NPR Cookie Consent and Choices "A ninja with a sword assailed a U.S. Army special operations unit in California" Somebody had a lot of fun writing this news story!
This has got to be the weirdest, funniest thing I've read during the pandemic. First off, these are special forces and they ran from this dude and hid? How does that happen. Were they not armed? And they had to call 911 not once, but twice! And how did he know (or did he know) that he was assaulting special forces. You'd think that sort of thing would be a well kept secret, but it can't just be coincidence that he showed up armed to attack soldiers. That sort of thing seems deliberate and planned. Also, the cops caught this guy outside the airport, after they tazed him for not complying. So he not only attacked, he almost got away into the night. Imagine how bad our military must look to the rest of the world right now. Now that I think about it, this really isn't that funny because people might look at this and get emboldened to do other stupid things against the military, like they did on January 6th in Washington. I'm not a superstitious guy, but this has bad omen written all over it.
And people wonder why Hatsumi in order to discourage the wannabes, changed it from Ninjutsu to Ninpo Taijutsu to eventually Budo Taijutsu Looks like they were less Navy seals special forces and more auxiliary special forces Helicopter crew. Still I'm surprised at their professional patience. Either they were separated from their firearms and/or decided this was a nut that the civilian authorities were better placed to take care of. Either way the Shinobi got off very very lightly. Also 1) "The report states, adding that the sergeant's leg and phone were struck" Is that Shinobigatana broken? US phones/Special forces thighs must be made of stern stuff! 2) His Ninja costumes was a bit lame too...Jeans? 3) "Do you know who I am?" the man asked. The sergeant said he did not. "Do you know where my family is?" - I'm sure there is a story there too...
It wasn't a military airport, I don't think, so they probably didn't have the authority to engage the guy, beyond civilian self defence law. I'm guessing that's why they called the cops instead of shooting the guy. Doesn't that sword look broken? Maybe the blade broke before it made contact with the guy's leg.
I'm guessing the guy has had a mental break, and afaik standard SOP for the military is to have all firearms locked away in the armary, so it's a very sensible decision to leave it to the local police. There's been quite a few mass shootings on military bases in the last few years. I think on site security is often outsourced too, that probably effects things too. Fatal shootings at US military bases highlight unexpected and growing threat -- insiders with access badges
It's not a military base though, it's a civilian airport, which is probably why they were limited in their response. Inyokern Airport - Wikipedia