Real Life Combat: Vet and Wife Mobbed at Theater

Marine Vet Freire and His Wife

An Iraq vet and his wife were recently assaulted outside a movie theater in Florida.

He made it home from the Iraq war just in time for Christmas. She was looking forward to a night out with her husband after so much time apart.

But a group of teenagers had other plans for Federico and Kalyn Freire, who were assaulted outside a Florida movie theater after asking the teens to be quiet during a movie on Christmas Day.

Federico Freire, a 28-year-old Marine, and Kalyn Freire were attacked after the couple attended a showing of “Little Fockers” on Saturday in Bradenton, Fla.

“The saddest part about it was that this was our first date night together in a long time,” Freire’s wife, Kalyn, said in an interview Wednesday with FoxNews.com. “We were just looking to spend some time together.”

Freire, a Florida native stationed at Camp Pendelton in California, said he and his wife asked a group of “obnoxiously loud” teenagers talking on cell phones to “be quiet” during the 8:20 p.m. movie.

“This was my first time back in town from my tour in Iraq,” he said.

Freire said that when the disturbance escalated and the group began cursing, his wife called the manager, who asked several of the teenagers to leave the theater.

The couple said they thought the fracas was over until they walked out of the theater and were assaulted by a mob of menacing teenagers.

“On our way out of the movie theater, my wife gets surrounded with about 10 to 15 girls that were about to attack her,” Freire told FoxNews.com. “As soon as I saw this I immediately ran and got her out of harm’s way.”

Freire said he was kicked and punched as he and his wife tried to run from the group.

“I leaned down to grab my purse and there were literally 100 teens around us,” Kalyn Freire said, “While the manager was in the corner with his mouth open and not doing anything.”

Freire said one bystander stepped forward and told the couple to follow him to his car, saying he could scare the crowd off with a gun. But before the two reached the man’s vehicle, one of the teenagers said, “I’m going to knock your wife out,” before punching Freire’s wife to the ground, the couple said.

Deputies from the Manatee County Sheriff’s Department responded to the scene and arrested two 15-year-old brothers and charged them with misdemeanor battery.

According to a police report, three others — 16-year-old Ishmael Dunbar, 17-year-old Reginald Gardner and 20-year-old Destiny McNeil — were arrested and charged with felony battery on a law enforcement officer and trespassing.

“All available units were requested to respond to disperse the crowd for officer safety and to restore order,” the police report said. One teenager was stunned by a Taser.

Authorities said the fight attracted about 300 bystanders.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/12/29/iraq-war-veteran-wife-assaulted-outside-florida-theater-teen-mob/#ixzz19c7FmPYK

A video of the arrest is here.

It makes your blood boil.

I don’t want to second-guess this vet, but this does bring up the issue of “Back with Reinforcements.” This is where it goes wrong for the master of “The World’s Deadliest Art.” Confronted by a punk at a party, the master of The World’s Deadliest Art counters the punk’s right haymaker and decks him. The young hoodlum regains consciousness a minute later and finds himself lying on the shag carpet. His friends help him stagger outside, and he leaves in disgrace.

Another victory for the master of The World’s Deadliest Art, right?

Not so fast. There are so many ways this scenario can go wrong.

• The humiliated punk in the meantime has driven home, got the handgun out from under his mom’s bed, and comes back to the party, riddling Mr. Master with lead.

• Maybe he’s too scared to go into the party and confront the guy who whipped him, so he just sprays the apartment with bullets from the parking lot.

• He is waiting outside with a crowbar or a butcher knife as Mr. Master leaves an hour and 3 beers later. Mr. Master never sees the punk waiting on the other side of the door.

• Now 12 of his gangbanger buddies are waiting outside. That your wife, girlfriend, or daughter is with you is not a concern for them, but icing on the cake.

• You leave the party, only to find your car has had its tires slashed, the sides keyed, and a headlight smashed. Consider yourself lucky.

These scenarios are not just idle speculation. Only yesterday I was reading about a similar situation:

Not long ago I was involved in a discussion about a young biker who had been blown off his barstool by a shotgun blast. What had disturbed me is that he had been involved in an altercation in the bar earlier and had not withdrawn, thereby signing his death warrant. However, an Australian bouncer rightfully commented that the ages between 18 and 24 is where these kinds of lifesaving  lessons tend to be learned — and those who don’t learn them, or aren’t lucky, never get any older. It is only the young and inexperienced who make certain kinds of mistakes.

If you ever have to confront somebody, whether it is physical or verbal, it is time to leave. Especially the guy who backs down and doesn’t fight –he may be looking for a way to get the odds in his favor. Remember, punks are not looking for a fair fight; if they were looking for a fair fight they’d be in boxing.

At the very least, if you leave the movie theater (restaurant, party, etc.) under these circumstances, you need to be in a state of high alert, with your weapon ready (yet concealed). That may mean having a grip on my knife in my pocket, or opening the knife and carrying it concealed in a popcorn bucket, or wrapped in a menu or newspaper.

It makes sense to carry a maglight to the theater, so that at the least is one weapon in your favor.