: a heart, a heart for all people is incredible, and
11:40
Speaker 1: that's the only way to break down this hate.
11:43
Speaker 2: You know, Sarah and Andrew could be my children. Forget race,
11:52
Speaker 2: forget faith, forget all of the other things that we
11:56
Speaker 2: think matter. They were my children, and I say were
12:03
Speaker 2: because Sarah is no longer with us. Andrew could still
12:09
Speaker 2: be my child. He is fighting for his life. The
12:13
Speaker 2: other guardsman who took fire and tried to protect them
12:18
Speaker 2: and did an excellent job, could still be my child.
12:23
Speaker 2: And when we take the hate and the lens off.
12:31
Speaker 2: I teach something called lens language and law. When you
12:34
Speaker 2: take the lens and you turn it in the right
12:37
Speaker 2: direction towards humanity, then we are family, regardless of all
12:44
Speaker 2: of the other factors that sometimes people think separate us,
12:50
Speaker 2: and I say think separate us because we focus. There
12:53
Speaker 2: are individuals who focus more, but sometimes we focus too
12:56
Speaker 2: much on those. This incident was so much moving to me,
13:02
Speaker 2: I decided to write I've been writing LinkedIn articles because
13:07
Speaker 2: I found from those that you know follow me, listen
13:13
Speaker 2: to me that although I could do a video, it
13:18
Speaker 2: is the writing that allows me to really take a
13:22
Speaker 2: deep dive. And because I've always written and kind of
13:28
Speaker 2: break things down, I am teaching and all of these
13:34
Speaker 2: things become teachable moments. And I want people to have
13:40
Speaker 2: I write on the laptop or the computer, but I
13:43
Speaker 2: still also write using pen and pay for own school stuff.
13:50
Speaker 2: We have to move our society past the hate that
13:56
Speaker 2: we are experiencing. It is not about an indieal it's
14:00
Speaker 2: not even about me, but it is about what I
14:03
Speaker 2: am called to do. And I realized, based on the
14:08
Speaker 2: feedback that I keep getting from FOSS is that they
14:12
Speaker 2: are learning people still want to learn, They still want
14:17
Speaker 2: to understand all of the things that are impacting us,
14:22
Speaker 2: and the articles and the writing and the commentary becomes
14:27
Speaker 2: a communication tool for better understanding and what I thought about,
14:36
Speaker 2: what happened, what all of the other things are happening.
14:43
Speaker 2: It was important to add contexts and layers and understanding.
14:48
Speaker 2: I am always a law enforcement instructor, so to tie
14:54
Speaker 2: the two together, and I was a military wife. I
14:59
Speaker 2: take all of the my experiences and kind of pushed
15:02
Speaker 2: them out in the world. I am a former military
15:05
Speaker 2: wife Navy for years a decade. I come from a
15:11
Speaker 2: family of service members across every branch, going back to
15:17
Speaker 2: my grandfather and my grand and my grandfather's father, a
15:22
Speaker 2: long line that still served today National Guards in every capacity,
15:29
Speaker 2: including the Coastguard. So I find it incredibly personal that
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Speaker 2: two young people who have dedicated their life to service
15:41
Speaker 2: could be viciously attacked in the nation's capital, which has
15:49
Speaker 2: a lot of law enforcement in the area. And then
15:55
Speaker 2: you get mixed messaging about whether law enforcement and public
16:02
Speaker 2: safety professionals collaborate, communicate and move forward with the work. Well,
16:10
Speaker 2: everyone else is talking about politics and policing, and in
16:14
Speaker 2: the profession those that do the work are just getting
16:19
Speaker 2: it done. Nobody's saying, are you Republican? Are you Democrat?
16:24
Speaker 2: Are you right on? Now? I was talking about you
16:28
Speaker 2: do you pray? How do you worship? That's not the
16:34
Speaker 2: conversations that are going on with those that do the
16:38
Speaker 2: actual work. Whether you're sworn or non sworn, everybody is
16:42
Speaker 2: working towards mission ready, safety, security, public service, and ensuring
16:51
Speaker 2: that our democracy and humanity hold together.
16:59
Speaker 1: Would you tell law enforcement today, what would you tell
17:03
Speaker 1: the next group of soldiers that are headed to DC.
17:08
Speaker 1: And you know a lot of people like to say, well,
17:09
Speaker 1: keep your head on a swivel, watch your six but
17:12
Speaker 1: really give them something to ponder, to really put into practice,
17:19
Speaker 1: to look out for their fellow person the way that
17:21
Speaker 1: they need to while looking out for themselves.
17:25
Speaker 2: If you have joined the National Guards law enforcement in
17:32
Speaker 2: any area of public safety, your first priority is to
17:39
Speaker 2: protect and serve and protection and service to your colleagues,
17:47
Speaker 2: to your communities, and to the country. And you have
17:52
Speaker 2: to take no one wants to take this job and
17:57
Speaker 2: take this work on as a job and work when
18:02
Speaker 2: it's really about the calling and your commitment to others.
18:08
Speaker 2: So I would tell them focus not on the rhetoric,
18:13
Speaker 2: the chaos, and the criticism, but focus on your humanity
18:22
Speaker 2: and your commitment to serve humanity for the greater good
18:28
Speaker 2: of all of us, not just some of us.
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Speaker 1: That you.
18:34
Speaker 2: Stay true to the mission of your agency, your departments,
18:46
Speaker 2: and to democracy. We are a democracy, no matter how fragile,
18:53
Speaker 2: no matter how challenged, no matter the broken parts. But
18:59
Speaker 2: in this demomocracy, it is only held up by our
19:04
Speaker 2: individual and collective humanity. That is why we are a democracy,
19:09
Speaker 2: because we believe in the goodness of others and showing
19:14
Speaker 2: goodness to others. Stay the course, stay true to the mission,
19:20
Speaker 2: and stay true to yourselves and the calling and the
19:23
Speaker 2: reason why you decided to protect others and to serve others.
19:30
Speaker 2: Because I always say, and I'm a woman of faith,
19:33
Speaker 2: but I can also say him akalah hom do a lot.
19:38
Speaker 2: It is who we are and how we are that
19:44
Speaker 2: makes the best of everything that is possible in America.
19:49
Speaker 2: We are America, and we are American no matter where
19:55
Speaker 2: you come from. Mission ready, stay focused and understand that
20:02
Speaker 2: you have a purpose in this.
20:04
Speaker 1: You are literally the front line. I mean, you were
20:07
Speaker 1: what's gonna stop evil.
20:10
Speaker 2: And you are right, They're going to stop all evil,
20:15
Speaker 2: domestic and farm. That is the calling the person standing
20:20
Speaker 2: next to them, just like the officer the guardsman that
20:25
Speaker 2: was there and return fire because his colleagues are crippled
20:31
Speaker 2: and there is no war except amongst the demons that
20:36
Speaker 2: challenge that are challenging us right now.
20:39
Speaker 1: The way you have crafted the way you see the
20:42
Speaker 1: world is also to me a beautiful thing, because I've
20:45
Speaker 1: told my own children love wins, and I can give
20:48
Speaker 1: them thousands of examples. Yes, bad things happen, no doubt
20:52
Speaker 1: about it. But you take this one shooter. Look how
20:58
Speaker 1: many people are going to respect in a loving, devoted
21:05
Speaker 1: community type of way.
21:07
Speaker 2: They will.
21:09
Speaker 1: They are going to surround Sarah and Andrew's families and
21:12
Speaker 1: their friends. You're going to have hundreds and hundreds of
21:15
Speaker 1: people that respond correctly and favorably for them. So love Winds,
21:22
Speaker 1: But I also love the way you say things like
21:25
Speaker 1: whether or not he worked for the CIA, whether or
21:28
Speaker 1: not he was asking for asylum or had applied for it.
21:31
Speaker 1: You know, whether he came in under Biden and stayed
21:35
Speaker 1: under Trump, None of that matters because that ain't why
21:39
Speaker 1: he did what he did. Now, Sonny, I know you
21:43
Speaker 1: and I know how you lead again with your heart
21:46
Speaker 1: wide open. Talk a little bit about the power, because
21:51
Speaker 1: I do believe it is powerful to be grateful.
21:55
Speaker 2: So I am a woman of faith, and I intentionally
22:02
Speaker 2: interact with people of all faiths and those who practice
22:09
Speaker 2: no faith. And I'm talking about faith and not religion, okay,
22:15
Speaker 2: because sometimes people get hung up on religion, and I
22:22
Speaker 2: don't want to get hung up on religion. I am
22:25
Speaker 2: so on and I've been very transparent about my story
22:29
Speaker 2: in my life and the things that I have experienced,
22:33
Speaker 2: because if I only touch one person, I know one
22:38
Speaker 2: person has been touched. I have been homeless, I have
22:43
Speaker 2: been hungry, I have had to fight for my children,
22:48
Speaker 2: I have had to fight for my life. I've had
22:50
Speaker 2: to fight for systems. And I hate to use the
22:54
Speaker 2: word hate, which I just use, and I hate to
22:58
Speaker 2: use the word fight, but those two words seem to
23:02
Speaker 2: resonate with people because so many people are angry and
23:08
Speaker 2: they're also ungrateful. And as for me, I take all
23:15
Speaker 2: of the things that have impacted me, and I find
23:18
Speaker 2: grace in the moment. I find grace in the madness
23:25
Speaker 2: of the things that have happened to me, and I
23:28
Speaker 2: find that I am resilient and stronger because if I
23:37
Speaker 2: learned a long time ago, if I continue to carry
23:40
Speaker 2: the hate and be and ungrateful, I would never see
23:47
Speaker 2: the message and the lessons and the testimony in all
23:54
Speaker 2: of the things that make me who I am. People
23:57
Speaker 2: have to recognize the smallest part of their lives can
24:05
Speaker 2: be the biggest part that changes other people. And when
24:10
Speaker 2: I say the smallest part, being homeless was not a
24:12
Speaker 2: small issue, and particularly since I was that way for
24:16
Speaker 2: more than a year now this was over a decade
24:19
Speaker 2: or so over it is when things happen in our
24:24
Speaker 2: lives we learn to appreciate if we've learned the lesson,
24:30
Speaker 2: there you go, there you go, and things happen in
24:33
Speaker 2: our lives and we have not learned the lesson. We
24:37
Speaker 2: learn to hold on to the hate, and hold on
24:40
Speaker 2: to the hate in a way that doesn't change humanity.
24:44
Speaker 2: It only changes who we are as we show up
24:48
Speaker 2: as individuals in humanity, our trials inter relations can make
24:56
Speaker 2: us better once we have learned the lesson. When I
25:00
Speaker 2: think about the work of the guardsmen across the country,
25:08
Speaker 2: you may not like it, but they are on assignment
25:13
Speaker 2: and we need to welcome them in our communities as
25:16
Speaker 2: individuals to show our humanity. They are doing the work
25:20
Speaker 2: that they are called to do, that they are required
25:23
Speaker 2: to do, and we have to think about that. We
25:27
Speaker 2: have to appreciate their presence in our communities so we
25:33
Speaker 2: can appreciate the humanity in our own existence. And I
25:38
Speaker 2: keep saying humanity because there is a human consciousness that
25:43
Speaker 2: I feel that has been lost with all of the rhetoric,
25:48
Speaker 2: all of the hate speeches, all of the politics and
25:52
Speaker 2: pressure that we don't see one another as human beings
26:01
Speaker 2: and everyone is not good. The person who harmed, hurt, murders,
26:10
Speaker 2: and changed the course of lives for families across this
26:14
Speaker 2: nation with the shooting of the two guardsmen and the
26:19
Speaker 2: response that was hate and rage, even though we don't
26:24
Speaker 2: know the exact details why because those two young people
26:29
Speaker 2: who are doing nothing except serving their country. But we
26:33
Speaker 2: can't be hateful as we respond. When you think about
26:38
Speaker 2: the collective response from law enforcement agencies that day and
26:44
Speaker 2: every day, there are things happening behind the scenes that
26:49
Speaker 2: make our world better. Even though there was something that
26:56
Speaker 2: was hateful that happened. Our job is to become better
27:03
Speaker 2: in what we do and who we are. You know,
27:06
Speaker 2: I'm fifty six. Now I'm fifty seven. Oh, I can't
27:10
Speaker 2: even remember I'm fifty seven. My son he came over Monday.
27:16
Speaker 2: He drove down with his girlfriend and they dropped my
27:19
Speaker 2: house and he said, you know, you're close to sixty.
27:22
Speaker 2: And I was like, whoa. And then I realized. My
27:25
Speaker 2: mother died two days after her forty ninth birthday. That
27:30
Speaker 2: was twenty seven, almost twenty eight years ago. And when
27:37
Speaker 2: I think about loss, I think about the years that
27:42
Speaker 2: I have lost with her, But I think about how
27:45
Speaker 2: proud she would be because I am living and walking
27:49
Speaker 2: in my purpose. I would say to your audience that
27:58
Speaker 2: find out who you are and what your purpose is.
28:02
Speaker 2: And that's not a slogan. I know that when I
28:06
Speaker 2: leave this earth, when all is said and done, I
28:12
Speaker 2: just want everyone to say servant, well done. That's what
28:17
Speaker 2: I want to hear it. But I want my children
28:22
Speaker 2: and my children's children, and I want the world and
28:26
Speaker 2: those that have never even met me to say, wow,
28:32
Speaker 2: she was on purpose, she was in physician on purpose
28:38
Speaker 2: and servant, well done, and servant. When we learn to
28:43
Speaker 2: serve others, then that is a selfless act. When we
28:50
Speaker 2: do harm intentionally without regret without remorse. That is a
29:00
Speaker 2: selfish act, and I don't want to be selfish. I
29:05
Speaker 2: don't have time to be selfish when I am called
29:08
Speaker 2: to serve, and in each of our own ways, we
29:11
Speaker 2: are called to serve in some form of fashion. And
29:14
Speaker 2: I'm not talking religion, and this doesn't even have to
29:17
Speaker 2: be about faith, but for the greater good of humanity,
29:23
Speaker 2: for those that we don't know. When I get a message,
29:26
Speaker 2: just like I know you get these messages regularly, when
29:32
Speaker 2: someone that you don't know, that you've never met, says,
29:37
Speaker 2: you know, you changed my life. You inspire me. And
29:44
Speaker 2: when I'm going through tough times, and we all go
29:46
Speaker 2: through tough times, you know, Martin Luther King said there
29:49
Speaker 2: are difficult days ahead, so we should be prepared for
29:54
Speaker 2: the difficult days ahead. And we are in difficult days.
29:59
Speaker 2: We're in difficult times. But that does not stop the
30:04
Speaker 2: humanity that must come out and be shown to others,
30:07
Speaker 2: the teachable moments, the work that you do, the work
30:10
Speaker 2: that I do, the things that happen behind the scenes,
30:14
Speaker 2: just like in this recording, just like in this episode,
30:18
Speaker 2: there is someone behind the scenes that no one knows
30:23
Speaker 2: that it's making this happen because everything can be out
30:26
Speaker 2: in front. Everyone can't be out in front, but there
30:31
Speaker 2: are people working to make a difference.
30:36
Speaker 1: Well, you know, you said there are difficult days ahead,
30:39
Speaker 1: and you said planning, planning, and no matter the outcome,
30:43
Speaker 1: be grateful. So I thought i'd tell you something funny.
30:46
Speaker 1: Walt and I had a buddy, Robert, and he was
30:48
Speaker 1: starting a business. And you know how that is. He
30:51
Speaker 1: was gonna put everything he had in it. He had,
30:54
Speaker 1: you know, put way too much of his savings, his
30:57
Speaker 1: life savings in it. But he believed what he was doing.
31:01
Speaker 1: So we saw him like a week after the launch
31:04
Speaker 1: of this business. He had the most gorgeous at the
31:08
Speaker 1: time to us, a huge suv. It was like the
31:12
Speaker 1: biggest car I'd ever seen. It almost looked like one
31:15
Speaker 1: of those secret service type cars, you know, talking about
31:17
Speaker 1: those big glass sleep It was huge, lover, and I'm like, honey,
31:21
Speaker 1: this business has only been rolling for a week. It
31:24
Speaker 1: wasn't he doing great? He went, no, no, no, Mac He said, listen,
31:29
Speaker 1: just in case I lose everything, I got to live
31:31
Speaker 1: in it. So I made it nice.
31:34
Speaker 3: Look and I thought, that is planning. That is glass
31:43
Speaker 3: half full. I loved everything about it.
31:47
Speaker 1: He's doing great today, just to let the audience know
31:49
Speaker 1: he was very successful in what he did. But I
31:52
Speaker 1: remembered that because I thought that's the funniest thing.
31:55
Speaker 2: I've ever heard. But he was dead serious, you know.
31:58
Speaker 2: And I understand stand that because you know, during my
32:03
Speaker 2: time where I was homeless, and then also in transition,
32:10
Speaker 2: I had a vehicle. I slept in my vehicle. I
32:14
Speaker 2: drove around in Alabama, you know, trying to find a
32:19
Speaker 2: place where I had enough light so when I was
32:24
Speaker 2: sleeping in my car, I couldn't be attacked. But you
32:28
Speaker 2: have to have a plan. I have a plan. Your
32:31
Speaker 2: friend had a plan and had a plan. And look
32:34
Speaker 2: at those big extra these days are really nice and.
32:38
Speaker 1: Nice man, yes, ma'am.
32:44
Speaker 2: And see people don't think about you know he he
32:47
Speaker 2: I'm sure he already said. I can put this much
32:50
Speaker 2: food in there, and I can have my clothes in here,
32:52
Speaker 2: and I could be rip. But there is a reality
32:56
Speaker 2: to what he said, and a reality to what I've
32:59
Speaker 2: been saying my own previous circumstance, and reality to what
33:03
Speaker 2: others are experiencing in this home. That a plan is important,
33:13
Speaker 2: and continuous planning is even more important. We can never
33:19
Speaker 2: get too caught up that everything as well, that something
33:26
Speaker 2: can happen and change in an instant, which is what
33:29
Speaker 2: happened with the guardsmen. Things happen quickly, and our lives
33:35
Speaker 2: can change in an instant. It can be a phone
33:39
Speaker 2: call that says someone that you love is hurt, that
33:46
Speaker 2: someone that you love is gone. You need to come
33:51
Speaker 2: to the hospital, you need to come to the school,
33:53
Speaker 2: You need to you know, they need support, they need services.
33:58
Speaker 2: We are living in times where planning, preparation and purposeful
34:06
Speaker 2: understanding is really needed. When you talked earlier about you know,
34:13
Speaker 2: people being so angry, Cheryl, you know we can go.
34:20
Speaker 2: You and I. We do true crime, we studying and
34:23
Speaker 2: the case is, people sometimes want me to talk about
34:27
Speaker 2: one thing and they want to point out a particular case.
34:29
Speaker 2: I said, do you know how many cases and things
34:32
Speaker 2: happen in one day that I'm looking at that you
34:36
Speaker 2: don't even see?
34:37
Speaker 1: That's right, that's right.
34:41
Speaker 2: This is this work means I am constantly seeing something
34:46
Speaker 2: pop up on the screen that is critical, that is dangerous,
34:54
Speaker 2: and that changed lives and that impact of the people
34:57
Speaker 2: that I know, Just like the recent shooting in Florida
35:03
Speaker 2: involving the police officer the locksmith and those that were
35:10
Speaker 2: getting their victis and she lost her life doing her job.
35:17
Speaker 2: The locksmith lost his life doing his job, and the
35:22
Speaker 2: person that was getting their victed. They didn't want to
35:25
Speaker 2: leave and it turned into a crisis and a tragedy
35:31
Speaker 2: that no one saw coming. And I talked to her
35:35
Speaker 2: colleague this morning because I'm a Florida law enforce and instructor,
35:41
Speaker 2: and her captain, her leadership, well, they were my student
35:51
Speaker 2: and she's broken and heartbroken, and things happened quickly and perforation.
36:00
Speaker 2: We have to prepare for the expected and be ready
36:04
Speaker 2: and planning for the unexpected.
36:07
Speaker 1: Doctor Slaughter, Sonny, I appreciate you so much. This has
36:12
Speaker 1: been insightful and uplifting. And that's the thing that I
36:17
Speaker 1: love about our Zone seven community. Sometimes these tough cases.
36:22
Speaker 1: Talking about Sarah and Andrew, it does have an uplifting part.
36:29
Speaker 1: They did not go at this job they had halfway.
36:35
Speaker 1: We should not honor them halfway. We should be just
36:38
Speaker 1: as committed to talk about them, to lift them up,
36:41
Speaker 1: to honor them. And that's what you've done tonight, and
36:44
Speaker 1: thank you for that.
36:46
Speaker 2: I am deeply honored, more than I could say to
36:50
Speaker 2: you for asking me to your audience for them following
36:58
Speaker 2: this program and for them learning, because these are the
37:05
Speaker 2: teachable moments and this platform that you have developed. Zone seven,
37:10
Speaker 2: my mind one to the Zone seven audience, thank you,
37:17
Speaker 2: because the work would be for not if it wasn't
37:20
Speaker 2: for all of you tuning in to listen to those
37:24
Speaker 2: that for their hearts and their purpose into everyday things
37:30
Speaker 2: that they do that you know they couldn't do it
37:34
Speaker 2: if the audience didn't show up, if you all weren't
37:37
Speaker 2: ready to listen to and to fartape. You know this
37:40
Speaker 2: is nourishment. What you have created is nourishment for the soul, mind, body,
37:45
Speaker 2: and soul. Thank you. Thank you to your behind the
37:48
Speaker 2: scenes team for how they show up and pull everything
37:52
Speaker 2: together make it look flawless, because you know we couldn't
37:55
Speaker 2: do this if we didn't make a look for all this.
37:57
Speaker 1: Thank you. Thank you Max.
38:01
Speaker 2: You know I was struggling, that's the truth. Was really calm.
38:10
Speaker 1: He's always calm. He's always even no matter what I'm
38:14
Speaker 1: throwing at him, and usually.
38:15
Speaker 3: It's chaos, but he is.
38:17
Speaker 1: I'm telling you, he is just masterful at what he does.
38:21
Speaker 1: But you know, again, I can't thank you enough. You
38:25
Speaker 1: are also that calming, resourceful. Just you know, there's those
38:33
Speaker 1: people that you can call and you know, after the
38:36
Speaker 1: phone call, it's gonna be better, it's gonna be all right.
38:40
Speaker 1: And that's how I feel talking to you. And listen, y'all.
38:44
Speaker 1: She's coming back because she and I have got to
38:47
Speaker 1: talk about Jacky Island because she was down there in Flexi,
38:50
Speaker 1: and I know we know some people in common, so
38:53
Speaker 1: she'll have to come back and we'll tell some good
38:55
Speaker 1: stories because that's one of my favorite places on earth
38:57
Speaker 1: and some of my favorite people. So doctor Sonny Slaughter,
39:01
Speaker 1: thank you.
39:02
Speaker 2: Thank you, thank you so much, my friend, my colleague,
39:07
Speaker 2: my admiration for you, front Steep. Let me tell you,
39:10
Speaker 2: I was so giddy when you reached out. I was like,
39:13
Speaker 2: oh my gosh, oh, and I was hoping that I
39:19
Speaker 2: was gonna be good. It's so please invite me back.
39:22
Speaker 2: Oh you're coming back.
39:23
Speaker 1: Don't you worry about that at all?
39:25
Speaker 2: No, thank you. It's been an honor, it's been a pleasure,
39:28
Speaker 2: and I'm grateful for all that you do to make
39:31
Speaker 2: a difference in the lives of others. Your humanity shows
39:34
Speaker 2: every single day, and you are making a difference to me.
39:39
Speaker 2: And to so many. Thus thank you again, y'all.
39:42
Speaker 1: I'm going to end Zone seven the way that I
39:44
Speaker 1: always do with a quote. Terrorism is the tactic of
39:49
Speaker 1: demanding the impossible while demanding it at gunpoint. Christopher Hitchinson.
39:57
Speaker 1: I'm Cheryl McCollum, and this is Zone set