Intel Monitor/Report Suspicious Activity

First, Christ is King! I am so thankful that He created this platform so we can all communicate and make our churches and the Body of Christ safer every day.

Reminder: Log Suspicious Activity

The intel dashboard is thriving! Your suspicious activity reports are flowing in. If you have an event at your church, after contacting your local police and regional intelligence center, please log it with us at intel.christianwarriortraining.com by hitting the “report” button. It allows others in your area to see what is happening in real time.

Two New Classes

If you are in the area of Illinois and Michigan, I’ll be teaching in those two states coming up in October. The details for the MI class is still being worked out, but it will be at the location of a previous active shooter event. The flyer for Illinois is below. If you are within a few hours, please make the drive. I will make it worth your while. If you’ve been to one of my classes before, give some encouragement in the comments to let everyone know if it is worth their time.

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New Leadership Book for Church Security Teams

I wrote a book! My goal here is to help leaders run their team effectively. Here’s what I cover:

Order Now!

• How to build a team structure that functions under pressure

• How to screen and onboard volunteers using a biblical character framework

• How to handle the problem volunteer that every team eventually encounters

• How to navigate the pastoral relationship when the pastor is disengaged

• How to build and defend a budget in ministry language

• How to develop the next generation of leaders before you need them

• The legal framework every team leader must understand, including negligence liability and citizen’s arrest authority

• What leniency bias costs a security program and how to resist it as a Christian leader

If you buy it, I would greatly appreciate you rating the book on Amazon.

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What Happened

A funeral was underway at an LDS church in Kearns, Utah, on the morning of Monday, August 17, 2026. Police were already on the property before anything happened. People planning to attend had called the Unified Police Department that morning, told them there could be trouble at the service, and asked that officers be there and be visible. UPD sent them. Officers were standing in that parking lot at 11:25 a.m. when they heard gunfire on the south side of the building.

Officers found the first victim lying in the road with critical injuries. Medical personnel worked on him at the scene and he was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. While officers were treating him, they saw a second victim being carried to a vehicle in the church parking lot. Officers ordered the occupants to stop. They did not. The vehicle fled and was boxed in a short distance away near 4700 South and 4000 West in West Valley City, where officers finally got that man into an ambulance. A third victim was located at the church, also shot, also critical. All three were men. No officer fired a weapon.

The building is the Salt Lake Tongan Central Stake at 4660 West 5015 South. For readers outside the LDS Church, that name needs unpacking. A ward is a local congregation, roughly what most of us would call a church. A stake is a group of wards covering an area, closer to what other denominations call a district or a diocese. The stake center is the larger building at the hub of it, used for the bigger gatherings a single ward building cannot hold. This one serves Tongan congregations and its services are conducted in the Tongan language.

The funeral flyer puts the timeline in sharper focus than any news report has. The Family Program was scheduled from 8:00 a.m. to noon and the Bishop’s Program from noon to 1:00 p.m. The shooting happened at 11:25, during the family portion, about 35 minutes before the ecclesiastical service was set to begin. Police had been on that property for hours.

Assistant Chief Justin Hoyal told reporters that investigators believed they had everyone involved, though no arrests were announced. Detectives said the shooting may be gang-involved. Three Granite School District campuses went into secure protocol, including West Kearns Elementary next door, and were released just before 12:30 p.m. School had been back in session less than a week.

The man being buried was ‘Ofatangikivaha Angilau, 23 years old, born April 17, 2003. He had been killed ten days earlier.

The Riverton Shooting That Led to This Funeral

On the afternoon of August 7, Angilau walked into the Holiday Oil station at 12600 South 4185 West in Riverton and tried to buy alcohol. He had no ID. The clerk refused the sale. Riverton public information officer Nate Slack said Angilau became belligerent and argumentative, that another customer tried to de-escalate, and that Angilau left the store and got into his car.

He drove around the lot, and then he came back inside with a shotgun. Armed civilians inside the store shot him before he could use it. He made it out the door and collapsed outside, where he died. No police were involved. Riverton later corrected its initial statement and confirmed Angilau never fired the shotgun. A law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation has told me there were two shooters, not one, and early reporting on the incident also indicated two customers may have fired.

A young man carried a shotgun into a store to settle an argument over a beer, and two lawfully armed strangers stopped him in the few seconds available to them.

The Hospital, and What Intermountain Told the Public

The two surviving victims went to Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, the flagship Level I trauma center for the Salt Lake Valley. What happened there has not been reported honestly, and church leaders and hospital administrators should pay attention to it.

Intermountain closed the entire campus. Appointments were canceled. Ambulances and Life Flight were diverted away from a Level I trauma center to other facilities. Spokesman Jess Gomez told reporters the closure was entirely precautionary, that there was no danger, and that nothing was going on inside. A woman named Kristy Nebeker stood outside for hours unable to reach her daughter, who had been brought in after a crash, and told a reporter she could not get anyone to let her in or tell her anything.

Now put that next to what the police said and what people saw. Assistant Chief Hoyal said the hospital closed its campus to keep the peace. Gomez himself confirmed that agencies from roughly 10 departments across the valley responded to the facility. KUTV reported that drivers passing the hospital saw fully geared SWAT officers, snipers, an armored vehicle, and multiple agencies stacked up outside. I have reviewed photographs of a police countersniper posted in the parking lot and an armored rescue vehicle parked at the entrance, which I am not able to publish yet.

I spent a career on SWAT, including time as a supervisor. You do not deploy a countersniper and an armored rescue vehicle to make people feel better. You do not pull 10 agencies off patrol and divert trauma traffic off a Level I center as a courtesy. A countersniper goes up because a commander has assessed there is an armed threat present or inbound and has decided he needs a precision option. That is the only reason. Every one of those decisions goes in a log with a name attached to it.

A medical source inside the building described a fight in the emergency room parking area and armed subjects attempting to get to the surviving victim. The independent analyst S2 Underground reported multiple shots-fired calls at the facility. Neither account has been confirmed by any agency. But the response posture is a matter of public record, and the posture does not fit the statement.

Intermountain owes the public an explanation, and so far it has given the public a press line instead. When you divert ambulances off a trauma center, you have made a decision that carries risk for every cardiac and trauma patient in the valley that afternoon. That is a decision people are entitled to understand. Telling them nothing was happening while snipers were on the property does not build trust. It burns it.

Who the Tongan Crip Gang Is

The Tongan Crip Gang started in Inglewood, California, and moved into the Salt Lake Valley in the late 1980s when members relocated to escape heavy California gang enforcement. I was working a gang team in California during that enforcement era, and that migration pattern is exactly what we watched happen. Pressure in Los Angeles pushed sets outward into Utah, Nevada, Arizona, and the Pacific Northwest, and Salt Lake caught a large share of it.

TCG is a Crip-aligned set drawing primarily from the Tongan community. Its rivals include the Kearns Town Bloods, the Baby Regulators, and a splinter group of former members called the Tongan Crip Regulators. That rival list is important for understanding this incident, because Kearns is not clean TCG ground. It is contested. Kearns Town Bloods is rooted in that same community, and the Baby Regulators feud with TCG is a Tongan-on-Tongan conflict that has been running for decades. Federal prosecutors have taken TCG apart in racketeering cases more than once, with sentences running into decades.

The piece most people outside Utah do not understand is the church connection. The Tongan community in Salt Lake County is large, roughly 13,000 people by the analyst S2 Underground’s count, which he places at about a quarter of the entire Tongan population of the United States. The LDS Church has built dedicated Tongan stakes and wards to serve them, conducted in the Tongan language, with their own cultural centers. Yesterday’s funeral was at one of them. Salt Lake Tongan Central Stake is not a general meetinghouse that happened to host a Tongan family. It is a Tongan stake center.

S2 Underground’s assessment is that some of these buildings are “not really houses of worship, but actually safehouses for the Tongan Crip Gang.” He points to gang colors displayed around the structures and to the fact that police now pre-stage at Tongan funerals because they assess with high confidence that shooting is likely. His reporting is reliable and his assessment lines up with what I am looking at.

I have reviewed a photograph of Angilau wearing Crip attire, and I have reviewed the family’s own funeral announcement, which lists the Nofo’aki, the Tongan gathering held Saturday, August 15, at a residence in West Valley City belonging to a man named Siale Angilau. That surname turns up in federal Tongan Crip Gang prosecutions in Salt Lake City. It appears generally that there are some gang associations here with the Tongan Crip Gang. That is fairly obvious from the material and I am not going to belabor it, because the point of this article is not who this young man ran with. It is what happened at the building.

One detail on the flyer will fly past most readers. It carries a Utah Jazz logo and a green and gold KC. In California in the 1980s and 1990s, when enforcement got heavy and wearing colors got you stopped, sets moved to sports team jerseys and logos as a way to show unity without announcing membership. Blue teams for Crip sets, red for Bloods, and local school iconography layered underneath. I cannot tell you with certainty that is what is happening on this flyer, but that is what it looks like to a set of eyes that spent years reading it.

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The January Shooting at Rose Park

On January 7, 2026, at an LDS meetinghouse at 660 North Redwood Road in Salt Lake City’s Rose Park neighborhood, a funeral was underway inside the chapel when a fight broke out in the parking lot and turned into gunfire. Sione Vatuvei, 38, and Vaea Tulikihihifo, 46, were killed. Six more people were shot. A witness told investigators she arrived to find a large group of men standing in the parking lot smoking and drinking, wearing gang attire, and that two men fired toward the church until they ran out of ammunition. Detectives reported that witnesses were uncooperative. Two men were arrested for obstruction of justice before anyone was arrested for the killings.

Same county, same denomination, same event type, seven months apart. I covered that shooting on video in January, and this is what I said on camera at the time:

We’re gonna save this because I’m going to replay it after your next active shooter event. Some of you are going to die because of the ineptness of your church security program and your inability to create a structured security program at the meeting house.

I take no satisfaction in being right about that. A man is dead and two more are fighting for their lives, and the outcome was predictable enough that the police showed up before the shooting to stand in the parking lot and wait for it.

The Decision Nobody Made

Somebody called the police on the morning of August 17 and told them there could be a problem at this funeral. Police believed that report enough to send officers and post them in the open as a deterrent. The stake had a known gang funeral on its calendar, in a building that serves a community with an active gang problem, seven months after two men were shot to death at a funeral at another LDS building in the same county.

At that point the funeral should have been postponed, relocated to a controlled site, or held with restricted access. It went forward as scheduled.

I understand why nobody wanted to be the one to call it off. A family is grieving, the cultural expectation around a Tongan funeral is enormous, and telling that family no would have been the hardest conversation a bishop or stake president had all year. But that is the job. Somebody in that building had the authority to say the service could not proceed as planned, and the cost of not saying it was one man dead and two in surgery, with an elementary school in lockdown next door and children inside it.

Church leaders need to understand something about that threshold. If the threat is credible enough that you want armed police standing on your property, it is credible enough that you should not be running the event. Those two positions cannot both be true at once. Asking for officers is an admission that you expect violence. Proceeding anyway is a decision to accept it.

Your people’s physical safety comes before anyone’s feelings about a service. That is not cold. That is the whole reason a security ministry exists.

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What to Do When a Gang Is Operating Inside Your Church

Most of you reading this do not have a TCG problem. Some of you have a gang problem you have decided not to look at, and it usually starts small. A few young men in colors in the back row. A set of hand signs in a youth group photo. Graffiti on the dumpster enclosure that somebody paints over without reporting. A funeral request from a family the neighborhood knows about.

There is a norm in some communities that the church is off limits, that whatever happens in the street stays in the street. That norm is real where it exists and it has kept a lot of buildings quiet over the years. It does not exist here. Two funerals in seven months say it plainly. If you are counting on an unwritten rule to protect your building, you are counting on something you have no control over and no way to enforce.

Start with your written policy, because everything else runs off it. Your policy needs to state that gang colors, indicia, and hand signs are not permitted in the building, and it needs to name who enforces that and how. It needs to give your pastor or bishop the explicit authority to postpone, relocate, or restrict access to any funeral or event based on a threat assessment, without having to negotiate it with a family in the moment. Write that down before you need it, because you will not win that argument on the day.

Then do a threat assessment on every funeral. Not just the ones that worry you. Every one. Who is the deceased, how did he die, is there an open investigation, is there a rival faction with a grievance, has there been retaliatory violence in the last 90 days. Your local police gang unit will talk to you if you build the relationship before you need it. In Salt Lake County that is the Metro Gang Unit. In your county it is somebody with the same job and the same phone number sitting unused.

Do not confuse a security response with a ministry response. You need both and they are separate tracks. Gang intervention inside a congregation is real ministry work and there are people who do it well, but it is done by leaders and mentors over years, not by a team member in a polo shirt on a Sunday morning. The security team’s job is to keep people alive long enough for that work to happen. Do not ask your volunteers to do outreach to a set while they are supposed to be running a perimeter.

Finally, work the parking lot. Both of these shootings happened outside the building. The chapel was never breached in Rose Park or in Kearns. Roughly 75 percent of attacks at churches happen in the parking lot, and these two incidents are textbook. If your team is all inside greeting people at the door, your team is in the wrong place.

The LDS Security Problem

I have written about this before and I am going to keep writing about it. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a security problem across its meetinghouses nationwide, and the response from leadership has been inadequate at the ward level, at the stake level, and above. I disagree with LDS theology and that is a separate conversation from whether their buildings are safe.

Buildings sit unlocked and unstaffed. There is no consistent trained security presence. There is no standardized threat assessment process for events. And the guidance discourages members from carrying, which brings me back to Riverton.

Think about what actually happened on August 7. A young man walked into a store with a shotgun, and two armed private citizens stopped him before he could kill the clerk. That young man was a member of the LDS Church. He was buried out of an LDS stake center ten days later. The people who stopped him were exercising a right his own church discourages his fellow members from exercising.

Now move that same scenario 200 yards down the road into the stake center on a Sunday morning. Same man, same shotgun, same three seconds to decide. Who stops him in that building?

Nobody in that room is armed, because they were told not to be. That is the entire answer, and church leadership needs to reckon with it. Members should be permitted to carry concealed in accordance with the laws of the state they live in. A policy that leaves a congregation defenseless is not a neutral policy. It is a decision, and the consequences of that decision land on the people in the pews.

Biblical Perspective

Scripture is not silent on the man who knows his property is dangerous and does nothing about it. The law God gave Israel addressed it directly and assigned the liability without hedging.

Exodus 21:29

“But if the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has been warned but has not kept it in, and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned, and its owner also shall be put to death.”

Read that carefully, because it is a three-part test and every part of it was met in Kearns. The danger had a history. The owner had been warned. The owner did not restrain it. God does not treat the owner as an unlucky bystander to a tragedy on his own property. He treats him as responsible, and He does it because the owner had knowledge and authority and used neither.

An unforeseen accident is a different case entirely, and the passage right before this one says so. The distinction the text draws is knowledge. Once you have been warned, the calculus changes and so does your accountability before God. A stake that receives a warning serious enough to summon armed police to its parking lot has been warned. What it does in the hour after that warning is a moral act, not an administrative one.

The second passage speaks to what a building becomes when nobody guards what happens inside it.

Jeremiah 7:11

“Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the LORD.”

Jeremiah is standing at the gate of the temple, watching people treat the building as a sanctuary in the criminal sense rather than the holy one. They committed violence and theft in the street, then came inside and stood in a house with God’s name on it and considered themselves safe. God’s answer is that He sees it. The building does not launder anything. His name on the door does not sanctify what is being carried through it.

That is the warning for any congregation that lets a criminal element establish itself in the pews and tells itself that hospitality covers the problem. Welcoming a sinner into your church is the mission. Allowing a criminal enterprise to use your building as its ground is something else, and Jeremiah puts God’s own eyes on it. A leader who sees colors in the back row and looks away is not being gracious. He is deciding that the peace of his week is worth more than the safety of his people.

Final Assessment

Three men were shot at a church in Kearns because a funeral went forward that should not have. The warning was specific, it was delivered the morning of, and it was credible enough that armed officers were standing in the parking lot when the shots were fired. The threat assessment was correct. The decision that should have followed it was never made.

Intermountain Medical Center then told the public there was no danger while snipers were on the property and ambulances were being turned away from a Level I trauma center. That is not a small thing and it should not be allowed to pass. When institutions manage the narrative instead of telling people the truth, the public loses the ability to make good decisions about its own safety.

For your team, the takeaway is narrow and immediate. Get funeral and memorial risk assessment into your written policy this month, with named authority to postpone or relocate. Get your parking lot covered. Get a working relationship with your county gang unit before you need one. And if you ever find yourself asking police to stand outside your building because of what might happen at an event, understand that you have already answered the question of whether that event should proceed.

If your church has a history of violence connected to a group that meets there, and you are worried enough to call the police, cancel the service. Your people go home alive. That is the standard.

Leave a Comment

What is your team’s policy on funerals and memorial services? Do you have written authority to postpone or relocate one? Leave a comment below and tell me how you handle it. If this piece is useful, send it to your pastor, your bishop, or your team leader.

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Copyright © 2026 Keith Graves. All rights reserved.

Intel Monitor/Report Suspicious Activity

Please watch the video. I am looking for info from followers on the shooting at a church in Kearns, UT today.

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Intel Monitor/Report Suspicious Activity

In this video, I walk through what I carry to church and why I have chosen each piece of equipment. If you carry a firearm as part of a church safety team or simply as a concealed carrier attending church, I think you need to look seriously at whether your equipment matches the threat you believe you may have to face. I cover my normal handgun setup, a smaller concealed carry option, communications, less lethal options, body armor, medical gear, and the equipment I keep available if an incident requires me to move from a handgun to a rifle. You can carry capable equipment without walking into church looking like you are headed to a SWAT callout. The goal is to blend in during normal church activities while having the equipment, training, and options necessary to protect the congregation if something happens.

Gear Mentioned in the Video

Firearms and Firearm Equipment

• Glock 45, 9mm

• Glock 20, 10mm, my normal church carry handgun

• Glock 43X, discussed as a smaller concealed carry option

• .300 Blackout rifle/carbine

• Speer Gold Dot 9mm ammunition

• Trijicon SRO red dot optic

• Aimpoint COA red dot optic, on the Glock 43X

• Radian barrel and compensator

• Radian Magwell

• Streamlight TLR 1 HP X weapon light

• Palmetto State Armory Dagger magazines, 15 round magazines used with my Glock 43X

Holsters and Load Carrying Equipment

• T.REX Arms inside the waistband holster GET 15% off with code CWT

• T.REX Arms Bailout Bag / Active Shooter Bag GET 15% off with code CWT

T.REX Arms discount: Use code CWT for 15% off eligible equipment.

Body Armor

• Premier Body Armor GT plates

• Premier Body Armor soft body armor

• T.REX Arms concealable hard armor / covert plate carrier

• Security identification placards

Communications

• PocLink radio

Less Lethal

• POM MK 3 pepper spray

Medical and Support Equipment

• T Rex Arms Med Pouch (use code CWT for a 15% discount)

Clothing and Footwear

• Poncho button down shirt

• KÜHL hiking pants

• Altama shoes

The specific clothing is less important than the concept behind it. I want clothing that allows me to blend in with the congregation while still being able to move, run, access my firearm, and carry the equipment I need without advertising everything I have on me.

The video goes into considerably more detail about how these pieces work together and why I have different options available depending on what happens. My basic approach is simple: armor, bag, and carbine.

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TERROR AND THREAT UPDATE

TIER 1 — Direct Christian Targeting

ISIS Claims 62 Christians Killed in Eastern Congo — Ituri and Beni, DRC

ISIS Central Africa Province claimed in its weekly newsletter that its fighters killed 62 Christians in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo during the reporting week, captured 10 more, burned approximately 115 homes, and displaced hundreds of people. The claimed operations concentrated in Ituri, with two attacks in the Beni area. Individual claimed actions include a raid on the village of Mongwiko in which 17 Christians were killed by knife and two taken captive, a raid on the villages of Bakwa and Kabutimo in which 13 were killed and eight taken captive, and three separate attacks around the town of Andiri accounting for roughly 19 more deaths and more than 40 homes burned. The group also claimed it burned two Congolese army barracks, wounded soldiers in a firefight near the village of Chanchani in Beni, and killed five more Christians aboard a river boat near the town of Biondo.

[Source: al-Naba issue 559]

🛡️ My thoughts: Each week Isis puts out the tally for the number of Christians that they killed that week. It is indeed a genocide occurring in Nigeria and we should continue to support and pray for our brothers and sisters in Africa.

ISIS Restates Convert, Pay, or Die Ultimatum to Congolese Christians

In the same issue, ISIS Central Africa Province stated that the recent wave of attacks was accompanied by a renewed message to Congolese Christians. The group said Christians in the region have been given three options: convert to Islam voluntarily, pay the jizya tax in a subordinate status in exchange for being left in their villages unharmed, or continue to face war. The statement closed by telling Christians to consider the fate of those attacked before them. The same issue reported that fighters in Mozambique conducted a preaching circuit near the town of Natolo in Montepuez district, where they met with local Muslims and with what the group described as protected persons who had already secured their own safety by paying the jizya.

[Source: al-Naba issue 559]

🛡️ My thoughts: the tax will be paid if you don't convert, but if you pay it, you will still be a slave to the Muslims. They will continue to treat you like a dog and torture your people.

ISIS Weekly Tally Classifies 72 of 90 Casualties as Christians

ISIS published a weekly operational infographic claiming 22 operations producing more than 90 killed and wounded. Of those casualties, the group classified 72 as Christians and 18 as apostates or unbelievers. The provincial breakdown claimed 67 casualties across 11 operations in Central Africa, 16 casualties across 7 operations in West Africa, 5 casualties across 3 operations in Mozambique, and 2 casualties across 2 operations in Khorasan. The group also claimed one commander killed, eight vehicles burned or disabled, and three military sites burned.

[Source: al-Naba issue 559]

ISIS West Africa Publishes 50-Day Campaign Totals for Nigeria, Niger, and Cameroon

A second ISIS infographic in the same issue covered a period of just under 50 days, running from 2 Muharram to 18 Safar 1448. The group claimed 72 attacks producing 110 killed and wounded, including two commanders. Of the claimed casualties, 69 were categorized as army and police, 32 as militia members, and 9 as Christians. Claimed materiel losses included 50 vehicles destroyed or disabled, 40 homes burned, and 7 positions burned. The group broke its attacks into 8 bombings, 7 ambushes, 24 assaults and firefights, and 33 other actions, distributed across Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa in northern Nigeria, the Maroua area of far northern Cameroon, and Diffa in southeastern Niger.

[Source: al-Naba issue 559]

🛡️ My thoughts: Americans may think that this does not apply to them. It does apply to you because they are Christians being slaughtered and a genocide. You should study these attacks because this is how they will attack you when they finally get organized in America. If you think the organization isn't happening, just look at Texas and Michigan.

TIER 2 — Attack Methods

Pro-ISIS Forum User Solicits Explosives, Poison, and Drone Instruction

On 3 August, a pro-ISIS user posted a request on a group-affiliated forum, written in Tajik, asking for information on constructing homemade explosives, creating poisonous materials, and using unmanned aerial vehicles. The user did not state a purpose or intended target and also asked to be directed to pro-ISIS channels that could supply further material. Another user responded by pointing him to a channel that has been prolific in producing tactical manuals. Analysts noted that a separate pro-ISIS user recently urged readers to exploit the ongoing conflict between the United States and Iran to prepare to move into areas with wider security gaps.

[Source: NYPD OSI Reporting, 9 August 2026]

🛡️ My thoughts: these weapons are readily available. You can go online right now and buy C4, dynamite, and other explosives. The weapons markets work just like the drug markets on the dark web. They're very difficult to investigate and stop. Attacks on churches have become more complex when you look at the last few years. Isis has been telling people how to construct improvise explosives to use vehicles, knives, firearms, fire, all at the same time.

TIER 3 — United States Homeland

Iranian Cyber Actors Compromise Municipal Water Systems in at Least Seven States

United States intelligence agencies assess that cyberattacks against water systems in dozens of municipalities across at least seven states were likely carried out by Iranian cyber actors. The intrusions targeted programmable logic controllers, the equipment used to remotely control and monitor system components, and were first reported in late July when operators at multiple Minnesota water systems reported malicious activity. Pennsylvania systems were also affected. The attacks did not compromise drinking water quality or produce prolonged service disruptions. Analysts placed the activity in a pattern going back more than a decade, including the 2023 intrusion at a water provider in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, and a 2013 intrusion into the control systems of a dam in Rye, New York.

[Source: NYPD OSI Reporting, 9 August 2026; Indago Iran Weekly Update, 10 August 2026]

🛡️ My thoughts: this should be deeply concerning. The government has been warning us for quite a long time that these bad actors are in our municipal systems. This includes power. Do you need to prepare to be without water or electricity for over 30 days.

Christian Warrior Prepper

Christian Warrior Prepper equips believers with practical survival skills and biblical guidance for uncertain times. Join our community dedicated to preparedness, resilience, and faith-driven action.

By Keith Graves

TIER 5 — Dates to Watch This Week

• 15 August. Spanish and European authorities are watching for a signaled second mass border crossing at Ceuta. Roughly 70,000 migrants breached the border from Morocco in the first event, and Spanish authorities confirmed at least a dozen convicted terrorists among the arrivals.

• 21 August. The United States 60-day general license authorizing Iranian oil sales expires. Analysts assess its collapse as the leading trigger for renewed regional escalation.

VIOLENT CRIME

Mass Shooting and Hostage Plot Against a Church Disrupted — Venice, Florida

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement arrested 19-year-old Giovanni Pimienta of Venice on charges of written threats to kill, threats to bomb or conduct a mass shooting, and unlawful use of a two-way communication device to commit a felony. The investigation began July 31 when an FDLE agent received information through the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force about a person communicating online about obtaining weapons and glorifying prior mass shootings. According to the arrest affidavit, an anonymous tip on August 7 reported that Pimienta had written a manifesto, displayed guns on a messaging app, and had recently visited a local church and interviewed staff members about the exits. Investigators also recovered an AI-generated video and a manifesto posted to social media that promoted white supremacist, antisemitic, anti-Black, anti-Muslim, and accelerationist views. Agents served a search warrant at his residence on August 7 and seized a handgun and multiple electronic devices; the affidavit states Pimienta admitted sharing a plan with online associates to take hostages at the church, release those who agreed with his views, kill those who did not, and flee to Cuba. The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office, Venice Police Department, and FBI assisted, and the case is being prosecuted by the State Attorney for the 12th Judicial Circuit.

Source

🛡️ My thoughts: this man's reconnaissance should've set off major alarms. I have a free class on identifying threats just like this. Take that course, it's free to you as a fellow follower of Christ. This was a tragedy that was averted. In the rollcall briefing put out yesterday, I discussed how you need to prepare and train for hostage taking like this.

Vehicle Occupants Fired On While Driving Home From Church — Collins, Mississippi

Holly Cadence Morgan, 38, of Seminary is jailed in Covington County on one count of shooting into an occupied vehicle and one count of possession of a firearm by a felon. Authorities say Morgan was a passenger in a stopped vehicle at the intersection of Cascio-Taormina Road and Highway 590 when she opened the door, stepped out, and fired three times at a passing car occupied by a family heading home from a church service. One bullet struck the vehicle and no one was injured. Investigators say Morgan did not know anyone in the vehicle and have not established why she fired on them. The arrest was reported on Wednesday, August 12.

Source

🛡️ My thoughts: please have situational awareness at all times. While you leave your target because of your beliefs. Although that was not the case here, you should still pay attention to your surroundings and be ready to act. Here, when you see somebody getting ready to fire upon you, your vehicle can become a wonderful weapon to defend yourself.

Body Found Beside Church Parking Lot, State Police Investigating — Hoxie, Arkansas

Hoxie police were notified at approximately 3:15 p.m. on Tuesday, August 11, of a body on property adjacent to the parking lot of People’s Faith Tabernacle Church at 1202 Sullens Road. Arkansas State Police identified the deceased as James Frey, 34, of Salem, roughly an hour northwest of Hoxie in Fulton County. At the request of the Hoxie Police Department, special agents with the Arkansas State Police Criminal Investigation Division took over the case. Frey’s body was transported to the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory, where the cause and manner of death will be determined. Authorities have released no cause of death, no suspect information, and no stated connection between the death and the church. Hoxie is in Lawrence County in northeast Arkansas.

Source

🛡️ My thoughts: this is a sad event. We don't know how he died. But we do know that people that need Christ the most will go to a church 24/7 when they are in crisis. Whether it's a medical crisis, a drug overdose, or somebody trying to kill them. Have a 4K video system that includes the church perimeter. It is a force multiplier for you and the recording helps law-enforcement self crime.

Former Teacher and Choir Member Charged in Church Bomb Threat — Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested Melissa Ann Redway on Monday, August 10, on charges including writing threats to kill or do bodily injury and threatening to discharge a destructive device. According to the arrest report, the threat was emailed to Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in February and referenced a concert scheduled at the church for February 20, stating she first needed to blow up the entire church with herself present at the concert. Redway had been a teacher at Westminster Academy, the church’s private school, and was laid off after a brain injury left her unable to perform her duties. Police say she also lost her position in the church choir and did not accept the news well, and a witness reported she arrived at a choir practice wearing a cassock, ran down the aisle, and left the building. The church’s executive director told police that Redway’s behavior had been increasingly concerning and expressed concern for the safety of congregants and students. Bond was set at $7,500.

Source

🛡️ My thoughts: another crisis averted. Please study incidents like this and use it as a scenario in your next training day.

SEX CRIMES

Christian Academy Closes After Fifth Arrest in Sex Offender Scandal — Pawleys Island, South Carolina

Pawleys Island Community Church elders announced in an email to members on Monday, August 10, that the congregation is formally ending Pawleys Island Christian Academy after 25 years of operation. The case centers on Warren Spencer Perry, 70, a registered sex offender who pleaded guilty in 2023 to third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor and who served in volunteer custodial and maintenance roles on the shared church and school campus. South Carolina probation officials arrested Perry on July 14 for allegedly entering areas frequented by children and repeatedly contacting minors, and the Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office opened an investigation after a parent complaint in July. Five people have now been arrested: Perry, former senior pastor Don Williams, his wife Ginny Williams, former academy director Jennifer “Niki” Howard, and church director of operations and missions Michael Anthony Fields, on charges including obstruction of justice, criminal conspiracy, and unlawfully placing a child at risk.

Source

🛡️ My thoughts: this event was church ending. You should constantly think about crime like this and how I can end your church. I love my church and don't want to see it closed because of something stupid like somebody protecting the church instead of the innocent. But yet, this occurs several times a year around America. The Bible is clear: victims come before protecting the church.

Affidavit Details Released in Pastor’s Indecency Case — Edinburg, Texas

Jorge Ivan Gonzalez Martinez, 49, of McAllen, a pastor at Iglesia Internacional Poder y Gloria in Edinburg, was arrested July 27 and charged with three counts of indecency with a child by sexual contact and one count of indecency with a child by exposure. Arrest affidavit details released this week state a girl made an outcry to a parent on July 19 that Martinez had touched her inappropriately on multiple occasions between March and April 2025. The affidavit states all of the alleged incidents occurred in the church’s camera room. During a Children’s Advocacy Center interview on July 24, the child reported the conduct began with hugs that became tighter and involved body contact, progressed to kisses, and escalated to Martinez pulling down her clothing and placing her hand on his genitals over his clothes. Edinburg Police Chief Jaime Ayala said additional children have come forward with allegations, though investigators concluded those findings did not rise to the level of further criminal offenses. Bond was initially set at $300,000 and Martinez has since posted $70,000 in bonds and been released; the investigation remains open.

Source

Charges Against Former Youth Pastor Double to 36 Counts — Clute, Texas

A Brazoria County grand jury returned a new round of indictments against Adrian Gerard Johnson, 35, a former youth pastor at Destiny Church in Clute, doubling the number of charges against him from 18 to 36. The charges include trafficking, aggravated sexual assault of a child, sexual assault of a child, sexual performance by a child, compelling prostitution, and indecency with a child. The indictments were filed directly with the grand jury by the Lake Jackson Police Department, which is leading the investigation. The original 18 counts covered offenses alleged between July 2015 and November 2020 involving three girls, and it is not yet clear whether the new indictments involve the same girls or additional accusers. Several women have alleged Johnson abused them when they attended the church or its affiliated school, Kairos Christian Academy. The case began with a multi-agency investigation opened in July 2025 after a 20-year-old woman filed a complaint alleging abuse that started when she was a teenager.

Source

ARSON AND SUSPICIOUS FIRES

Church Arson Suspect Admitted Attempt on Second Church — Brooklyn, New York

Federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York disclosed in a detention memo that John Jones, 24, admitted setting the June 19 fire that destroyed the 173-year-old South Bushwick Reformed Church at 855 Bushwick Avenue, and further stated he had recently attempted to burn down a second church in Brooklyn. Jones was arrested on August 5 for shoplifting at a Midtown CVS and made the admissions during the post-arrest interview. Investigators recovered a notebook containing a handwritten chart with categories for violent targets, including entries reading murder them, kill them, and stab them, along with tally marks and repeated misspellings of the word church. The criminal complaint alleges surveillance footage shows Jones attempting to enter the church on the afternoon of June 19, walking to a nearby store to buy a lighter, and returning to the church before the fire started. The three-alarm blaze destroyed the sanctuary and toppled the steeple of the building, which was designated a New York City landmark in 1968 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. Jones faces up to 20 years if convicted, and prosecutors are seeking pretrial detention.

Source

🛡️ My thoughts: this man was going to continue burning other churches in New York City. New York City should be on alert. With Mayer mamdani, crimes against Christian and Jews has been skyrocketing.

Suspected Arson Destroys Church Storage Shed — McHenry, Illinois

The McHenry Township Fire Protection District responded at approximately 2:49 a.m. on Tuesday, July 28, to a reported structure fire at Faith Presbyterian Church, 2107 West Lincoln Road in McHenry. A 911 caller reported a large shed on fire, and arriving crews confirmed a standalone shed heavily engulfed. The fire destroyed the shed and its contents. Fire officials have deemed the fire suspicious and the investigation is open, with investigators publicly seeking information from the community as of August 9. The church credited neighbors in the adjacent Eastwood Manor subdivision for calling 911 quickly and the fire district for a response that kept the fire from spreading.

Source

🛡️ My thoughts: this is your reminder that I give every week to have a burglar alarm, a fire alarm, and a 4K video system. This is the most basic security measures in church can take.

Fire at Church Previously Targeted With Swastika Graffiti — Broomfield, Colorado

Colorado firefighters responded to a fire at a Broomfield church, and the extent of the damage is under investigation. The cause has not been publicly determined. Broomfield police investigated an incident at the same church last fall in which a swastika and other symbols were painted on the church sign. No injuries were reported.

Source

INTERNATIONAL

Monk Arrested After Stabbing Two at Monastery — Cyprus

A 51-year-old monk was arrested after allegedly stabbing two men at a monastery in Cyprus on Friday, August 7. Reports state the monk had been asked to leave the monastery, went to his room, and returned with a box cutter. He attempted to stab the abbot but instead struck a 53-year-old maintenance worker, and also wounded a 27-year-old preacher. Both victims were hospitalized. The abbot and members of the church committee were present during the incident.

Source

Bishop Says Gangs Are Targeting the Church as 65 Parishes Close — Haiti

Bishop Joseph Gontrand Décoste of Jérémie said armed gangs have made the church a direct target as violence continues to spread across Haiti. Reporting this week indicates 65 Catholic parishes have closed because of gang activity. Gangs are not only seizing church buildings and schools but converting them into fortified positions. Priests, seminarians, and nuns are regularly among the victims, and attacks on religious schools and kidnappings of clergy have been used to establish control over regions of the country. The bishop said congregations in his diocese continue to gather, pray, and worship despite the daily threat.

Source

Forty Anti-Christian Hate Crimes Recorded in a Single Month — Europe

The Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians documented more than three dozen attacks targeting Christian churches, symbols, and worshippers across Europe during July. Incidents in the report include the desecration of churches with bodily waste and the stabbing of a woman as she prayed inside a Catholic church in Ireland. The report was published this week.

Source

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Copyright © 2026 Keith Graves. All rights reserved.

Intel Monitor/Report Suspicious Activity

This week’s Roll Call Briefing examines a planned hostage attack against a Florida church and the warning signs investigators uncovered before the suspect could act. We also cover the shooting of a family returning home from church, several developing terrorism concerns, violent incidents affecting churches, and how safety teams should respond when an armed suspect takes hostages.

• A Florida suspect who allegedly cased a church and planned to take hostages

• A family’s vehicle struck by gunfire while they were returning home from church

• ISIS claims involving the deaths of Christians in the Congo

• Pro ISIS requests for explosives, poison, and drone instructions

• Iranian cyberattacks against American water systems

• A bomb threat, suspicious death, and sex offender case involving churches

• Recognizing leakage and pre-attack reconnaissance

• Understanding hostage and barricaded incidents

• Psalm 144:1 and the responsibility to prepare

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Active Shooter Incidents In The U

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Churches were the least-attacked place in America last year and took twenty-six percent of the casualties. The FBI counted 34 active shooter attacks in 2025. Three of them happened at churches, which is nine percent of the total and the smallest share of any category in the report. Those three attacks put 43 of the 166 casualties in the country on the ground.

Picture your own building on a Sunday morning. Two hundred people in rows, seated, facing forward, most of them past sixty. The doors are propped because it is warm. Somebody’s grandkids are in the second row. A man walks across the lot with a rifle and starts shooting through the window glass from outside, and nobody inside sees him coming because everybody inside is looking at the pulpit. That is Minneapolis, August 27th. Thirty casualties in about two minutes.

I read all seventy-six pages of this report. There are about two pages in it about churches, because the report is written for cops, not for you. What follows is the part that reaches into your building.

Nine percent and twenty-six percent

Commerce locations took the most attacks in 2025 with fourteen. Open spaces took seven, government buildings six, schools four, and churches three. Nationally the year was worse than the one before it by a wide margin. Attacks were up 42 percent from 24 to 34, casualties were up 57 percent from 106 to 166, and mass killings more than doubled from three to seven. Every shooter was male, every one of them worked alone, and their ages ran from 16 to 77.

You will see people run the division on that and report 14.3 casualties per church attack against a national average of 4.9. I am not going to lean on that number and neither should you. Thirty of the 43 came from Minneapolis alone. One attack is carrying that average, and any statistic built on three events will do that.

Here is the honest version. The three attacks produced 1 casualty, 12 casualties, and 30 casualties. Take Minneapolis out of the math entirely and the other two still averaged 6.5, above the national 4.9. Widen the window to five years, where the sample is big enough to mean something, and the FBI counts seven church attacks and 54 casualties from 2021 through 2025. That is 7.7 per attack against 4.9 across every location. Only schools ran higher.

Why does a church run high year after year? Density. A man shooting in a parking lot is shooting at people who are spread out, moving, and dropping behind cars. A man shooting into a sanctuary during a service is shooting into rows of people who are sitting down, packed shoulder to shoulder, facing the other way. Every round he fires has somebody in front of it. That will not change, which is why churches and schools sit at the top of that chart year after year while the attack counts stay low.

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Three attacks, read side by side

The FBI writes these summaries in about four sentences each. Put the three next to each other and they teach a great deal more than any one of them does alone.

On Sunday, June 22nd, at CrossPointe Community Church in Wayne, Michigan, a 31 year old man with a rifle opened fire outside as the service began. A parishioner watching it happen struck the shooter with his vehicle. Armed church security engaged him and killed him at the scene. One member of that security team was injured. Nobody in the congregation was killed.

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On Wednesday, August 27th, at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis, a 23 year old man barricaded the exit doors from the outside and fired through the windows during a back-to-school Mass. He never entered the building. Two people were killed and twenty-eight were wounded, and the majority of the victims were children in pre-K through eighth grade. He died by suicide before police arrived. Total duration, about two minutes. That was the highest casualty count of any active shooter attack in the United States in 2025, and it happened at a church, on a weekday morning, with the kids there.

On Sunday, September 28th, at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan, a 40 year old man rammed his truck into the building, opened fire on the congregation with a rifle, set the building on fire, and kept shooting. He was carrying improvised explosive devices. A congregant drew his personal weapon and wounded him. Police arrived one minute and fifty-eight seconds after dispatch, which is a fast response by any standard in this country, and killed him. Four dead, eight wounded, three minutes and forty-three seconds from first shot to finish.

One of those three churches had an armed team standing post that morning. That is the church where no member of the congregation was killed.

I am not going to tell you a single case settles an argument, because it does not. But this is the only case we have from 2025 in which an attacker at a church ran into an armed, organized response. That congregation lost nobody. The two that did not have a team lost thirty people shot in one and twelve in the other.

The attack starts outside

Two of the three attacks began outside the building, and one of them never came inside at all.

That should change where you put your people. Most church security plans concentrate everything at the entrance and the back of the sanctuary. The greeters work the door, somebody stands at the rear with eyes on the room, and the whole design assumes the threat walks in through the front where you can see him. At CrossPointe the fight happened in the lot. At Annunciation the attacker worked the exterior wall, blocked the doors so the people inside could not get out, and shot through the glass.

Somebody is going to tell me that a man standing in the parking lot cannot stop a rifle. He is right, and that is not the job. The job is to see a man crossing the lot with a long gun and get that information into the building thirty seconds sooner than it would have arrived otherwise. In thirty seconds your people can be off the pews, behind cover, and the doors can be handled.

So post a man outside during service. Give him a radio, a clear line of sight on the approaches, and permission to walk up to somebody and start a conversation. For most churches reading this, that is the single cheapest change available, and it can be in place this Sunday.

Thirty seconds, not three minutes

Ed Monk is a retired Army lieutenant colonel, a West Point graduate, and a working law enforcement officer who has been researching active shooter attacks since 2007. His book came out in 2025, and it is called First 30 Seconds: The Active Shooter Problem. The number in that title is the most useful figure in this entire subject, and it is far more demanding than anything in the FBI report.

Monk’s finding is that to have a high mathematical probability of holding the victim count in single digits, zero to nine, the attacker has to be stopped inside the first thirty seconds of his attack. His research puts most attackers firing a new shot every three to five seconds. By the thirty-second mark the tenth victim is frequently already down. By the third minute, counts in the twenties and thirties are common.

Now set that against the FBI numbers. Average police response at the three church attacks was two minutes and fifty-nine seconds from dispatch to arrival, and the fastest was one minute fifty-eight at Grand Blanc.

Those are good response times. Those are officers driving hard. They are also about six times longer than Monk’s window.

And 2:59 flatters us. I say us because I spent my career on that end of the call. That clock does not start when the shooting starts, it starts at dispatch. Before dispatch, somebody in your building has to hear it, understand what it is, and get through to a call taker. Arrival on scene is not the end either. Officers still have to make entry, find him, and put him down. The gap your team has to cover is longer than three minutes, not equal to it.

Watch Monk’s math play out in the FBI’s own summaries. Minneapolis ran about two minutes and produced thirty casualties. Grand Blanc ran three minutes and forty-three seconds and produced twelve. At CrossPointe a parishioner hit the attacker with a vehicle and the security team killed him in the opening moments of the attack, and the total came to one injured security member.

The national picture holds up too. Law enforcement intervened in thirteen of the thirty-four attacks while the shooter was still shooting at people. In the other twenty-one it was over before an officer arrived.

So thirty seconds is the standard, and nobody is driving to your address in thirty seconds. That is the whole argument for a trained team on site, and it is why you time your drills. Run the full response and put a real number on each piece. How long to get the exterior doors handled. How long to get the front three rows down and behind something. How long for your team to cross the lot to a man at the far end of it. Write those numbers down and compare them to thirty seconds. A team that knows its own times can plan. A team that has never measured is guessing.

The man in your directory

Two of the three church shooters had ties to the church they attacked, as former members or attendees. They had sat in those rooms. Nationally, fifteen of the thirty-four shooters had some connection to the location or to the victims, and seven of them were classified as insider threats, meaning they had legitimate access at the time of the attack.

I have been telling you this for years, and here is the federal government’s own data confirming it. Most church security training in this country goes heavy on stranger recognition. Watch the door, watch the unfamiliar face, watch the man who does not fit. That work matters and we teach it. But it is not where these attacks came from. The man who attacked Annunciation and the man who attacked CrossPointe were not strangers to those buildings. They had sat in them.

So the greeter’s job is bigger than spotting a new face. It is noticing the familiar one. The man who left angry two years ago. The one who was removed from a ministry position. The family whose situation came apart inside your church last spring. Your safety team should know those names. That is not gossip, it is a threat assessment, and there is a difference between the two.

And when he does show up, you meet him. You close the distance, get your eyes on him, interrupt his OODA loop, and say something friendly. Hey brother, good to see you, everything all right? If he came to talk to his pastor, he tells you so and you just helped a hurting man. If he came for something else, he now knows he has been seen and identified, and the plan he walked in with does not work anymore. Both of those come out of one friendly conversation.

What actually stops these

Twenty-three of the thirty-four shooters in 2025, sixty-eight percent of them, showed what the FBI calls predatory behavior. That means they considered the attack, planned it, and prepared for it. That figure was fifty-eight percent in 2024, so it is climbing. Those planned attacks caused seventy-six percent of every casualty in the report.

That is good news for your team. A man who plans for six weeks leaves six weeks of evidence lying around, and somebody almost always sees a piece of it. The FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit says it flat out on page 74: mass shooters do not just snap.

The back of the report carries an appendix of attacks that were stopped in 2025. Read it and the pattern jumps out. A social media company reported a 16 year old’s post and police found him inside a school in Queens with a handgun and ammunition. A family in Atlanta called after a man livestreamed his plan to attack the airport. Students told their administrators in Schertz, Texas. Students told campus police at the University at Buffalo, and officers seized his firearms the day before he intended to act. Every one of those began with a person saying something out loud to somebody they trusted.

There is one item on the FBI’s list of concerning behaviors that belongs on your team’s briefing sheet this week, and it is this: asking questions about or testing security at a possible target. If a man is walking your building asking which doors stay unlocked, when the offering gets moved, and whether the fellow in the blue polo is carrying, that is your warning sign. Write it down, tell your team leader, and call your local police department.

If you are wrong about a neighbor, you have one awkward conversation and you move on. If you are right and you said nothing, you carry that for the rest of your life.

How worried you should actually be

Not very. A piece like this can leave a man convinced the sky is falling, and the men who have been running your team for ten years will tune out the moment they smell that.

Three attacks in a country with well over three hundred thousand congregations means the odds that your specific church is targeted in a given year are very small. Most churches will exist their entire lives and never see one. Any newsletter that tells you different is trying to sell you a course.

Two things changed this year. When an attack does happen at a church, more people get shot than at the average attack anywhere else, and that has held across five years and seven attacks. It comes from the physical arrangement of a worship service rather than from anything you did wrong. And the direction moved. Church attacks went from one to three. Attacks overall moved out of open spaces, which fell from half of all incidents in 2024 to twenty-one percent in 2025, and into occupied buildings, where commerce attacks more than tripled.

So here is where that leaves you. The odds are low, more people get shot at a church than anywhere else when it happens, and the fixes are cheap. A man posted outside during service. Exit doors that open from the inside. A phone number people can call. None of that takes a budget, and none of it takes anybody walking around your church looking like he is going to war.

Nehemiah prayed and he posted a guard

“And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night.” — Nehemiah 4:9, ESV

He did both, and the text puts them in the same sentence without treating either one as a substitute for the other. The men rebuilding that wall worked with a tool in one hand and a weapon in the other, and nobody in that account suggested the weapon showed a lack of faith.

Proverbs 22:3 draws the line between the prudent man and the simple one, and it is worth reading slowly. “The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it.” The difference between those two men is not courage. It is whether he looked.

The FBI just handed you seventy-six pages of what is coming. Go look at your own building.

Three things this week. Post a man outside during service. Run one drill and write down how long each piece of it actually took. Get your team the names of the people who left your church angry.

Then send this to your pastor and your team leader. The men who need to read it are not the ones who subscribe to a church security newsletter. They are sitting next to you on Sunday and they have never thought about any of it, and you are the one who is going to hand it to them.

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Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Active Shooter Incidents in the United States, 2025, prepared with the ALERRT Center at Texas State University. Data current as of March 19, 2026.

The Intelligence Monitor is free and it stays free. No paywall, no login, no trial period. If you are living paycheck to paycheck, use it and don’t think twice about the money.

It still costs real money to build and maintain. The people who pay for something they could have for nothing are the reason it exists at all, and we need the ones who can afford it to cover the ones who can’t. Take what you find in here and do something with it. Be the watchman on the wall.The CWT Intelligence Monitor Is Live and It Is Free

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Intel Monitor/Report Suspicious Activity

Go to the dashboard here, but I suggest you take the tutorial I made in this video so you can use all of the features.

Go to the Dashboard

Christian Warrior Training now operates a live intelligence dashboard for church safety teams at intel.christianwarriortraining.com. It pulls from 31 news sources, sorts every qualifying incident by severity and by institution, plots it on a map you can filter by state or by country, and publishes a weekly situation report. It also takes suspicious activity reports directly from the people sitting in the pews.

As of this writing the monitor is holding 305 incidents in its 14 day window. Last week alone it logged 173 qualifying incidents: 4 critical, 49 high, and 120 medium. The breakdown by institution was 85 Christian, 43 Jewish, 40 Catholic, 3 LDS, and 2 mixed. The top categories were violence and assault at 57, vandalism and property damage at 34, and burglary and theft at 31. Those are not projections. That is one week of reporting on churches and religious institutions in this country and abroad.

There is no account to create, no login, no tracking, and no cost.

What the Monitor Does

The dashboard ingests public news feeds on an automated schedule and classifies each incident with a rule based system. Critical, high, medium, low. In scope right now are Christian, Catholic, Jewish, and LDS institutions in the United States, with a smaller global watch section for source linked incidents overseas. Every entry carries a direct publisher link or a clearly labeled aggregator link so you can go read the original before you act on anything.

The current CWT threat level sits at the top of the page. It has been at HIGH, Orange, since June 5, 2026, and it is displayed alongside the incident data so your team sees the posture and the reason for it in the same glance.

How to Actually Use It

Start with the map. Tap your state and the feed filters down to your state only. If you want a wider picture, switch to the global map and tap a country. Then set your time range with the buttons above the feed: 24 hours, 72 hours, 7 days, 14 days, or 30 days. Set the region to U.S. focus or Global Watch depending on what you are looking for.

Below the feed you will find the severity distribution, the top incident types for the window, a weekly trend line, and a source health list showing when each of the 31 feeds last checked in and whether it errored.

The button most teams will use every week is Print Briefing. It takes whatever filters you have set and renders a clean, printable incident briefing with sources, timestamps, and locations. Set it to your state, set it to 7 days, print it, and you have a briefing sheet for Sunday morning without writing a word.

If you run your own systems, the public feeds are at slash feed dot xml and slash feed dot json, and they accept filters for group, severity, and range.

Reporting What the News Never Covers

The monitor can only see what a newsroom published. That is the limitation of every open source product, and most of what threatens a congregation never gets that far. The car that has now been in your lot three Sundays in a row does not make the news. The man photographing your entrances does not make the news.

That is what the report form is for. It sits at intel.christianwarriortraining.com slash report, and it is open to pastors, staff, safety team members, volunteers, and anyone in the congregation who saw something. There is a full six step version and a quick version for when you are short on time. You get a reference ID on the confirmation page.

Your report stays private. Reporter contact information never publishes under any circumstance. If, and only if, you check the optional permission box, a reviewer may publish a frozen, redacted summary of what you saw. Those appear on the public dashboard labeled Community Report. There is one on there right now out of O’Fallon, Missouri, where a safety team worked a man who sat on a curb facing the sanctuary entrance writing in a notebook during the 9:30 service. Their team contacted him, their off duty officer took a position where he could see him, and they watched him leave. That report is now sitting in front of every team in the country because one man took ten minutes to file it.

Photo metadata, including GPS location, is stripped from images before upload. This is not an emergency channel and it is not monitored in real time. Call 911 first, then file.

The Ask: Corporate Sponsors

I want this to stay free for every church in America, and I need help holding that line.

There is a sponsor line at the top of the dashboard. I am opening it to businesses that want their name in front of church safety teams, security directors, and pastors: security integrators, camera and access control companies, insurance carriers, firearms and medical gear manufacturers, training organizations, and church management platforms. Your placement sits above the incident feed, which is the first thing a team leader looks at when he opens the page.

If you run a company that serves this space, email Info@gravesassociates.com and I will send you the traffic numbers, the audience breakdown, and the rates. If you know somebody who should see this, forward it to them. Sponsorship is what keeps a paywall off this thing.

The Biblical Lens

Ezekiel 33:6 puts the responsibility exactly where it belongs.

“But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, that person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.”

The watchman is not judged on whether the sword came. He is judged on whether he blew the trumpet. Notice what the passage does not require of him. It does not require certainty, a confirmed threat, or proof that the enemy is real. It requires that when he sees something, he makes noise.

That is the entire premise of the report form. You do not have to be sure. You have to tell somebody.

Go Use It

Open intel.christianwarriortraining.com on your phone right now, tap your state, and see what has happened around you in the last 30 days. Then bookmark the report page and put the link in your team’s group chat so every one of them can file without asking you first.

Tell me in the comments what you find in your state, and what you want the dashboard to do that it does not do yet. I am still building this. Send this to your pastor and your team leader so they know it exists.

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Report Suspicious Activity

TERRORISM/INTELLIGENCE

Armed Civilian and Off-Duty Trooper Return Fire in Restaurant Mass Shooting — Twin Falls, Idaho

Chad Williams, 24, armed with an AR-style rifle, came out from the drive-thru at an In-N-Out Burger on Blue Lakes Boulevard at 2:29 p.m. on Saturday, August 1, 2026, and opened fire on the restaurant, the parking lot, and the surrounding shopping center. Three people were killed: In-N-Out associate Ashley Garibay, 23, of Stockton, California; Christopher Claunch, 59, of Hagerman, Idaho; and Dale Schultz, 66, of Salt Lake City. Seven others were wounded, and a uniformed employee shot in the chest was dragged across the lot by a coworker. Jordan Salinas, 35, a healthcare worker from Kimberly carrying a suppressed FN Five-seveN, ran toward the gunfire and engaged Williams, and an off-duty Idaho State Police trooper whom ISP has not identified also returned fire. Williams fled and died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound as on-duty officers closed in, and Twin Falls Police Chief Matthew Hicks said the two men’s actions drove the suspect away from the scene and prevented further casualties. No motive has been established.

Source

🛡️ My thoughts: As you know, my friend AJ was shot in this incident. He is doing better, but may not regain 100% use of his arm. If you want a breakdown of this incident, watch my breakdown below.

Gunman Fires on U.S. Consulate in Second Attack of 2026, Paid Attacker Network Suspected — Toronto, Canada

A gunman fired on the U.S. Consulate at 360 University Avenue at 4:46 a.m. on Monday, July 27, 2026, damaging the facade, with a Toronto Police officer posted outside at the time and no injuries reported. Officers pursued a white late-model Honda Accord with no plates at speeds over 140 kilometers per hour along Gerrard Street East and the Don Valley Parkway before terminating the pursuit near Don Mills Road under policy, and no arrest was made. Police said it was too early to confirm a link to attacks on two Kiva’s Bagels locations, Jewish-owned bakeries hit late on Saturday, July 25, and early Sunday, July 26, at least one involving gunfire, though the same SUV was later tied to both bakery attacks. The consulate had been shot at once before, on March 10, 2026, a case in which Sheldon Tracy-Stewart, 18, and Nicholas Bennett, 19, were charged, Bennett with the first-degree murder of Constable Marc Pinizzotto during a related warrant service. Chief Myron Demkiw has described a criminals-for-hire model in which young people are paid to attack assigned targets and required to film the attacks to get paid, coordinating over Signal, Telegram, and WhatsApp, with two seized handguns tied to 27 shootings across the Greater Toronto Area.

Source

🛡️ My thoughts: This criminals for hire model is becoming the go to for the IRGC. This will visit the U.S. soon and it is hitting Europe very hard right now. This model has become very effective in Sweden and surrounding countries. Keep watching each incident and look for flaws in your security plan.

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Three Teenagers Detained Over ISIS-Linked Attack Plans, Two Targeting Their Own Schools — Singapore

Singapore’s Internal Security Department announced on Monday, July 27, 2026, that it had issued Orders of Detention under the Internal Security Act against three self-radicalized teenagers in separate cases between April and June. A 15-year-old detained in April had publicly pledged allegiance to ISIS on social media in late 2025, aimed to establish a caliphate in Southeast Asia by force, researched pressure cooker bomb designs, and tried to buy potassium nitrate. Tan Jun Jie, 19, detained in May, considered himself an ISIS member by early 2026, planned knife attacks on Singapore Armed Forces personnel at Sembawang Air Base and on students at his school, attempted denial of service attacks against the websites of Muslim organizations he judged apostate, and intended to travel to Somalia. The third case involved a 14-year-old detained in May who idolized mass shooters and wrote a 21-page manifesto titled “A Call to Action” listing targets and weapons for a mass casualty stabbing at his secondary school, planned for the June school holidays. The ISD described the 14-year-old’s case as Singapore’s first detention for composite violent extremism, a blend of ISIS sympathy with antisemitic and far-right strands.

Source

🛡️ My thoughts: This is exactly how it will play out here in the US. Pay attention to each case. It will happen again here.

VIOLENT CRIME

Woman Charged With Murder in Stabbing of 18-Year-Old Outside Church — Baltimore, Maryland

Dasianne Richardson, 34, was arrested Saturday, August 1, 2026, and charged with first-degree murder in the killing of 18-year-old Brielle Handy. Handy was stabbed in the neck in the alley beside Love of God Apostolic Church in the 3200 block of West Baltimore Street shortly after 8 p.m. on Saturday, July 25, and was pronounced dead at Shock Trauma. Baltimore Police describe the incident as a planned fight between two parties involving roughly ten people, and dispatch traffic at the time referenced a group of girls beating up one girl. Witnesses told investigators that Richardson pulled a knife from her shirt and fled the scene, and detectives identified her through those witness statements rather than through video.

Source

Five Juveniles Charged in Gel Gun Ambush on Parishioners — Youngstown, Ohio

Five juveniles have been charged in Mahoning County Juvenile Court after allegedly firing gel bead guns at parishioners leaving Mass at St. Dominic Church on Southern Boulevard. The attack happened at 6:14 p.m. on Saturday, July 11, 2026, as worshippers walked to their vehicles and drove out of the parking lot. One older man was struck in the face multiple times at close range and sustained significant facial bruising, and other parishioners were hit while driving out. A Mahoning County Sheriff’s deputy working security at the church alerted Youngstown police, and Detective Sergeant Michael Cox identified all five juveniles using footage from the church’s video security system. The Vindicator reports the group as two 13-year-olds, two 14-year-olds, and a 17-year-old from Warren, with one charged with misdemeanor assault and the rest with misdemeanor menacing.

Source

🛡️ My thoughts: Cops have shot kids doing this exact thing, thinking it was a real weapon. This could have had dire consequences. I have been in a situation where a man, on his way to do an armed robbery, was armed with a bb gun that looked exactly like a real gun. When I took him off, I had no idea it was a bb gun until after I took him into custody. Also, what if this was a real ambush with real guns? You absolutely need to have good situational awareness… always.

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Masked Man Smashes Statue at Queens Parish Targeted Four Times Since 2024 — Long Island City, New York

A masked man jumped the fence into the courtyard of St. Rita Church at 36-25 11th Street in the Dutch Kills section of Long Island City at 1:42 a.m. on Saturday, August 1, 2026, pulled a hammer from his pocket, and struck a statue of the Blessed Mother, knocking it from its pedestal and breaking off the head. The church’s security camera captured the entire sequence. The NYPD is investigating it as a hate crime through its Hate Crimes Task Force, and no arrest has been made. It is the fourth act of vandalism at the parish since 2024: a construction cone was thrown through a 60-year-old stained glass window on February 9, 2024, a man punched a statue of St. Jude inside the church in March 2026, and a vandal spray-painted a statue of St. Francis and wrote “pagan” on the sidewalk on March 21, 2026. The parish had celebrated its 125th jubilee the Wednesday before the attack, and Father Felix Sanchez told The Tablet, “We are tired of this. I am so upset I don’t know what to say.”

Source

🛡️ My thoughts: Not violent crime, but this is important for followers in NYC. Before the current Muslim Mayor was elected, there had been a steady increase in anti-Christian crime. Since the new mayor took over, it has exploded. Please take extra precautions when going to and leaving from church. Churches: You need to take extra precautions and have exceptional situational awareness. It is obvious the landscape is changing in your city.

SEX CRIMES

Pastor and Hospice Chaplain Charged With 17 Felonies Involving 14-Year-Old Boy — Winter Haven, Florida

Timothy Hikime Chaneyfield, 42, senior pastor of St. James United American Free Will Baptist Church in Winter Haven, was arrested Wednesday, July 29, 2026, at Orlando International Airport as he returned from Baltimore. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office Special Victims Unit says Chaneyfield met a 14-year-old boy on a dating app, moved the conversation to Instagram direct messages, then picked the boy up at the entrance to his subdivision on three consecutive days and drove him to his house. Instagram generated a cyber tip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on July 28, which routed to the sheriff’s office. He faces 17 counts including three counts of lewd battery of a minor, three counts of traveling to meet a minor, four counts of an HIV-infected person having sexual intercourse without informing a partner, and drug charges, with bond set above $350,000. Chaneyfield also worked as a hospice chaplain and spent 2012 to 2024 with Polk County Public Schools as a substitute teacher, paraeducator, and network manager, and detectives believe there may be additional victims.

Source

🛡️ My thoughts: This is a great example of predatory behavior I outline in my free course on protecting children in our churches. Please take the course if you haven’t done so already.

Albany Pastor, 75, Indicted Over 2000 Sexual Abuse of a Child — Albany, New York

Bienvenido Lopez, 75, pastor of Iglesia Fuente Inagotable at 153 Central Avenue in Albany, was arraigned Friday, July 31, 2026, on a three-count grand jury indictment and pleaded not guilty. The indictment charges course of sexual conduct against a child in the first degree, course of sexual conduct against a child in the second degree, and endangering the welfare of a minor. Prosecutors allege the conduct occurred between May and December 2000 against a child under 11, in an apartment above the church and at a residence on Third Street. Albany County District Attorney Lee Kindlon’s office is prosecuting through Assistant District Attorney Stacy Mix of the Special Victims Bureau, and Albany police have said publicly there may be additional victims. Lopez posted a $40,000 bond and was released to probation supervision with electronic monitoring and a stay-at-home curfew.

Source

ARSON AND SUSPICIOUS FIRES

Man Charged Federally in Arson That Destroyed Historic Brooklyn Church — Brooklyn, New York

John Jones, 24, of Brooklyn was arrested Wednesday, August 5, 2026, in Midtown Manhattan and charged in a federal complaint with intentionally setting fire to the South Bushwick Reformed Church at 855 Bushwick Avenue. The fire was set on Friday, June 19, 2026, and destroyed the 1850s sanctuary in a three alarm blaze that brought down the steeple and drew roughly 190 FDNY personnel. Surveillance video shows Jones trying to get inside the church between 12:12 and 12:47 p.m., failing to gain entry, walking to a nearby store to buy a lighter, and returning to set the exterior of the building on the Bushwick Avenue side. No one was inside, and one firefighter suffered minor injuries and refused treatment. The ATF Arson and Explosives Task Force led the investigation with NYPD and FDNY, authorities say Jones had no known connection to the congregation, and he was picked up nearly seven weeks later only because officers investigating an alleged Midtown store theft found the outstanding warrant.

Source

Fire at 1834 Congregational Church Ruled Arson, No Suspect Identified — Dennysville, Maine

The Maine Office of the State Fire Marshal has ruled the July 20, 2026, fire at the Dennysville-Edmunds Congregational Church at 17 King Street an arson. The fire was discovered shortly before 8 a.m. on that Monday by two passersby, Aiden Ashby and Hannah Preston, who reported it. It started in boards stored under the edge of the furnace room on the exterior of the building, and damaged the furnace room and part of the roof, with smoke through the worship room and attic. Investigators found no accelerants, no gasoline, and no cigarette butts, and ruled the fire incendiary by eliminating every natural and accidental cause. No suspect has been identified and no arrest has been made; the Fire Marshal’s tip line is 207-973-3700.

Source

🛡️ My thoughts: We have said repeatedly that arsonists will use material you leave out to start a fire at your church. Secure all combustibles and flammable liquids in a safe location away from random people.

INTERNATIONAL

Gunmen Storm Catholic Church During Sunday Mass, Two Still Held — Affa, Enugu State, Nigeria

At least seven gunmen armed with AK-47 rifles stormed St. Joseph Catholic Church in Inoyi-Affa, Udi Local Government Area, at about 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, August 2, 2026, during early morning Mass in heavy rain. Worshippers scattered and some parishioners gave chase but broke off because the attackers were heavily armed and holding hostages. Three people were taken: seminarian Lawrence Chidera Igbo, a catechist, and a worshipper identified as Emmanuel. Enugu State Police Command spokesman SP Daniel Ndukwe said operatives closing in on the fleeing suspects forced them to abandon one victim, who was rescued unhurt, and Commissioner of Police Mamman Bitrus Giwa directed the Violent Crime Response Unit and the Command-and-Control Centre into the search. Two victims remained in captivity as of August 6, and no group has claimed responsibility.

Source

Seminarian Abducted From Catholic Bishop’s Residence Escapes Captors — Otukpo, Benue State, Nigeria

Gunmen attacked the residence of Bishop Michael Ekwoyi Apochi of the Catholic Diocese of Otukpo at Asa III on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, and abducted seminarian Kelvin Ochai. Ochai escaped his captors on the evening of Friday, July 31, and made his way to Aliade in Gwer East Local Government Area, where he reunited with his family unharmed. The Chancellor of the Diocese of Otukpo, Very Rev. Fr. Joseph Aboyi Itodo, announced the escape on Saturday, August 1, and credited divine intervention and the prayers of the faithful. No other victims were named in the attack on the bishop’s residence. No arrests have been reported and the gunmen have not been identified.

Source

🛡️ My thoughts: The Lord will provide you opportunity to escape. Keep your head on a swivel and take advantage of that opportunity.

Thirty Christians Killed in Three-Hour Village Attack, Eleven of Them Children — Naridon, Kaduna State, Nigeria

Armed men attacked the village of Naridon in Kamaru Ward, Kauru Local Government Area, just before midnight on Sunday, July 26, 2026, and moved house to house shooting residents for roughly three hours into the early hours of Monday. Open Doors documented 30 Christians killed, 21 of them Catholic and 9 from the Evangelical Church Winning All, including 11 children aged 15 and under, 10 women, and 9 men, with the youngest victim aged 3 and the oldest 87. Seven people were injured, several remain unaccounted for, and three shops and two houses were burned. Residents said the Army did not respond in time and police arrived only after the attackers left, and locals blame suspected Fulani militants. Kaduna Governor Uba Sani directed security agencies to intensify operations, with the state government referring only to “terrorists” and declining to name a group.

Source

Man Killed and Pastor Attacked in Two Overnight Assaults — Bassa and Bokkos, Plateau State, Nigeria

Gunmen struck two communities in Plateau State on the night of Thursday, July 30, 2026, in attacks reported the following day. In Ncha community, Miango District, Bassa Local Government Area, a middle-aged man identified only as Bulus was shot dead, which Danjuma Dickson Auta, National Secretary of the Irigwe Development Association, confirmed and called an unprovoked assault on peaceful residents. In Fubok village, Daffo District, Bokkos Local Government Area, a man identified as Pastor Philibus and two of his church members were attacked, and three residents were killed in a nearby community the same evening. Accounts conflict on the pastor’s condition: Vanguard and BusinessDay report him injured, while Daily Post reports him killed with two members critically injured. Plateau State Police Command spokesman SP Alfred Alabo could not be reached by either outlet, and the gunmen have not been identified.

Source

Catholic Priest Murdered in Roadside Ambush — Ajaokuta, Kogi State, Nigeria

The body of Rev. Fr. Samuel Opeyemi Oyetoro was found on the roadside along Church Road in Ajaokuta at about 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, July 29, 2026. Oyetoro was incardinated in the Catholic Diocese of Lokoja and assigned to St. Paul’s Parish, Ayetoro Gbede, in Ijumu Local Government Area, and was serving temporarily at the Ajaokuta parish standing in for absent parish priest Fr. Clement Wesaku. Kogi State Police Command spokeswoman ASP Afusat Oyiza Salihu said he died of severe machete wounds to the head and that the case is under investigation with efforts ongoing to apprehend those responsible, with the file moving to the State CID after preliminary investigation. Governor Ahmed Ododo called the killing a heinous and unacceptable act, and the Diocese of Lokoja issued a statement of mourning. No suspects have been named and no motive has been established.

Source

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What Is In This Week’s Briefing

✅ Current threat level determination and the reasoning behind holding at Orange

✅ Alert posture for the week, including staffing and protocol guidance

✅ 3 intelligence items covering a mass shooting stopped by armed citizens, a foreign paid-attacker network now operating in North America, and juvenile self-radicalization targeting schools

✅ 4 church incidents from the past 3 weeks, each with the security lesson attached

✅ Training focus with 5 leader prompts you can read straight off the page at roll call

✅ Briefing intent with this week’s Scripture for your team

✅ Personnel assignment grid and the daily checklist

Why The Paywall Is Back

The Roll Call Briefing has always been a for those that are gracious enough to support CWT. If it weren’t for them, we could not do any of this. I opened it up in April because the threat picture at that time involved specific dangers I wanted in front of every church in the country, whether they paid or not. Those threats have passed. New ones have taken their place, but the picture is more settled, and the reason I opened the gate no longer applies. So the paywall returns.

Understand what you are and are not losing. The underlying information is still free. Every incident in this briefing appears in the Saturday Church Crime Newsletter at no cost to you. What the paid briefing gives you is the format: a finished, printable sheet you can put in your team leader’s hand before he steps in front of his people to brief a shift. That work takes hours every week, and it is what the subscription pays for. It helps pay for the analysis and personnel who help me put this all together.

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The Training Stays Free

The free training at christianwarriortraining.com is not moving behind a paywall and never will. Every intelligence analysis we publish carries a training element you can take straight to your team, and every year we release a training matrix you can use to schedule your people out for the full year. If your budget is tight, use those. They are there for you.

If your church is getting value out of these briefings, forward this to your pastor or your team leader. Then drop a comment below and tell me what your team is working on this month.

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BLUF

The Church Security Threat Level holds at HIGH (Orange), Level 4 of 5. We were to re-evaluate our threat level on 01 AUG after the summer threats had passed, but we assess the threat remains. The war with Iran, the proxy targeting that comes with it, and new ISIS and al Qaeda material published in July replace them. The level stays where it is until the intelligence supports moving it, in either direction.

Key Judgments

• Highly Likely: The war with Iran continues past the end of August with no negotiation track, and Iranian-aligned proxy activity against Western religious targets continues alongside it.

• Highly Likely: Low-sophistication attacks by paid freelancers and lone offenders remain the delivery method, using arson, vehicles, knives, and firearms.

• Likely: Proxy target selection continues to key on perceived support for Israel rather than on the religion practiced inside the building, which places supportive churches in the same target set as the synagogues already hit.

• Possible: An American church sustains an arson or vandalism attack with a stated tie to the Iran conflict in the near term.

• Unlikely: Any organization completes a mass-casualty attack against an American church in the near term.

What Changed

The last posture rested on 2 things: America’s 250th anniversary and the World Cup. Both closed. Recycling expired reasoning to hold a number in place is how a threat level stops meaning anything, so here is what replaced them.

The war with Iran did not end. The memorandum of understanding reached in June was supposed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and close out the conflict. It did not hold. Iran fired on 3 commercial vessels on July 6 and 7, drawing United States strikes in response. As of July 27, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said no talks are underway. Al Jazeera is covering the conflict as Phase II, and August 1 was day 21 of that phase. [Sources: Al Jazeera, August 1, 2026; CNN, July 27, 2026]

Both ISIS and al Qaeda produced new material during July. On July 6, ISIS-linked Amaq published a first-half infographic claiming 587 operations and 17 churches burned or destroyed. Indago’s assessment for the week ending July 20 reports that detained Islamic State members in Syria described plans to bomb Christian churches, and places churches on a priority target watchlist across 5 countries. On the al Qaeda side, a pro-AQAP media group launched a new weekly newsletter on July 3 modeled on al-Naba, publishing every Friday.

One point of accuracy. None of that summer material names churches in the United States specifically. Back in April, the press reported that al-Naba had called for burning churches, and after reading the source issue we reported that the call named synagogues. That standard holds now even where a looser reading would strengthen the case. What the summer material establishes is Christians named as a target class and demonstrated church attack planning overseas. That supports Orange. It is not a directive naming any American town.

Why Churches Sit Inside the Iranian Proxy Target Set

This question comes up every time the level moves over something happening between Iran and Israel.

The May 15 federal complaint against a Kata’ib Hizballah commander alleges he tried to pay an undercover FBI agent to bomb or burn a New York City synagogue plus 2 locations in Los Angeles and Scottsdale. Per NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, the Manhattan target was selected because that congregation supported Israel. Not because Jewish people worship there. Because of the position the congregation takes. [Sources: DOJ complaint, May 15, 2026; ASIS International, May 2026]

Run that standard against your own church. An Israeli flag out front, a support ministry, mission teams, a pastor who preaches on it publicly. By the method those networks actually use, that is not a related target. It is the same one.

The people carrying it out make it worse. Researchers describe a hire-for-cash model using local criminals and young men with no ideological screening. At a June sentencing hearing for a 2024 Toronto synagogue firebombing, the 20-year-old defendant testified he took a contract for $15,000, received $3,000, and said he did not know the targets were Jewish institutions. A man who took an envelope and an address does not check the sign out front.

Threat Assessment

The Church Security Threat Level is HIGH (Orange), Level 4 of 5.

The primary concern is the low-sophistication attack delivered by somebody with no ideological history for anyone to have flagged. Arson at 3:00 a.m., vandalism, a vehicle in the parking lot, a knife at a door. These defeat threat-assessment programs built around identifying radicalized individuals in advance, because the man carrying it out was recruited last week for money.

The secondary concern is the empty building. Most incidents in the European pattern happened overnight against unoccupied structures. Sunday morning posture is not what this threat tests. Lighting, cameras, alarm monitoring, and key control are what it tests.

What holds this at High rather than Critical has not changed. There is no named, time-and-place threat against any particular American congregation, and no Iranian proxy has ever completed a killing of an American on American soil.

Three things ahead deserve attention. The September 11 anniversary. Back-to-school, which puts children’s and youth programming back on a full schedule after the summer break. And the High Holy Days in mid-September, which historically drive a spike in activity against Jewish institutions, and by the targeting logic above that spike does not stay contained to Jewish institutions.

Recommended Actions

Work the overnight picture as hard as Sunday morning. That is where this pattern has actually landed. Walk the exterior after dark and look at it the way a man with a gas can would look at it. Dark corners, unmonitored doors, and anything flammable stored where a stranger can reach it.

Confirm that a real person receives the alarm notification at 3:00 a.m. and knows what to do with it. On most teams that notification fills a mailbox nobody checks.

Know your church’s public profile on Israel. Your team should know whether the congregation sits inside that target set, and most teams have never asked the question.

Walk through an arson discovery at roll call. Who calls, who accounts for people, who keeps the congregation out of the building when they want to run back in after the sanctuary. That conversation takes 10 minutes and it is worth having before the night it is needed.

Keep the parking lot staffed. Everything in the European pattern begins outside.

Biblical Lens

“The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it.”

Proverbs 22:3, ESV

The prudent man in that proverb is not afraid. He is paying attention. He sees what is in front of him and adjusts, and Scripture treats that as wisdom rather than weakness.

Holding at Orange is the same thing. It is an honest look at a war that has not ended and a targeting method that reaches further than most churches assume. When the picture improves, the level comes down and you will be told why.

If this bulletin was useful, leave a comment and share it with your pastor or your team leader. Stay alert, stay disciplined, and always be carrying.

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Copyright © 2026 Keith Graves. All rights reserved.

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What Happened

The In-N-Out on Blue Lakes Boulevard in Twin Falls, Idaho had been open 8 days when a 24-year-old man walked in with an AR-style rifle on Saturday afternoon and started shooting. The first 911 calls hit dispatch at 2:29 p.m. Dispatchers could hear screaming and gunfire in the background of those calls. Customers dove out of their seats, some barricaded in the restrooms, and employees ran out the front door onto a busy commercial street. Three people were killed, including a female employee who was working the counter, and 7 more were wounded.

The attack did not stay inside the building. The attacker came out through the drive-thru and kept shooting. He fired into a car in the drive-thru line. He fired through the windshield of a Tesla parked at a charging station, hitting a local taxi driver twice in the back while that man sat in a vehicle he could not drive away because it was plugged in. He fired near the Twin Falls Visitor Center next door. Witnesses described him as panicked and moving erratically across a parking lot full of people who had come out for a burger on a Saturday.

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Armed men engaged him. Twin Falls police have credited an off-duty officer and an armed citizen with returning fire, and the reporting so far has not sorted out who was who, so take the labels in the news coverage with some caution. What I can tell you firsthand is this. AJ Scott, a former law enforcement officer and a friend of mine, was sitting in the drive-thru with his wife when the shooting started. AJ told his wife and their friend to stay in the vehicle and moved toward the gunfire to find the shooter. He made a deliberate decision on that approach not to draw his handgun, because he did not want responding police or another armed citizen to mistake him for the attacker. He came around a corner and met the man face to face. The attacker raised the rifle and shot him. The round shattered his humerus and severed an artery.

AJ took the attacker’s full attention while he was bleeding out and trying to get to cover. He never fired a shot. He drew that attention with his body and nothing else. Somewhere in the same few seconds, an armed man in the drive-thru line was shooting at the attacker. A witness stopped at the light outside the restaurant said the shooter became solely focused on the man shooting at him, and that this is what let the cars in the drive-thru get out. The attacker broke contact, moved off, and killed himself nearby. Police credit those two men with driving him away from the scene and preventing more deaths.

AJ’s wife is an emergency room nurse. So is the friend who was in the car with them. They found him, loaded him into their own vehicle, controlled the bleeding with direct pressure, and drove him to the hospital themselves. He went straight into emergency surgery and is facing months of recovery.

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Everything in that sequence has a church version.

Armor, Bag, and a Carbine

Remember your ABCs. Armor, bag, and a carbine. I roll with body armor, a war bag, and a rifle in my truck every day, and I have taken plenty of grief for it over the years from people who think that is excessive for a man going to get groceries. Saturday in Twin Falls is the answer to those people.

The reason is simple math. This attacker had a rifle in an open commercial parking lot. Look at the geometry of your own church lot and be honest about the distance from the back row of parking to the front doors. Most of the churches I work with are looking at 40 to 70 yards of open ground. That is rifle country. A man with a 5.56 rifle standing at the edge of that lot has every advantage over a security team member with a concealed 9mm, and he knows it.

Soft body armor does not stop rifle rounds. If your team is wearing concealable vests, you are covered against a handgun and nothing else. Rifle-rated plates in a bag in your vehicle are not as good as plates on your chest, but they beat what most teams have, which is nothing. The same goes for a rifle in a locked case in your trunk. Getting to it takes time you may not have, and it is still better than not having one at all.

Carry a Gun You Are Willing to Fight an Active Shooter With

The compact and subcompact pistol has taken over the concealed carry market because it is comfortable. Comfort is the wrong design requirement for a fighting gun. Those guns were built to be carried, not to be fought with, and the tradeoffs that make them easy to conceal are the same tradeoffs that hurt you in a gunfight.

Look at the problem in front of you. A man with a rifle is shooting people 50 yards away across a parking lot. You need enough gun to make hits at that distance, enough capacity to keep his head down while people get out, and enough of a grip to shoot it well under a heart rate of 180 with your hands shaking. A duty-size pistol does that. A subcompact does it badly. If a duty pistol is what it takes to fight your way to the rifle in your truck, then a duty pistol is what you carry to church.

There is a clock running the whole time and it is the part most people never account for. Ed Monk, a retired Army lieutenant colonel who has researched active shooter events since 2007 and who wrote a book called First 30 Seconds, puts it in terms of time and math. In the opening minute of these attacks, a new person gets shot every 3 to 5 seconds. Every one of those ticks is a human being. That is why he argues the difference between an event with single-digit casualties and one with double digits is usually decided inside the first 30 seconds, long before police arrive. Run that math against a 5-minute police response and you can see how the body count in some of these events got where it did.

So the standard for your gun is not whether it is enough to survive a mugging. The standard is whether it is enough to interrupt a man with a rifle inside 30 seconds, from wherever you happen to be standing when it starts.

Many of you will balk at carrying a full-size gun. Almost every objection I hear comes down to comfort, and comfort is a holster problem and a belt problem. Both are solved with about $150 and two weeks of getting used to it. Carry a gun you are willing to fight an active shooter with.

The Identification Problem

AJ did not draw his gun on the approach. He is a trained former officer moving toward gunfire in plain clothes, and he understood that the most likely way for him to die in the next 60 seconds was for a cop or another armed citizen to see a man in street clothes with a gun in his hand and make the obvious assumption. So he kept it holstered while he moved to locate the threat. Then he came around a corner into a rifle at contact distance.

I am not going to second-guess a man who ran toward gunfire while I was sitting at home, and under the information he had, that was a defensible call. The lesson is not that AJ made a mistake. The lesson is that a plainclothes responder gets forced to choose between being ready to fight and being recognized as one of the good guys, and no armed responder should ever have to make that choice inside their own building.

This is why CWT teaches visible uniformed security instead of plainclothes. A polo with a team logo, a vest, a badge, or a clearly marked shirt does two jobs at once. It tells your congregation who to run to, and it tells arriving police who not to shoot. When your team is identifiable, your people can have a gun in their hand at second one instead of second twenty. The rest of your church is not being covert about anything anyway.

Train the other half of the problem too. Twin Falls had a second officer-involved shooting during the search for this attacker, and Jerome PD is investigating it. Nobody was hit that time. Your team needs a rehearsed answer for the moment police come through the door and find one of your men holding a gun. Gun goes down or gets holstered, hands go up and stay empty, comply first and explain later. Practice it in your drills the same way you practice the shooting.

Drawing Fire Is Effective

Nobody shot this attacker dead. He killed himself. Some people are going to read that and conclude the armed response failed. That reading is exactly backward.

What happened is that the attacker stopped shooting at unarmed people and started dealing with the men who were dealing with him. The witness at the stoplight said the shooter’s attention went entirely to the armed man in the drive-thru line, and that is what gave the cars ahead of him time to get out. AJ never got a round off, and he still pulled that attacker off everyone else in that corner of the lot and kept him occupied while he bled and moved for cover.

There is a way to understand why that works, and it comes out of fighter aviation. Colonel John Boyd described the way a person makes decisions under pressure as a loop with 4 steps. You observe what is in front of you, you orient yourself to what it means, you decide what to do, and you act. Everybody runs that loop constantly, including the man shooting up your church. He walked in with a plan he had rehearsed in his head, which is another way of saying he had already done the observing and the orienting and the deciding long before he got there. All that was left was to act.

Interrupt him and he loses that. Rounds coming back at an attacker take away his ability to act, which throws him back to observe. Now he has to find where the shots are coming from. He cannot orient because he does not know how many people are shooting or where they are or whether the police have arrived, and if he cannot orient, he cannot decide, and if he cannot decide, he cannot act. Witnesses in Twin Falls described this attacker as panicked and moving erratically across the lot. That is what a man stuck in observe looks like from the outside.

Teach your team that stopping the killing does not require a head shot. It requires taking his ability to act away from him and keeping it away. Ed Monk’s research adds something to this that your people should hear before it happens. He teaches that the domestic, mentally disturbed attacker will usually stop when he gets challenged, and will either run or turn the gun on himself. The terrorist attacker is the exception, because he will turn and fight the people coming at him. Saturday in Twin Falls went exactly the way Monk describes the first category. He got shot at, he broke contact, he ran, and he killed himself.

Every second he spends looking for you is a second a mother in the third row uses to get her kids out an exit door. Your people need to hear that before the day comes, because otherwise they will hold their fire waiting for a perfect shot that never arrives.

Practice Like You Will Be Called

The armed man who fired from the drive-thru line had been posting firearms training content online for years. A post of his from 2024 shows him running a drill and telling his followers to train like their life depends on it, because God forbid, one day it might. Two years later he was standing in a drive-thru in Twin Falls with a burger order in and a rifle-armed killer 30 yards away.

AJ is a former law enforcement officer. Everything he did in those few seconds came out of that background. He moved to the sound of the guns, he thought about how he would look to arriving police before he thought about his own gun, and he kept working the problem after he was hit. Neither of these men rose to the occasion. They fell back on their training, which is the only thing anybody has ever done under that kind of stress.

Look honestly at what your team actually does. If your safety team’s training consists of a 90-minute meeting twice a year and a group text, you do not have a trained team. You have a list of names. Get them on a range. Make them shoot at 25 and 50 yards, not 7. Make them shoot from behind cover, on the move, from a seated position in a chair like the one they sit in every Sunday, with a heart rate up. Make them draw from the exact holster and cover garment they wear to church. You never know when it is going to pop off, and the day it does you will not get to choose which version of yourself shows up.

The Attack Moved Through the Parking Lot

Problems begin in the parking lot. I have said that for years and I am going to keep saying it because incidents like this one keep proving it. This attack started inside a building and immediately spilled out into the drive-thru, the lot, the charging station, and the ground around a visitor center next door. Most of the casualties were outside.

The taxi driver who was shot twice in the back could not leave. He was plugged into a charger, which disables the car from driving, and he was sitting in a metal box in the open with no way to move. Your church has the same static targets. You have people sitting in cars in the drop-off lane waiting on kids. You have greeters standing alone at the doors of an empty foyer. You have a parking team out in the open with nothing but a reflective vest. You have older members walking a long row from the back of the lot. Every one of them is exposed for several minutes on either side of a service, and most churches assign their weakest coverage to exactly that window.

Push your perimeter out. Put trained, armed, identifiable people in the lot before the first car arrives and keep them there until the last one leaves. Give them a way to talk to the inside team that does not depend on line of sight. Your front door is not your perimeter and it never was.

Bleeding Control and Scoop and Run

AJ is alive because two emergency room nurses were within 100 yards of him with a car. They found him, held pressure on a severed artery, put him in their own vehicle, and drove him to the hospital. That is a scoop and run, and it is the single most replicable thing in this entire incident.

Understand the wound first. The round shattered his humerus and cut an artery high in the arm. That is a junctional wound, right up at the shoulder where the arm meets the body, and a standard limb tourniquet will often fail there because there is no place above the bleed to put it. What works is hard direct pressure and wound packing, applied by somebody willing to lean their body weight into another human being while that person screams. There are also junctional tourniquets built specifically for wounds at the shoulder, the armpit, and the groin, and I believe churches should be buying them and training on them. They are more expensive than a limb tourniquet and they take real instruction to use, but the wounds they are designed for are the ones that kill people fastest and the ones your CAT will not solve.

Then understand the decision. In a real event you are going to have to choose between waiting for an ambulance and putting your wounded in a vehicle and driving. Best case, the first ambulance is 5 to 10 minutes out. That is the first one, and there will not be enough of them. Twin Falls had 7 people shot at one location. When that happens, medics start doubling and tripling patients into a single unit, and they triage in an order you do not control. Add the time police spend clearing a scene before they let EMS come in at all, and the gap between the shooting and the hospital gets long.

So if you have trained people and you have a vehicle, get your wounded in the vehicle and go. I am not going to tell you to run red lights, I am not going to tell you to blow stop signs, and I am not going to tell you to speed. You are all grown adults and you understand what it takes to get somebody to a trauma center with an artery cut. What I will tell you is that a scoop and run only works if you did the thinking in advance. Know which hospital near your church is the actual trauma center and not just the closest emergency room. Know the route. Know which vehicle in your lot is going and who is driving it. Decide now who stays with the wounded to hold pressure the entire way, because pressure that comes off in the back seat does the same thing as no pressure at all.

Elsewhere in that Twin Falls parking lot, an In-N-Out employee was dragging a coworker with a gunshot wound to the chest across open pavement, and a retired EMT who happened to be nearby worked on her until paramedics could get in. Ordinary people did the right things because they were the ones who were there. Your greeters and your parking team are going to be those people.

Here is the standard for your church. Trauma kits at every post, not one kit in the church office where nobody can reach it. Limb tourniquets, junctional tourniquets, chest seals, gauze for packing, and gloves, in a place your team can grab in under 10 seconds. Every safety team member through Stop the Bleed at a minimum, and your medical people trained on the junctional gear specifically. A casualty collection point everybody knows by name. And a written scoop and run plan with the trauma center, the route, and the driver already decided.

Misinformation Will Move Faster Than Facts

Within hours of this attack, social media had confidently identified the wrong man as the shooter. Twin Falls PD had to hold a press conference and state that a named local resident had no involvement in this whatsoever. That man’s name is now permanently attached to a mass murder in every search index in the world.

Your team will be on their phones during and after an incident at your church. Somebody on the parking team will post a photo of a person they think is suspicious. Somebody in the youth wing will text a rumor to 40 parents. It will be wrong, it will spread, and your church will own it. Decide right now that your team does not post, does not speculate, and does not confirm anything, and that one designated person speaks for the church. Write it into your policy this week and brief it at your next team meeting.

What Your Church Does the Week After

The counseling center for Twin Falls opened at Rock Creek Elementary School. That is a fine place to put one. It should have been a church.

When something like this happens in your town, your building becomes part of the community’s recovery whether you planned for it or not. People who have not been in a church in 20 years will walk through your doors that week looking for somebody to tell them what any of it means. Your pastor will be asked to do a funeral for a family he has never met. Your people will need somewhere to bring food and money and grief. Get ahead of it. Know which of your staff have chaplaincy or crisis training, know how fast you can open your building, know who in your congregation is a nurse or a counselor or a first responder, and have a relationship with your local police chaplain program before you need one.

Biblical Perspective

Nobody in that parking lot woke up Saturday expecting to be in a gunfight.

Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them. (Ecclesiastes 9:11-12, ESV)

Solomon is not being fatalistic here and he is not telling you that preparation is pointless. He is telling you that you do not get advance notice. The snare falls suddenly. The people who die in these events are not less deserving than the people who live, and the ones who live are usually the ones who happened to be near somebody who was ready. AJ was ready. He had spent years getting ready for a day he had no way to schedule, and when it came he had a few seconds of warning.

That is the whole argument for what we do. We do not prepare because we know the day. We prepare because we do not.

If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small. Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, “Behold, we did not know this,” does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will he not repay man according to his work? (Proverbs 24:10-12, ESV)

Read that middle line again. Rescue those who are being taken away to death. That is not a suggestion offered to people with a particular temperament. It is a command, and the verse that follows it takes away the only excuse anybody has ever used to get out of it. We did not know. God is not impressed by that, because He weighs the heart and He knows exactly what you knew and what you chose to do about it.

Every church leader in America knows this can happen at their church. Nobody gets to plead ignorance anymore. The question in front of your elder board is not whether you understand the threat. It is whether you did anything with what you understood.

AJ ran toward it. He told his wife to stay in the car and he went to find the man who was killing people. He paid for it with a shattered arm and a severed artery and months of recovery he did not ask for. That is what verse 11 looks like when a real man does it in a real parking lot.

Final Assessment

Armed men who went out for lunch on a Saturday changed the outcome of a mass shooting. Nobody stopped it cleanly, nobody killed the attacker, and one of them is in a hospital bed with a shattered arm. They still saved lives, and the police in Twin Falls have said so plainly. That is what a successful armed response usually looks like outside of a training video. It is partial and it is ugly, and it works.

Your church has the same problem in a different building. You have an open parking lot at rifle distance, a stack of glass doors, a crowd that arrives and leaves at a predictable time twice a week, and a handful of volunteers who will have to decide in a few seconds whether to run at a man with a gun. Whether they can do that is decided right now, months out, in what you buy them and what you make them train on and whether you let them be seen for who they are.

Plates and a rifle go in the vehicles of the people qualified to run them. Your team comes off the subcompacts. Trauma kits go at every post, junctional tourniquets go in those kits, and everybody goes through Stop the Bleed. Your parking team gets trained, armed where the law allows it, and visible. And you rehearse the moment police come through the door, so that nobody on your side gets shot by the good guys.

AJ Scott is going to be out of work for months. His wife is taking time away from her job to take care of him. If this article was useful to you, go put something in the fund that has been set up for him:

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Leave a comment and tell me what your team is going to change this week. Then send this to your pastor and your team leader.

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Copyright © 2026 Keith Graves. All rights reserved.

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The CWT Intelligence Monitor Is Now Live

Christian Warrior Training has launched a new intelligence dashboard built specifically for churches, pastors, and security teams. The CWT Intelligence Monitor collects public reporting on violence, threats, shootings, arson, theft, vandalism, suspicious activity, and other incidents involving faith communities.

The dashboard allows you to filter incidents by time, severity, location, and religious institution. You can review activity on a United States map, monitor incidents overseas, search the incident feed, track the current CWT threat level, and see which types of incidents are increasing. It also includes a weekly situation report and a printable briefing that can be used with your security team.

This project required a significant investment to build, and it carries recurring costs to keep it operating and collecting current information. We believe it can give church leaders and security teams a clearer picture of what is happening so they can make informed decisions and better protect their congregations.

The monitor uses public source information and should be treated as a situational awareness tool. Reports should be verified through original sources and official channels before they are used to make operational decisions.

Paid Subscribers Get Access First

We are releasing the CWT Intelligence Monitor to paid subscribers first. This gives those who financially support Christian Warrior Training the first opportunity to use the dashboard and become familiar with its features.

We plan to make the dashboard available to the rest of our subscribers at a later date. For now, paid subscribers can begin using it at the link below.

Access the CWT Intelligence Monitor

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I spent nearly two hours answering questions from Christian Warrior Training subscribers about firearms, training, church leadership, team standards, and the security problems many churches are still refusing to address.

In this paid subscriber Q&A, I answer:

✅ What firearm should a church security team member carry?

✅ Should you carry with a round in the chamber?

✅ How much training should you complete before carrying a new handgun at church?

✅ Is a concealed carry permit enough preparation to protect a congregation?

✅ Should church security officers carry openly or concealed?

✅ How should armed and unarmed team members be positioned?

✅ Can a church rely on a hired police officer as its security plan?

✅ What should you do when church leaders refuse to lock doors or install bollards?

✅ How do you document security concerns that leadership keeps ignoring?

✅ How should churches secure children’s ministry areas?

✅ Should concealed carriers serving in the choir, on stage, or in the audio booth be included in the security plan?

✅ How do you handle aging team members whose physical or shooting abilities have declined?

✅ Should churches conduct annual background checks on safety team members?

✅ Is security film a useful alternative when bullet resistant glass is outside the budget?

✅ What should your team do if someone approaches the church carrying a rifle?

✅ Are cameras a force multiplier or simply evidence after an attack?

✅ How can a church pursue federal security grant money?

I also gave paid subscribers an early look at the new Christian Warrior Intelligence Dashboard and explained how it can help churches monitor threats and suspicious activity.

Paid subscribers can watch the complete replay below. If you are not yet a paid subscriber, upgrade your subscription to watch this Q&A and support the training, intelligence, and resources Christian Warrior Training provides to churches.

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This week, ISIS claims more than 100 people killed or wounded, including 80 Christians, while eight separate incidents were reported at American churches.

We also look at new attack material aimed at lone actors, four threats against U.S. churches, two shootings on or near church property, and how church safety teams can protect outdoor gatherings from vehicle attacks.

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You Are a Ministry First: Church Security Without Fear

Fear is a terrible commander. When fear leads, it distorts everything. It turns every stranger into a suspect. It slowly and quietly transforms the people of God into a team of threat assessors rather than ambassadors of the Gospel. And if we are not careful, fear can reframe the entire mission of the church away from what Christ called us to do and toward what we are terrified might happen.

This article is a pushback against that fear. Not a dismissal of it. Not an excuse to be careless. A pushback grounded in data, in Scripture, and in a story that happened just this week at one of our campuses that reminded me exactly why we do what we do.

What the Numbers Actually Say

There are approximately 350,000 to 370,000 churches in the United States. Every single week, millions of believers gather across those congregations for worship services, many of them holding multiple services on a single Sunday. If we assume each congregation meets at least once per week, that is a minimum of 19,656,000 church services every year in the United States.

Now let’s look at the threat against that backdrop.

Between 2000 and 2025, researchers tracking violence at religious institutions recorded 246 shooting events across churches, synagogues, mosques, and temples combined, with 402 victims total. From 2000 to 2024, a separate dataset recorded 379 incidents and 487 deaths at religious congregations, most of them involving a single victim.

Let that sink in. Nearly twenty million church gatherings every year, and across a quarter century, fewer than 500 deaths total across every type of religious institution in the country. When you narrow the lens to Christian churches specifically and compare the number of incidents against the number of services held, your odds of being in a church service where a shooting occurs are roughly 1 in 6,552,000.

That number is not designed to make you feel invincible. It is designed to put reality back in its proper place. One of the enemy’s most effective weapons is not a firearm. It is intimidation. It is making the threat feel so large and so inevitable that the church begins to operate out of dread instead of faith.

Prepared, Not Paralyzed

Hear this clearly, because this is not an argument against training. The odds are absolutely in your favor that your congregation will never face a serious threat. But if your congregation does face one, the odds will not matter much in that moment. That is why we train. That is why we build teams, run drills, study behavior, and take this work seriously. The people sitting in those pews trust us with their lives, and we owe them our very best preparation.

So yes, train hard. Be vigilant. Know your exits, know your sight lines, know your people. Build a team that can respond with speed and decisiveness if the moment ever demands it. But do not let the training become the mission. Do not let preparedness become paranoia. There is a critical difference between a church that is ready and a church that is afraid, and that difference shows up in how your team treats every person who walks through the door.

The Story That Started This Article

This past Sunday, something happened at one of our campuses that I have not been able to stop thinking about. A young man walked in and caught the attention of our security team. Something felt off about his demeanor and the way he was carrying himself. The team noticed and made contact. But instead of leading with suspicion, one of our guys looked at this young man and said simply: “You look like a man who needs a hug.”

That is church security done right. That single approach, calm and compassionate and confident, accomplished two things at once. It made contact with someone who had been flagged as a potential concern, and it opened a door.

It turns out this young man is not a threat at all. He is a young father with an infant at home and a marriage that is falling apart. He came to church because something drew him there, and I believe that something was the Holy Spirit. He did not know where else to go. Our team surrounded him with love and connected him with our men’s group. We welcomed him into the community.

That is not a security failure. That is a ministry success, and it only happened because our team understood that their job is bigger than threat response.

You Can Do Both

One of the lies that creeps into security culture is the idea that you have to choose between being a security team and being a ministry. Either you are watchful or you are welcoming. Either you protect the congregation or you love the stranger at the door. That is a false choice, and experienced teams know it.

The same awareness that allows a trained team member to identify a behavioral anomaly also allows them to recognize someone who is hurting. The same calm that keeps a person steady under pressure is the same calm that communicates safety to a broken young man who walked into your building desperate for help. Security team members are not bouncers. They are not law enforcement officers on loan to the church. They are members of the body of Christ carrying a responsibility that is both physical and spiritual. Sometimes that responsibility looks like stopping a threat. More often than we might expect, it looks like being the first person who made a desperate human being feel seen.

Your team needs to understand both, and your training program should reflect both.

What the Word Says

God anticipated our fear. He did not ignore it or dismiss it. He addressed it directly.

“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” — Isaiah 41:10 (ESV)

That verse is not a promise that nothing bad will ever happen. It is a declaration about who holds us when it does. Our security ultimately rests not in a team, a protocol, or a statistic, but in the sovereignty of the God we serve. We prepare because we are stewards. We train because lives matter. But we do not live in fear, because a church that operates out of dread has already lost something essential before a single shot is ever fired.

The congregation is not a fortress to be defended. It is a place where broken people come looking for hope, and your security team is often the first face they see.

The Charge

Stay trained. Stay alert. Stay ready. But stay ministry-minded. Remember that the person walking through your door who looks different, acts nervous, or sets off your radar may not be a threat at all. They may be exactly who the church was built for.

You can protect your congregation and still be the hands and feet of Jesus. You can run a serious, capable security operation and still be the person who looks a struggling young father in the eyes and says, “You look like a man who needs a hug.” That is not weakness. That is the Gospel lived out in real time by people who took their calling seriously enough to show up, get trained, and stay ready for whatever walks through the door.

Train like a warrior. Love like a shepherd. Never let fear define what your church is supposed to be.

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Did this article challenge the way you think about your role on your security team? Leave a comment below and share it with your pastor or team leader. This is a conversation the whole church needs to have.

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I'll be answering your questions live this Saturday at 8 AM Pacific, 11 AM Eastern. Drop them in the comments below or in the subscriber chat any time before Friday night and I'll work through as many as I can. Bring more with you Saturday and we'll take those live. Whatever you're wrestling with on your team, whether it's getting a pastor on board, a volunteer who shouldn't be armed, or a policy you can't get written, bring it.

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Below, find this week’s newscast where I go indepth into the stories and intelligence that shaped the week. I’m also including the videos you might have missed during a very busy week.

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TERRORISM AND INTELLIGENCE

Islamic State Is Treating Churches as a Standing Target Set on Three Continents

Indago’s Islamic State assessment for the week ending July 20 identifies attacks on religious sites as a coordinated strategy running across Nigeria, Syria, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The assessment states that detained Islamic State members in Syria gave confessions outlining plans to bomb Christian churches and Shia shrines to deepen societal divisions, and that affiliates in West and Central Africa are systematically targeting Christian villages and burning homes alongside military assets. The report places churches on its priority target watchlist for Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Nigeria, and the DRC, citing demonstrated planning and execution capability against Christian places of worship. It also assesses that Islamic State in Syria has shifted away from targeting armed opposition factions and toward religious minority sites in order to maximize sectarian friction in the post-Assad security vacuum.

[Source: Indago Situation Report, Islamic State Weekly Update, 20 July 2026]

🛡️ My thoughts: this is something that I assessed long ago, but it’s nice to see another intelligence organization back it up. Many of you are running missions in these areas. You need to have a plan and you need to have safe houses that you can go to in the event of an emergency. I suggest that you get training in survival, evasion, resistance and escape before you go to one of these countries to help Christians.

ISIS-K Poster Names the US Capitol and Ties the Call to the World Cup

On July 14, the Islamic State Khorasan-linked al-Azaim Media Foundation released a poster depicting the United States Capitol and the Eiffel Tower as targets, carrying the message “Kill Them. Seize Them. Besiege Them” drawn from a Quranic verse. The release was timed to France’s Bastille Day and to the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Indago assesses the poster as direct incitement to attack soft targets in the United States and France during high-profile events, and notes Islamic State media has been calling for attacks on World Cup host cities and venues since June 18. The National Counterterrorism Center listed the same poster in its terrorist publications compendium for the week of July 16 through 22. Indago names lone-actor vehicle ramming, knife, and explosives attacks against crowd gatherings as the highest-probability threat vector.

[Source: NCTC Counterterrorism Digest, 16 to 22 July 2026, and Indago Islamic State Weekly Update, citing MEMRI JTTM]

🛡️ My thoughts: this message is inciting lone actors within the United States. We saw that in New York City this week when a man did exactly what ISIS asked them to do. He poured gasoline and used fireworks as an IED to attack a federal building there. What if he decided to go after a church instead of the federal building? Would you be prepared for that? Some church security trainers are saying that I am over stating these threats. Ezekiel 33 tells us to sound the trumpet when we see danger. I am doing that now, and I think those trainers need to change their attitude and do the same. The chances of an attack at your church are very minimal, but it’s not zero. We know it will happen to somebody, I pray that they are prepared.

Federal Data Shows Homegrown Islamic State Supporters Are Staying Home and Planning Here

The NCTC spotlight this week summarizes research from the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center on American Islamic State supporters. The United States has federally charged 272 people with Islamic State-related crimes since 2014. Defendants ranged in age from 17 to 56 with an average age of 27, 83 percent held United States citizenship or permanent legal resident status, and 91 percent were male. Cases per year have been climbing since 2023. Roughly 35 percent of defendants in the post-caliphate period attempted to travel overseas, and no traveler has successfully reached a destination since 2019. The spotlight highlights the January 2026 indictment of Christian Sturdivant, 18, arrested in December 2025 after authorities determined he allegedly planned to use knives and hammers in a New Year’s Eve attack on a grocery store and a fast-food restaurant in North Carolina.

[Source: NCTC Counterterrorism Digest, 16 to 22 July 2026, citing NCITE and the US Department of Justice]

🛡️ My thoughts: you should see a theme here. The danger to our church and synagogues is growing. Look at the information they put out and use that to help you in your threat assessments in your situational awareness while you’re working.

Seven Federal Agencies Updated a Warning That Iranian Cyber Actors Are Inside US Utility Controls

The FBI, CISA, NSA, EPA, Department of Energy, US Cyber Command, and Treasury updated a joint cybersecurity advisory on July 22 covering Iranian-affiliated cyber actors exploiting internet-connected programmable logic controllers across United States critical infrastructure. The advisory names Government Services and Facilities, including local municipalities, Water and Wastewater Systems, and Energy as affected sectors. Investigators found that after the actors extracted device project files, they modified and deleted program logic and manipulated the data shown on operator displays, and that the changes disabled shutdown and alarm logic so systems could enter unsafe conditions without alerting operators. The July 22 update expanded the manufacturer scope beyond Rockwell Automation to include Schneider Electric and Siemens controllers. The agencies state the targeting escalated in response to hostilities between Iran and the United States and Israel.

[Source: Joint Cybersecurity Advisory AA26-097A, updated 22 July 2026]

🛡️ My thoughts: you should be very concerned about this report. It is a signal that they can shut off our power and water. Are you prepared for this? What if your region suddenly has no electricity? Our societal contract will start breaking down. Food and water shortages will occur. Access to medicine and health will be declined. I suggest you have 90 days of food and water on hand in a team of people that know how to survive. The government has been warning us and we should be listening and not dismissing it. The Bible tells us this is coming. Be a good steward to your people.

Three European Cases This Month Involve Minors Building Devices and Selecting Religious Targets

Munich prosecutors charged a 15-year-old Islamic State sympathizer from Augsburg, Germany with plotting a terrorist attack on a synagogue and with illegal handling of explosives, and stated the teen had obtained a large quantity of explosive material. In October 2025 that same teen detonated a homemade device that blew off two of his fingers and injured an associate. In Italy, the Polizia di Stato announced on July 17 the arrest of a 17-year-old Italian girl in Pavia for participation in an association with the purpose of international terrorism, after a search of her home recovered detailed instructions for making an explosive belt along with conversations with presumed Islamic State associates. In the United Kingdom, Kingston Crown Court convicted 16-year-old Yusuf Shah on July 15 of collecting terrorist materials and providing instruction in the preparation of acts of terrorism, with authorities stating he had expressed support for al-Qa’ida and the Pakistani Taliban on social media beginning at age 13.

[Source: NCTC Counterterrorism Digest, 16 to 22 July 2026, citing the Munich Public Prosecutor’s Office, Polizia di Stato, and the UK Metropolitan Police]

Islamic State Fighters Hit a Girls’ School at 1:30 in the Morning With Inside Help

On July 19, Islamic State West Africa Province fighters attempted a mass abduction of students at the Federal Government Girls College in Monguno, Borno State, Nigeria. The assault came at roughly 1:30 a.m. against a facility being used as a hostel. Nigerian troops foiled the attack and rescued 46 students, though reporting states some were fatally struck during the firefight. Indago assesses the operation involved suspected collaborator assistance and signals intent to run complex, multi-element operations against soft civilian infrastructure. Nigerian forces separately arrested a suspected Moroccan Islamic State operative embedded with ISWAP on July 14 following a failed attack at Cross Kauwa, and Operation Hadin Kai troops arrested a woman at a Borno checkpoint on July 13 who had concealed 17 flashlights and 19 batteries inside her clothing intended for Boko Haram and ISWAP.

[Source: Indago Islamic State Weekly Update, citing Channels Television, and NCTC Counterterrorism Digest, citing The Sun Nigeria]

The Islamic State’s Own Weekly Ledger Counts Christians as Two Thirds of Its Victims

Issue 556 of the Islamic State’s Arabic weekly newspaper al-Naba, dated 2 Safar 1448 and covering roughly July 9 through July 15, opens with a full-page infographic tallying the group’s claimed results. It claims 21 operations and more than 34 killed and wounded for the week. It sorts those casualties into three categories of its own choosing: 23 it labels Crusaders, a term it applies both to Christians and to the armies of Christian-majority governments, 10 it labels infidels and apostates, and 1 it labels Shia. It also claims 3 officers killed, 12 vehicles burned or disabled, and 4 military positions burned. Operations break down as 13 in West Africa, 5 in Central Africa, 2 in Mozambique, and 1 in Iraq, with casualties concentrated at 19 in Central Africa and 13 in West Africa. By the organization’s own bookkeeping, Christians account for roughly two thirds of everyone it claims to have killed or wounded that week.

[Source: al-Naba issue 556, page 2 infographic, translated from Arabic]

Islamic State Named the Christian Villages It Raided and Described Cutting Captives’ Throats

Al-Naba 556 details raids on named Christian villages across two continents. In Borno State, Nigeria, fighters raided the village of Kautama on a Thursday, burned a vehicle and a number of homes, and took a motorcycle and other property. In Adamawa State they raided the village of Sura on a Monday, killed two Christians, and burned a vehicle, a motorcycle, and 10 homes. West Africa totals for the week include 3 Christians killed and 15 homes burned. The group separately states that on a Wednesday it shot and killed a member of a Christian organization after having captured him earlier on the road between Gubio and Kareto in Borno. In eastern Congo, fighters captured 5 Christians from around Beni village and killed them by cutting their throats, and the same day raided the Christian village of Mangina, killing at least 4 more and burning a home. That Mangina raid converts to July 14, the same date and the same village where Open Doors reported 6 killed including a church elder and a worship leader, covered in the International section below. Throughout, the publication calls these civilians “the fighting Christians,” which is the wording the organization uses to reclassify noncombatants as legitimate targets.

[Source: al-Naba issue 556, pages 4 and 5, translated from Arabic]

The Islamic State Published a Full Page on the Religious Merit of Standing Guard

The back page of al-Naba 556 is an infographic devoted to the virtue of sentry duty, assembled entirely from classical hadith and scholarly commentary. It compiles narrations holding that a night spent on watch outweighs a month of fasting and night prayer, that the eye which keeps watch will not be touched by fire, that a guard standing post in a land of fear is better than the Night of Decree, and that a man who guards other people in a place where the enemy is feared earns the standing of one stationed at the frontier. The page carries no operational content and makes no claims of attacks. It exists to make guard duty feel spiritually valuable to the people performing it.

[Source: al-Naba issue 556, page 8 infographic, translated from Arabic]

🛡️ My thoughts: That is dedication. Are you dedicated to protecting your church? We need to be more dedicated to our mission than the enemy.

VIOLENT CRIME

Five Shot Outside Detroit Church During Funeral — Detroit, Michigan

Five people were shot outside Greater Love Tabernacle Church on Plymouth Road on Detroit’s west side on Friday, July 17, 2026. Police Chief Todd Bettison said a physical fight broke out at about 5:48 p.m. during a funeral at the church, and one man involved in the fight produced a handgun and fired into the crowd. Officers were already posted in the area because Detroit police had received information about threats of violence tied to a separate visitation at the O.H. Pye III Funeral Home across the street. An officer who responded to the fight witnessed the shooting and returned fire, striking the shooter. Four victims and the suspected shooter were struck in the lower extremities, all were expected to survive, and the suspect was taken into custody.

Source

🛡️ My thoughts: Watch the video above for my thoughts.

Gunfire Interrupts Funeral at Little Rock Church, Two Charged — Little Rock, Arkansas

Little Rock police responded to a shots fired call at Fellowship Christian Church, 8923 Sunset Lane, at about 2:10 p.m. on Saturday, July 18, 2026, during the funeral of 18-year-old Dillan Cheeter. Detectives already near the scene heard the gunshots and saw a vehicle leave northbound toward Baseline Road. Officers followed and stopped the vehicle, which carried 21-year-old Maddison Jackson and an unidentified minor. Jackson was charged with unlawful discharge of a firearm, unauthorized use of another person’s property, furnishing a handgun to a minor, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and the minor was charged with unlawful discharge of a firearm and possession of a handgun by a minor. No one inside the church was injured, though mourners jumped over pews and ran for the doors, and the building was held as a crime scene. Cheeter had been fatally shot on July 5 in the 5100 block of Asher Avenue.

Source

🛡️ My thoughts: Are you seeing the potential threats that funerals can have at your church? What are you proactively doing to protect your church during funerals? You need to determine how the person died, do they have family conflicts? If the dead is a gang member or criminal, expect rivals to come to take out friends that will show up.

Man Found Dead Behind Frayser Church, Death Investigated as Homicide — Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis police responded to a call just after 4 p.m. on Monday, July 20, 2026, in the 3700 block of North Watkins Street in the Frayser neighborhood, near Pursuit of God Church. Officers found a man behind the church, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said the call came in as a report of a suspicious person. Investigators have not said how the man died, and the department is working the case as a homicide. No suspect has been named, and anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 901-528-CASH.

Source

🛡️ My thoughts: We don’t know how he died. What we do know: people that are fleeing danger often go to a church to seek refuge. We see this almost every week here. A 4k video system helps with security by having active monitoring AND it helps document crimes on the property and helps law enforcement find out what happened and who the perpetrators are.

Man in Crisis Detained Outside Catholic Church — Laredo, Texas

Laredo police responded to a call outside St. John Neumann Catholic Church at 102 West Hillside Road on Sunday, July 19, 2026. Officers said the call involved a man in crisis outside the church. Police detained the man and found no weapons. Authorities said the entire incident took place outside the building and that nothing occurred inside the church. The scene was cleared, and police have not released additional details.

Source

🛡️ My thoughts: Not really a violent crime, but I’m putting it in here so you understand people in crisis come to the church for help. I see it at my church a couple of times a year. We need to help them. Sometimes we can’t and we need to call the police to help them. Just have a plan and keep this in your scenario line up.

Man Charged With Terror Threats Against Willow Creek Community Church — South Barrington, Illinois

Ryan Kang, 26, of Vernon Hills, Illinois, was charged with two counts of terrorism by false threat, a Class 1 felony, after police say he posted threats of violence on social media. The Vernon Hills Police Department opened the investigation after multiple people, including members of Kang’s own family, reported the posts. Deputy Police Chief Shannon Holubetz said the threats referenced school shootings, bombings, and acts of interpersonal violence, and were directed at Vernon Hills High School, Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, and several out-of-state residents. Police said Kang admitted to authoring the posts and that investigators determined he did not have the means or ability to carry out an attack. Kang was arrested on Saturday, July 18, 2026, and the department announced the charges on Tuesday, July 21. Willow Creek leadership said South Barrington police notified the church on Saturday and that there was no risk to Sunday services or other scheduled events.

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🛡️ My thoughts: take these threats seriously! If somebody says that they’re going to do something to you, take it as a real threat. That means you have to respond to it in an appropriate way. Do not dismiss it and tell yourself that the person never really would do something. They absolutely would! That’s why they said it. If you dismiss that you are putting your people at risk.

SEX CRIMES

Church and School Leaders Charged in Pawleys Island Sex Offender Case — Pawleys Island, South Carolina

Georgetown County Sheriff Carter Weaver announced criminal charges on Monday, July 20, 2026, against former Pawleys Island Community Church pastor Don Williams, his wife and church guest services director Ginny Williams, and Pawleys Island Christian Academy director Jennifer “Niki” Howard, and re-arrested Warren Perry, the registered sex offender whose probation violation arrest opened the case. Don Williams and Howard are charged with obstruction of justice, unlawfully placing a child at risk, and criminal conspiracy, and Ginny Williams and Perry are charged with obstruction of justice and criminal conspiracy. Weaver said Perry had worked at the church since roughly 2020 and was serving as a custodian seven days a week at the academy, which enrolls children from six weeks old through kindergarten. Investigators obtained sworn statements, search warrants, and photographs placing Perry in close proximity to children, and Weaver played video at the press conference of Don Williams telling a deputy that Perry had never been around minors. All three church and school leaders resigned on July 17, Perry was denied bond on July 21, Howard was granted bonds totaling $75,000, and four lawsuits have since been filed against the church and the academy.

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🛡️ My thoughts: I really need to do a more in-depth article and video on this incident. What this church leadership did is more common than you think. There’s nothing in the Bible that tells you to hide any crime. To do so is unconscionable. If you find out, there was a sexual assault involving your church, your first call is to 911. Do that before you notify anybody at the church. Will they be upset with you for calling before telling them? Sure! But you’re protecting everybody by not giving them a chance to cover up the crime.

Pastor Held on $17.5 Million Bail in Child Sexual Abuse Case — Monterey County, California

The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office arrested Emmanuel Marchica, 51, of Hollister, California, on Friday, July 10, 2026, and released details of the case publicly the following week. Deputies said the investigation began July 5 after a report of ongoing sexual abuse of a child, and detectives identified several additional victims through witness interviews before serving multiple search warrants. Marchica was booked on felony counts including lewd or lascivious acts with a child, sexual penetration of a child, oral copulation of a child, and annoying or molesting a child. The sheriff’s office said Marchica was serving as a pastor and holding regular religious services at a community gathering center in the Hidden Valley community of San Benito County, and that he previously owned bakeries in Prunedale and Monterey and gyms in Sand City, Seaside, and Prunedale where he offered physical therapy and massage therapy and worked as a jiu-jitsu instructor. Investigators said one victim was allegedly molested during one of those therapy sessions, that victim disclosures date back to 2012, and that they believe additional victims exist. Bail was set at $17.5 million.

Source

🛡️ My thoughts: more than likely, there will be more victims. If this person served at your church, you should start searching for victims and help them get justice.

Christian Preschool Employee Charged With Soliciting a Minor — Easley, South Carolina

The Easley Police Department arrested Heather Nichole Hill on Friday, July 17, 2026, on one count of criminal solicitation of a minor and eight counts of disseminating obscene material to a person under 18. Police confirmed Hill was employed at Siloam Christian Preschool on Siloam Road in Easley, South Carolina. A judge set bond at $10,000 on each charge, and jail records show she was released Sunday on a surety bond. The preschool said in a statement that its leadership team and church officials met Sunday afternoon and terminated her employment, and that the preschool and church contacted the Easley Police Department and pledged full cooperation. Police said the investigation is active.

Source

Pastor’s Wife and Son Charged in Abuse of 14-Year-Old Living in Their Home — Poplarville, Mississippi

The Pearl River County Sheriff’s Office arrested Dawson James Brown, 27, and his mother Sabrina Brown, 54, on Friday, July 17, 2026. Investigators confirmed Sabrina Brown is the wife of a pastor at New Heights/College Heights Baptist Church in Poplarville, Mississippi, that Dawson Brown is their son, and that the victim was living with the Brown family at the time of the alleged offenses. The investigation began on or about June 30 after a referral from the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services following an anonymous report that the girl was pregnant, and investigators estimate she became pregnant in October or November 2025, when she was 13. Dawson Brown is charged with one count of statutory rape, two counts of sexual battery, and one count of human trafficking, and Sabrina Brown is charged with conspiracy to commit tampering with evidence, attempted tampering with physical evidence, and felony child neglect. Court documents allege Sabrina Brown instructed the girl on fabricating and submitting a false DNA document to investigators. The girl’s mother, Kendrell Bowden, 32, was arrested Tuesday, July 21, and the sheriff’s office said the investigation remains active and additional arrests are possible.

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ARSON AND SUSPICIOUS FIRES

Dennysville Church Fire Ruled Arson — Dennysville, Maine

A fire at the Dennysville Edmunds Congregational Church at 17 King Street was reported shortly before 8 a.m. on Monday, July 20, 2026. The Maine Office of State Fire Marshal said the fire started outside near the rear of the building, and the Dennysville Fire Department knocked it down fast enough to hold the damage primarily to the exterior. A passerby saw the smoke and called 911. No one was inside the church at the time, and no injuries were reported. On Tuesday, July 21, the fire marshal’s office determined the fire was intentionally set and classified it as arson, and investigators have not publicly identified a suspect. Anyone who saw activity near King Street before 8 a.m. Monday is asked to call the fire marshal’s office at 207-973-3700.

Source

🛡️ My thoughts

INTERNATIONAL

Woman Stabbed During Rosary Before Mass, Man Charged — Tramore, Ireland

A woman in her 50s was stabbed inside Holy Cross Church in Summerhill, Tramore, County Waterford, at about 9:45 a.m. on Tuesday, July 21, 2026. Parish priest Fr Richard O’Halloran said the rosary was being recited ahead of 10 a.m. Mass with roughly 50 to 60 people present, and the woman was in the main body of the church when she was attacked. She received a single knife wound and was taken to University Hospital Waterford with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. Gardaí arrested a man at a nearby house and seized a knife for technical examination. Niall Cummins, 36, of the Willows, Clarinwood, Tramore, appeared at Waterford District Court on Wednesday, July 22, charged with Section 3 assault causing harm and with possession of a knife at the church, and the court heard he made no reply after arrest and caution. The Diocese of Waterford and Lismore commended the parishioners who assisted the victim.

Source

🛡️ My thoughts

Suspected Boko Haram Fighters Abduct Pastor’s Wife and Three Children — Borno State, Nigeria

Gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram or Islamic State West Africa Province fighters stopped a commercial vehicle near Kareto village in Mobbar Local Government Area, Borno State, at about noon on Saturday, July 18, 2026. Community sources said the attackers ordered the wife of Rev. Moses G. Guguma and her three children off the vehicle, allowed the driver and remaining passengers to continue, and moved into the bush with the captives. Guguma leads a Church of Christ in Nations congregation in Damasak, about 156 kilometers north of Maiduguri along the road the family was traveling. Sources said the pastor’s wife had recently been discharged from a hospital in Maiduguri after a prolonged illness before making the trip. Damasak has been repeatedly attacked and occupied by Boko Haram and ISWAP in recent years, security agencies had issued no official statement at the time of reporting, and the family’s whereabouts remain unknown.

Source

Plateau Pastor Reports Death Threat Letter — Plateau State, Nigeria

Rev. Ezekiel Dachomo, regional chairman of the Church of Christ in Nations for Barkin Ladi Local Government Area, said in a statement posted to his X account on Friday, July 17, 2026, that he and members of his church received a letter threatening to kill them. Dachomo said the letter was written in both Hausa and English, warned that he would soon be attacked and killed, and that copies had been handed to heads of security agencies in Plateau State. He tied the threat to the July 11 attack on the Kum and Wereng-Camp communities in Riyom Local Government Area, in which nine members of a single family, including a two-month-old infant, were killed. Punch reported that it could not independently verify Dachomo’s claim that those victims were his relatives. Dachomo has been a prominent public advocate for victims of attacks on Christian communities in Plateau State.

Source

Church Elder and Worship Leader Among 20 Killed in Three Attacks — Beni Territory, Democratic Republic of Congo

Open Doors reported that three attacks in Beni Territory, North Kivu Province, between July 12 and July 16, 2026, left more than 20 people dead. An Open Doors field contact confirmed an attack on the rural commune of Mangina on July 14 in which six people were killed, including a church elder and a worship leader, six more were injured, one person is missing, and two houses were burned. News outlets reported that Allied Democratic Forces fighters attacked an area west of the city of Beni on July 12, killing seven civilians and three Congolese Armed Forces soldiers, and that 10 more people died in a separate attack at Mangina on July 16. Open Doors said movement restrictions tied to an Ebola outbreak in eastern DRC are making information difficult to verify. The ADF is an Islamist group with ties to the Islamic State and has targeted Christian communities in North Kivu and Ituri with massacres, kidnappings, and the destruction of churches.

Source

Cross-reference: the Islamic State claimed the July 14 Mangina raid in al-Naba issue 556, describing the village as Christian and stating its fighters killed at least 4 there and burned a home. See the Terrorism and Intelligence section above.

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Copyright © 2026 Keith Graves. All rights reserved.

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Why I Am Saying This

I live in a neighborhood where I am one of the only evangelicals on the street. Almost every one of my neighbors is a Latter-day Saint, and I love every one of them. That is the reason I am writing this, not the reason I am staying quiet about it.

I am not writing a theological piece. That is a different article and a different day. The people sitting in those meetinghouses on Sunday morning are made in the image of God, and Scripture tells me to protect the innocent. That is the entire basis for what follows. If you came here looking for me to take a position on doctrine, you are going to be disappointed.

Here is what I am saying, and I am putting it in writing so it exists on the record. If the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does not change how it protects the people in its buildings, more of its members are going to be killed. Not because their people do not care. I have talked to plenty of Latter-day Saints who are deeply worried about this and have been told to stand down. The failure is institutional, it sits at the top, and the people who pay for it will be sitting in the pews.

I am saving this. When it happens again, I am going to publish it again with the date attached.

The Record

The argument I hear most often from large denominations is that an attack on their buildings is unlikely. Let us look at what has already happened on Latter-day Saint property, because history is the best predictor available.

On April 15, 1999, a 70-year-old man walked into the lobby of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City and opened fire. He killed a patron and he killed a Church Security officer who had served the church for 28 years. 5 more people were wounded. From the first shots until police put him down, it took roughly 1 hour and 45 minutes. Their own security man died, and it still took nearly 2 hours to end it.

On August 29, 2010, a 47-year-old former member drove more than 130 miles to a meetinghouse in Visalia, California. He walked in between meetings, asked to speak to a church leader, and was pointed toward the bishop’s office. He sat and waited outside that door. When Bishop Clay Sannar opened it, he shot and killed him. About 30 people were in the building. A stranger walked in, asked for a leader by title, and was escorted to him.

On July 22, 2018, a 48-year-old member of the ward in Fallon, Nevada walked into sacrament meeting after the sacrament had been passed, produced a 9mm handgun, and shot 2 men in front of the congregation. Charles Miller, 61, a longtime volunteer firefighter, was killed. Miller’s brother was wounded. The shooter walked out of the chapel, walked home a block away, and surrendered. That was an insider. He had been sitting in the pews.

On July 23, 2019, a gunman fired at a group of people in a meetinghouse parking lot in St. George, Utah. On August 3, 2020, shots were fired at the Missionary Training Center in Provo. On December 4, 2021, a missionary was shot 5 times inside a meetinghouse in Birmingham, Alabama. On March 27, 2024, at least 3 people threw an explosive device into an occupied meetinghouse in Henderson, Nevada, injuring 4 people inside.

On September 28, 2025, a 40-year-old Marine veteran rammed a pickup truck through the front wall of the chapel in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan, exited with an AK-style rifle, and opened fire on the congregation. He poured gasoline and set the building on fire. Investigators recovered improvised explosive devices. 4 church members were killed, 2 by gunfire and 2 in the fire that followed. 8 more were wounded, ranging in age from 6 to 78. The building was a total loss.

Here is the part of Grand Blanc I want to sit with you, and it is the reason I keep going back to that case. When I debriefed the attack, I confirmed that an officer was on scene within 30 seconds of the first shot fired. Police killed the attacker 8 minutes after the first 911 call. 4 people still died anyway. I have never seen a response time on an active shooter event like the one those officers put up, and I do not believe that officer was standing there by accident. It still was not enough, and it never is, because the killing happens in the first seconds and the police are always arriving into something that has already started. That is the whole argument for having a trained person already inside the room before anybody dials 911.

On December 8, 2025, meetinghouse windows were shot out in Idaho Falls, Idaho. On January 7, 2026, 8 people were shot outside the Rose Park 5th Ward meetinghouse on Redwood Road in Salt Lake City while a memorial service was going on inside. 2 men were killed, ages 38 and 46. One of them left 11 children behind, the youngest 5 months old.

That shooting was Tongan Crip Gang. I worked gangs as a sergeant for years, and I did not need a case file to tell me what I was looking at. The clothing in the footage said it before any paperwork did. The federal government has since said the same thing. On February 25, 2026, a grand jury indicted 2 alleged Tongan Crip Gang members, Ryan Toutai and Fineeva Maka, on firearms charges connected to the shooting, and the United States Attorney for the District of Utah announced it in those exact terms. Arrest documents note that one of them attended that memorial service dressed in gang colors and attire. As of the last reporting I have seen, no homicide charges have been filed against anyone.

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That attack was not a hate crime and it was not religiously motivated. It was street violence that walked onto church property because nobody was watching the parking lot, and it should terrify every church security team in America for exactly that reason. You do not have to be a target to bury people.

And then this past Sunday, July 19, 2026, a man dressed head to toe in black on a 100 degree day walked into a Utah meetinghouse during services, sat down in the west lobby, pulled out a revolver, and rested his hand on it. He got that far before anyone spoke to him. The revolver turned out to be unloaded, which nobody in the building knew at the time. The nursery, down the same hallway, found out an armed man was in the building when a father sprinted to the door and pulled the children out himself. I wrote that one up here.

That is a minimum of 9 firearms incidents on Latter-day Saint property in 30 years, plus an explosive attack, plus a mass knife attack that injured 5 in Goiania, Brazil, plus the armed robbery of 70 missionaries at a zone conference in Torreon, Mexico, plus an arson campaign that has burned meetinghouses in more than a dozen states. 10 people have been killed by gunfire on their property in that window, not counting the attackers.

A group with that record cannot describe itself as unlikely to be targeted.

The Fix List

Here is exactly what I would do if I were in charge, starting Monday morning. It runs from cheapest and fastest to hardest.

Sanitize the Public Footprint

The active shooter response procedure is published on their own public website. The meetinghouse security training video sent to members sits on a public resource page. The Global Security Operations Center contact information is in a PDF on a public asset server. And the handbook publicly announces that nobody inside the building is armed.

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That last one is not a policy statement to the membership. It is an advertisement to an attacker. The man planning to kill people in that building will read the response procedure, watch the training video, and build his plan around defeating exactly what he knows the congregation has been taught to do.

Pull all of it. Move the operational material behind a login restricted to the people who are actually going to teach it. Keep public what should stay public: how to contact the church, the Scripture, the gospel, the things that lead people to Jesus. Everything operational comes down.

I already know the objection, because I have heard it from Latter-day Saints and from every large denomination with a global footprint. We are a worldwide organization and conditions vary by country. That is true, and it is also beside the point. People are not being murdered in meetinghouses in most of the world. They are being murdered in them here. Regionalize the material. Plenty of worldwide religious bodies manage to do this without publishing their playbook.

Amend the Firearms Prohibition

The current General Handbook language, still standing in the 2026 edition, prohibits firearms and other lethal weapons on church property, concealed included, with the single exception of current law enforcement officers.

That bans retired police officers. It bans combat veterans. It bans every trained permit holder sitting in the pews on Sunday.

Here is what that policy actually accomplishes. The Utah witness from July 19 said on camera that he normally carries at church despite the prohibition, and that Sunday was one of the rare days he did not. The policy did not disarm him on any other Sunday. It disarmed him on the day a man walked into his building with a revolver. Prohibitions do not remove guns from a congregation. They remove them from the people who follow rules, and they leave leadership with no idea who is armed on any given Sunday.

If your congregants can lawfully carry, do not prohibit it. Mandate instead. Anyone carrying in the building attends church training first so they understand their role in an event, and they come back every year. Add a qualification if you want one. Most of the people I know would welcome it.

Build the Academy and Train the Trainers

Stand up a regional training center that certifies instructors who do nothing but teach security tactics to ward level teams. Global security trains the regional instructors. The regional instructors train the wards.

The org chart already exists. Stake, region, area. No other church body in America is better positioned to scale a security program than this one, and that is not flattery, it is a fact about the structure. The structure is excellent. It is simply not being pointed at this problem.

Put a Team in Every Ward

Not at the stake level. Not regionally. Every single building.

I cannot tell you how many people a given building needs without walking it, and neither can anyone else. Anybody who hands you a number without a site visit is guessing.

Set a selection standard: background check, clean history, and a proven track record of stepping toward a problem rather than away from it. If a ward has candidates with the right character but no relevant background, that is trainable. They do not have to be armed. It would be better if some of them were.

Train for Both Threats

Active shooter is the threat everyone thinks about. It is not the one most likely to hurt your children.

A child in your building is far more likely to be harmed by a predator who has been coming to church for months than by a stranger with a rifle. The same team trains for both, in the same cycle. They learn to recognize grooming behavior and policy violations with the same seriousness they bring to a man in the parking lot.

Four Hours a Month, Minimum

Not annually. Not in the two weeks after something is on the news and then never again.

4 hours a month, every month. If you want to know what to train on, go to christianwarriortraining.com. The annual training matrix is free and it lays out exactly what to cover and when. So is everything else on the training tab.

Cameras That Actually Work

Full perimeter and interior coverage. 4K, good enough to read a plate in the lot and see a face through a windshield. Someone actively monitoring the feed rather than a box in a closet recording to a drive nobody has checked since installation. Retain the footage a minimum of 1 year, which also protects the church when an accusation surfaces months later.

Own the Parking Lot

Go back through the record above and count how much of it happened outside the doors. January 7 in Salt Lake City was entirely in the lot. Grand Blanc came through the front wall in a truck. Visalia walked through the front door. St. George was in the parking lot. In the incident data I track, roughly 75% of violent crime at churches happens outside the building.

The lot is where this gets won or lost. Coverage starts outside, not in the foyer.

While you are working on that, understand that not every service on your calendar carries the same risk. Funerals and memorial services are the highest risk events most churches host, and almost nobody staffs them that way. When the deceased had gang ties, or the family does, everyone with a grievance knows exactly where those people will be standing and exactly what time to find them. Salt Lake City in January is the case study. That crowd was assembled and advertised, and the shooting happened in the lot while the service went on inside. If a family asks to hold a service at your building, ask questions before you say yes, and put your people outside for that one.

Screen the Walk-In

Visalia is the case study and it should be required reading for every bishop. A man nobody knew asked for a church leader and was walked toward a closed office door.

Nobody meets a stranger alone behind a closed door. Ever. That protects the bishop physically and it protects him from accusations, which is the far more common risk.

I teach a free course on contacting suspicious persons and suspicious vehicles, and it covers the meet and greet interruption. You close the distance, you get eyes on the person, and you break their decision cycle with something simple and human. You meet him with the heart of Christ and you stay prepared for the other outcome.

Plan for the Insider

Fallon was a member of the ward. He was in the room before he was a threat. Salt Lake City in January came out of a dispute between people attending a service.

A team trained only to watch the door will miss both. They have to be trained to watch the congregation.

What Every Other Church Should Take From This

I did not write this to put a denomination on trial. I wrote it because most of these failures are not unique to them, and the ones reading this from a Baptist, non-denominational, or Catholic parish should stop feeling comfortable.

Go look at your own website tonight. How much of your emergency plan is posted publicly? Your service times, your staff directory with photos, your floor plan for the building campaign, your children’s check-in procedure. An attacker builds a target package out of exactly that material, and most churches hand it to him for free.

Then look at your carry policy. If you have a no-weapons sign on the door and no security team behind it, you have chosen the worst configuration available. You have disarmed the law-abiding and deterred nobody. Either build the program or stop pretending the sign is one.

Then walk your parking lot on a Sunday morning and count how many sets of eyes are actually assigned to it. In most churches the honest answer is zero.

And ask yourself the harder question. When something goes wrong at your church, does the institution get louder or quieter? Every organization in this space, mine included, has a temptation to manage the story instead of fixing the gap. A congregation that gets quiet after an incident is a congregation that will have the same incident again.

Biblical Perspective

I want to speak as a brother for a moment rather than as a security instructor.

In Ezekiel 33, God sets a watchman on the wall and gives him one job. He sees the sword coming, and he blows the trumpet.

“But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, that person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.” (Ezekiel 33:6, ESV)

That is not advice. That is God assigning responsibility, and notice where He assigns it. Not to the man carrying the sword. To the watchman who saw it coming and said nothing.

So understand what this article is. I am blowing the trumpet. I have watched this sword come down on churches for years and I am telling the Latter-day Saints plainly that it is coming back around. If I stayed quiet because I did not want my neighbors angry with me, or because I did not want a comment section full of people calling me anti-Mormon, that silence would be on my hands.

Now go to Nehemiah, who was rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem while men were coming to kill his workers. He did not tell them to pray harder and hope for the best.

“And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night.” (Nehemiah 4:9, ESV)

He prayed and he set a guard. Both, in the same breath, in the same sentence.

Then read what he actually did with that guard. He identified the low places and the open spots in the wall, the gaps where an enemy would come through, and he stationed people there by family with swords, spears, and bows. The men hauling material carried a load in one hand and a weapon in the other. The men laying stone worked with a sword strapped to their side. Nehemiah kept the man with the trumpet standing beside him so the alarm could go out the instant anything moved. In today’s terms that is a pistol on the hip, a rifle in the closet, and a radio on every member of the team. Then he stood in front of all of them and told them to stop being afraid, to remember the Lord, and to fight for their brothers, their sons, their daughters, their wives, and their homes.

Here is where that lands. Nehemiah was doing the holiest work happening in Israel at that moment. He was rebuilding the city of God, and he armed the workers. Nobody in Scripture told him that weapons had no place on holy ground. God did not rebuke him for it. God gave him the wall in 52 days.

So when someone tells you that a building set apart for worship is a place where you leave the ability to protect people at the door, understand that this is a preference and not a biblical position. Nehemiah is the biblical position. Pray and set a guard.

Solomon said it shorter than I can in Proverbs 22:3. The prudent man sees the danger coming and takes cover. The simple man walks past it and pays for it. There is no third category in that verse, no righteous option where you see it coming, do nothing, and God honors you for the passivity.

Grand Blanc was not a warning. Grand Blanc was the event. Salt Lake City in January was the confirmation. Michigan, Nevada, California, Utah, Idaho, Alabama. The sword has been seen.

Final Assessment

The question in front of Latter-day Saint leadership is not whether the threat is real. That question was answered on September 28, 2025, and answered again on January 7, 2026, and underlined this past Sunday by a man with a revolver in a lobby who simply chose not to load it.

The only question left is whether the men holding the watch are going to blow the trumpet or account for the silence.

Most of what I have laid out here costs almost nothing. Pulling the operational material off a public server costs nothing. Putting trained eyes on a door costs nothing. Amending a handbook paragraph costs nothing. Meeting with the people who are already carrying in the building costs a calendar invite. The expensive items, the academy and the cameras, are within reach of an institution with this structure and these resources.

If you are a Latter-day Saint reading this, take it to your bishop. Take it to your stake president. Send it to Church Security in Salt Lake. Make somebody sit down and read it, and then make them answer for it. If you are going to cause a stir inside your organization over something, this is the hill worth taking.

And if you are reading this from any other church in America, do not walk away from it feeling superior. Most of you have the same holes. They just have not been tested yet.

Join the Conversation

I want constructive conversation in the comments and nothing else. To the Christians reading this, do not use that space to attack Latter-day Saints. They are made in the image of God, there will be another time and place for that discussion, and this is not it. To the Latter-day Saints reading this, come in with an open mind and skip the excuses. Tell me what you think can be changed inside your structure and where the real obstacles sit, because I am not the one with all the answers here. The Lord is.

If you serve on a church security team anywhere, tell me how your congregation handles lawful carriers and whether anybody is assigned to your parking lot. Send this to your pastor or your team leader today. And if this work helps your team, consider a paid subscription. It keeps the training free for the churches that cannot afford it.

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