VI – Self-Defense

AlertMedia’s October 2025 Quarterly Threat Review

AlertMedia helps organizations respond to critical events with emergency communication solutions. It’s Global Intelligence Team monitors global threats 24/7/365.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Spiritual Fitness Self-Defense: Seeing Temptation as a Threat ]

After tracking threats between July 2025 and September 2025, its October 2025 Quarterly Threat Review analyzes 5 critical events during that period with significant and lasting impacts.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Chart: The Spectrum of Potential Threat Personas in Self-Defense and Church Security ]

Its focus is primarily businesses, but by extension, can be applied to general self-defense environmental situational awareness and public safety in the church security arena, providing insights into how similar threats might affect their operations—and how to prepare.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, A List of Active Killer Incidents at Houses of Worship and Religious Schools ]

Here are the 5 analyses with brief annotations:

Mitigating Attacks on Houses of Worship Security Guide

Terrorists, criminals, anarchists, and disrupters are attacking houses of worship (HoW). They assume HoW are soft targets; gun-free zones where media coverage and notoriety can be easily achieved through defenseless active killing.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, A List of Active Killer Incidents at Houses of Worship and Religious Schools ]

In response, more HoW are establishing and training their own armed volunteer security teams.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Enroll in the Sheepdog Church Security Academy Safety Member Certification Program ]

One resource for these teams is the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)‘s 116-page PDF, Mitigating Attacks on Houses of Worship Security Guide.

A List of Active Killer Incidents at Houses of Worship and Religious Schools

Some people in leadership at churches still question why it’s necessary to have an armed and trained church security/safety team as part of their dedicated ministry efforts.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Active Killer Advice Compendium ]

The following list should be reason enough:

[ Bookmark the SemperVerus CHURCH SECURITY INTELLIGENCE CLIPBOARD ]

•  Archer Park, Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia, Dec. 14, 2025
Two terrorists—a 50-year-old man and his 24-year-old son—positioned themselves on a small footbridge and opened fire for more than 11 minutes on a Jewish community gathered for the evening annual beach festival, Chanukah by the Sea, attended by many children and families. At least 15 people were killed, and 42 others were injured. The 50-year-old died at the scene, and his son is in custody. A bystander is being hailed as a hero after wrestling the rifle away from one of the gunmen, but was then wounded twice by the other gunman. Several improvised explosive devices were discovered in a vehicle at the scene and disarmed. The event did not have a visible security team present.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, US Dept. of Justice Now Protecting the Second Amendment As a Civil Right ]

•  Clarke County, Alabama, Oct. 27, 2025
The FBI and local law enforcement arrested a 33-year-old man with a suitcase full of ammunition and body armor, stopping a credible plan to attack multiple Jewish synagogues across Alabama and surrounding states.

Counterterrorism Guide: Situational Awareness to Hinder An Attack

The Joint Counterterrorism Assessment Team (JCAT) is a US interagency collaboration based at the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), which is aligned under the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI).

[ Bookmark the SemperVerus CHURCH SECURITY INTELLIGENCE CLIPBOARD ]

Working with intelligence analysts from NCTC, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), JCAT’s primary mission is to improve counterterrorism information sharing between federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial government agencies and the private sector. The latter is where that information is adaptable for personal self-defense and church security teams in being situationally aware to pre-indicators of criminal and terroristic attacks.

[ Read SemperVerus articles on the topic of SITUATIONAL AWARENESS ]

One resource is JCAT’s Counterterrorism Guide For Public Safety Personnel, offering content to assist self-defenders and church safety volunteers in: