Triggered - Donald Trump Jr - September 17, 2026


The UK Tried to Stop This Book. Christian Craighead Tells His Story | Triggered Ep.375

Chris Rufo is Exposing Even More Left-Wing Fraud, Full Coverage! | Triggered Ep.374

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Length

49 minutes

Words per minute

154.66

Word count

7,679

Sentence count

535

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Guests:
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Harmful content

Toxicity

18

sentences flagged

Hate speech

14

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Transcript

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00:06:21.000 Hey guys, welcome to another huge episode of Triggered.
00:06:24.000 We've got a big one today.
00:06:25.000 My guest is British Special Forces hero, Christian Craighead.
00:06:31.000 He's been on the show before, and now he's ready to tell even more of this incredible story of his.
00:06:37.000 And now he's even becoming an American citizen.
00:06:41.000 January 2019, terrorists hit a hotel complex in Nairobi, Kenya, and this guy went in alone.
00:06:50.000 No orders.
00:06:51.000 No team, helmet still in the truck.
00:06:54.000 Hundreds of people got out alive because of the actions of one brave man.
00:06:59.000 But, not surprisingly, even his own government over in the UK went to court to stop him from telling the story.
00:07:08.000 But he'll be here on this show telling it now, and it's absolutely incredible.
00:07:14.000 You've probably seen the picture you know, one lone guy with an AK 47, ski mask on, armed to the teeth, going in and taking on.
00:07:23.000 A bunch of terrorists who took over a hotel.
00:07:27.000 It's absolutely awesome.
00:07:28.000 So, guys, make sure you're liking, sharing, subscribing.
00:07:32.000 Okay.
00:07:32.000 Hit the little like button right now.
00:07:34.000 Share this with your friends.
00:07:35.000 Get it out there.
00:07:35.000 Buy Christian's book, which is coming out this week.
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00:07:58.000 For all the top headlines that we cover on the show, go over and check out my news app, MXM News, like minute by minute, where you can get the mainstream news without the mainstream bias.
00:08:08.000 And of course, don't forget about our brave sponsors for having the guts to support this program, okay?
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00:09:18.000 And joining me now, author of the new book, One Man In, my buddy, good friend, former British SAS operator, Christian Craighead.
00:09:27.000 What's happening, buddy?
00:09:27.000 Good to have you back.
00:09:29.000 Hey, Don, nice to be here.
00:09:30.000 Thanks for having me on.
00:09:31.000 So, Christian, the book's called One Man In, and the crazy part is.
00:09:35.000 Your own government blocked it for years, is trying to block it, but now you're publishing it here in America.
00:09:43.000 So tell people why this story had to be told and really what it took to get it into print.
00:09:51.000 So the story, it had to be, it's my story of what happened that day.
00:09:56.000 And a lot of people across the whole world saw what happened and it was hot on the news.
00:10:02.000 And when I initially was retiring, one of the checkpoints, For me to retire, was can I write about this incident?
00:10:12.000 The line then was yes, of course, you can work with the disclosure, but this would be a good story for PR.
00:10:20.000 Started writing it and then was waiting for approval.
00:10:25.000 And then at the last moment, it got the shutters came down on me, and then it was a long process.
00:10:32.000 They did a hit job judicial review for my lawyers to say why.
00:10:42.000 And when I say hit job, this is a cautionary tale to everyone when you have a government appointed judge and no jury service.
00:10:49.000 Oh, that's me how I know.
00:10:51.000 Trust me.
00:10:52.000 And you go against the, when you go against the said government, when you've got your legal team rubbing their hands, leaving, going, we've got this.
00:11:00.000 There's no way they can stop this.
00:11:02.000 And then three months later, you get an announcement that they are stopping it.
00:11:09.000 And for everyone's information, this doesn't break the Official Secrets Act.
00:11:14.000 The way the UK Special Forces disclosure system works is it's just ambiguous.
00:11:19.000 So if I write a book saying the sky is blue and the grass is green, they can say, we don't want you to write that full stop.
00:11:26.000 So, They didn't want to do any redactions.
00:11:28.000 I did redactions initially, but then subsequently, or subsequently, they didn't want to do any redaction or anything.
00:11:35.000 It's just, I can't tell this story.
00:11:38.000 And this leads into the question, which is already picking up momentum, which is becoming bigger than maybe the story is why are they trying to stop this book?
00:11:48.000 And I feel that people watching this, if they go out and buy the book, when they read it, they will be asking the same question, going, why would you want to try and stop this book and this story?
00:11:59.000 Yeah, for those who don't know, I mean, Christian basically went into a hotel in Nairobi, Kenya, took out a bunch of really bad guys.
00:12:06.000 He just happened to be driving by as a British SAS officer, saved a bunch of people's lives, killed a lot of bad guys.
00:12:14.000 Like, this is an incredible hero story.
00:12:16.000 I mean, this is, I mean, honestly, I would think this is the exact person you would think, whether it's British SAS, the U.S. Navy SEALs, you know, Delta, any top operating unit in the world.
00:12:28.000 I mean, this is exactly what they train you to do, to be.
00:12:32.000 The one man in, you took that on yourself.
00:12:35.000 I mean, you should be a hero to virtually anyone.
00:12:40.000 And the fact that, I guess, if you were trans, they'd probably be fine writing the book because they need more trans heroes. 0.79
00:12:44.000 But you don't check any of those boxes, Christian. 0.99
00:12:47.000 You're just a boring white dude from the UK, now a US citizen. 0.98
00:12:51.000 But yeah, I don't get it. 0.97
00:12:54.000 It doesn't make sense.
00:12:55.000 I mean, you would think that would be the greatest recruitment tool to get other badasses to want to go serve in the British SAS.
00:13:01.000 Instead, they try to, they spend six years trying to, seven years trying to block you.
00:13:05.000 Well, that's exactly some of the points.
00:13:08.000 And it's all speculation of what is the big issue with this.
00:13:12.000 And so you said it there.
00:13:14.000 This would be like a perfect recruitment tool, PR tool for getting guys to join elite military units.
00:13:21.000 But when you think about the system, you look about modern media, you look about the people calling the shots, if you like, and especially in these countries like Australia, UK, in Europe.
00:13:36.000 And if you said, oh, well, this is a great PR story, and then these people would look and go, well, what does he look like?
00:13:42.000 And like, oh, well, he's at the time, he's in his mid 40s, he's white, he's blonde haired, blue eyed, Christian values, big supporter of President Trump.
00:13:52.000 They're like, from their perspective, this is not good PR.
00:13:56.000 No.
00:13:56.000 This is exactly the opposite of what they're trying to promote.
00:14:00.000 Yeah, there's not enough diversity in there.
00:14:02.000 And again, I don't care if you were green, female, Trans, if you save a bunch of people's lives by taking action and you have the skill set to actually do that, you know, not putting lives at risk, I mean, it seems like a no brainer. 0.94
00:14:17.000 And I mean, this is coming from obviously the UK, who has sat idly by as there's migrant grooming gangs raping children. 0.85
00:14:26.000 And everyone knows about it. 0.96
00:14:27.000 Everyone's talked about it.
00:14:28.000 It's been on the floor of Parliament.
00:14:30.000 They're saying it, and no one wants to touch it because the people who are perpetrating those crimes, again, they check a couple of the boxes that we're talking about that you lack.
00:14:39.000 And as they've let themselves get invaded by a horde that is more than happy to go about raping people, they're strangely silent about that.
00:14:49.000 I guess they're making sure those stories don't get out because that's actually bad PR.
00:14:53.000 But they're also doing nothing about the problem.
00:14:56.000 And I've known you for a long time.
00:14:58.000 So to see the nonsense that you've gone through for years, just trying to get a story out about, I mean, this is probably one of the great solo acts of heroism in modern time.
00:15:11.000 And yet they'd want to shut it down.
00:15:14.000 It's absolute buffoonery given the things that they seem to be taking on in other aspects.
00:15:20.000 And so, yeah, no, I'm glad you became a US citizen because I'd love. 1.00
00:15:26.000 Thousands of Christian Craigheads in our country. 1.00
00:15:29.000 I guess they don't want them and they're more than happy to take the rapists. 1.00
00:15:33.000 Well, that's a really good point because the timing of this as well is especially dangerous.
00:15:39.000 Because if you think about the icon of photograph, I'm going to hold the book up.
00:15:43.000 This is the book here.
00:15:45.000 And the image on the front is the photograph of me running into a hair salon inside the hotel complex.
00:15:54.000 Now, if you look at that photograph, What is it?
00:15:57.000 Well, it's an SES commando running into a building.
00:16:01.000 Pretty cool.
00:16:01.000 Okay, there's that.
00:16:02.000 But what else is it?
00:16:04.000 Well, I'll tell you what it is.
00:16:07.000 It's a young man from a working class background who didn't do well at school, but managed to join the army, excel in there, join the highest performing unit, and then make a difference to fighting evil when no one else could or would.
00:16:25.000 So, that in itself, that's one guy.
00:16:28.000 So, what if that's 10 guys?
00:16:31.000 What if it's 100?
00:16:31.000 What if it's 1,000?
00:16:33.000 You might actually save Western civilization if you had 1,000 of them, I mean.
00:16:37.000 And that's it.
00:16:38.000 And it's not, and it's, and so it's not, it's not the other, so it's kind of an image of rebellion.
00:16:43.000 And what is the effect on that?
00:16:45.000 Well, you and I are sat in it right now.
00:16:48.000 That's exactly what the United States of America, the most, the most powerful country on this planet, was formed by men not willing to stand by when evil and tyranny.
00:17:01.000 Were put upon them.
00:17:02.000 Yeah.
00:17:03.000 And that's another thing that they do not like.
00:17:06.000 Yeah.
00:17:06.000 Well, I'm sure everyone probably remembers you've seen the picture.
00:17:09.000 It was viewed in the positive sense.
00:17:11.000 It was sort of a joke on toxic masculinity.
00:17:13.000 It's like, that's toxic masculinity.
00:17:15.000 That's exactly what you want.
00:17:16.000 You know what I mean?
00:17:17.000 That's exactly what you want when it goes bad.
00:17:20.000 It's Christian with a ski mask over his head, his AK 47 out of the trunk of his car with some extra ammo going in and taking care of a problem.
00:17:32.000 It's about individuality. 0.84
00:17:34.000 You're right, it's good versus evil.
00:17:36.000 It's taking on tyranny, literally all the things that certainly America was founded on.
00:17:44.000 Maybe not so much the UK, but you'd think the values given the legal systems, all the things that we share, it's shocking actually just to see how far they've gone.
00:17:52.000 And that we can go back to 21, 22, and I was like, hey, America, the land of the free, but we got other countries that are great bastions of freedom, the UK and Ireland and Australia.
00:18:05.000 You know, all of these places, and then you saw COVID and you saw the restrictions and the insanity, and you're like, Oh my god, you know, ours was bad enough.
00:18:12.000 Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying even ours was good, but you saw what they did in those places.
00:18:16.000 You know, I went, I was supposed to go speak in Australia two or three years ago, and I couldn't even get a visa because I was like an extremist.
00:18:22.000 I couldn't get a visa to go in the country.
00:18:23.000 I'm like, oh, wow.
00:18:25.000 Like these other guys that I sort of put on that pedestal, Canada, that I put on this pedestal with us, I'm like, they have fallen so far that it's truly scary.
00:18:35.000 And just watching them try to do this to you rather than, you know, putting you on like, you know, the hundred pound note is truly sick. 0.51
00:18:43.000 It's disgusting.
00:18:44.000 And I think it's a good lesson for everyone else when they start watching.
00:18:47.000 You know, what happens in their own countries that, you know, people do actually have to stand up.
00:18:50.000 They do have to take a stand.
00:18:51.000 They do have to fight back and just not accept the nonsense.
00:18:54.000 And I'm just really glad you did it.
00:18:55.000 I'm sorry you're going through this nonsense, but, you know, I think this is a great lesson for so many people of, you know, what's to come if we don't take these kinds of actions.
00:19:05.000 Absolutely.
00:19:06.000 Yeah.
00:19:06.000 Yeah.
00:19:06.000 And if I ever go back to the UK, I'll end up highly likely that I'll go to prison for up to two years.
00:19:14.000 Yeah.
00:19:14.000 No, well, they're putting people in jail for tweets about.
00:19:17.000 By the way, whether it's opinion or whether it's literally fact, you know, people tweeting about, you know, migrant rape gangs, you know, it's fact.
00:19:24.000 Well, it doesn't matter. 0.96
00:19:25.000 It could be insulting to, you know, a rapist.
00:19:27.000 And therefore, they're putting people in jail.
00:19:29.000 So we got to remember the context of all of this.
00:19:31.000 It's actually, you know, disgusting what's going on.
00:19:34.000 And ironic that they're not putting the rapist in jail.
00:19:37.000 No, no.
00:19:38.000 The rapist doesn't go to jail.
00:19:39.000 The rapist gets let go because, you know, for whatever reason, you're like, well, we just feel bad for them.
00:19:44.000 So, you know, we'll let them go and put them out. 0.63
00:19:46.000 But, you know, the mother whose kid was raped. 1.00
00:19:49.000 Who tweeted about it and is disgusted and said, you know, enough of this crap, they throw them in jail. 1.00
00:19:54.000 I mean, it's really dystopian. 0.98
00:19:56.000 It's hard to believe that it's happening anywhere in the world, let alone, you know, a civilization that we think is sort of at least based on freedom, but I guess that's wrong.
00:20:06.000 Yeah.
00:20:07.000 I mean, there's all that.
00:20:09.000 And I suppose another thing, which we briefly mentioned before we started recording, was another thing about this is Trump derangement syndrome.
00:20:18.000 Yeah.
00:20:20.000 How far and wide it reaches out.
00:20:23.000 And I think there's, it's not a secret that I've supported your father, the President of the United States, and I always have and always will.
00:20:34.000 And the fact that I met him in 2019, which is meant there's a chapter in this book about that called Council House to White House. 0.65
00:20:44.000 And a council house is like Section 8 houses.
00:20:47.000 That's where I grew up. 0.99
00:20:48.000 So it's Council House to White House.
00:20:50.000 And it talks about that meeting.
00:20:52.000 But from the get go, Meeting President Trump and then speaking for Ambassador Woody Johnson in London, that was the end of my military career.
00:21:07.000 That finished me.
00:21:10.000 And I think there are lots of reasons, and I should add, I get nothing but support from my fellow operators and people who have served with and people who are still serving.
00:21:23.000 But I think that the thing that holds everything together is because of my relationship.
00:21:30.000 With the president or to the president, that is just too much for them to bear.
00:21:35.000 Yeah.
00:21:36.000 And remember, this is the same government.
00:21:38.000 When I spoke, I had the honor to speak to 120,000 people in Wildwood, New Jersey, leading up to the election.
00:21:47.000 At the same time, this same government illegally sent, I think it was 120 members of parliament out to canvass for Kamala Harris.
00:21:55.000 So there's got to be some bad blood in there.
00:21:58.000 Yeah, it doesn't surprise me at all.
00:22:00.000 A little bit insane, but you know, that's okay.
00:22:02.000 But Christian, Take us back to January 15th, 2019.
00:22:07.000 Again, I think most of the people who are watching have probably seen the image.
00:22:10.000 They may not even know what it was, but it's sort of the cover, but you probably remember the color version.
00:22:16.000 I mean, you're in Nairobi, Kenya, training Kenyan forces.
00:22:21.000 You're literally stepping out of the shower, and a friend calls and says, Hey, the hotel complex he's in is under attack.
00:22:31.000 What's going through your head, and at what point did you know you were just going to go in?
00:22:36.000 From the very get go, as soon as he called and said, You got to get down here with your boys, I was like, Okay, I'm on my way.
00:22:43.000 And my gear was good to go, it was prepped.
00:22:46.000 I had no intelligence that this was going to happen, but something made me feel that it could on my watch.
00:22:54.000 So I had my gear good to go, threw it in my pickup, and I was just like, right, let's go.
00:23:01.000 And it's fortunate that I didn't think about it because every second counted.
00:23:05.000 And if I'd left arguably 30 seconds later than I did, I wouldn't have ever got there or got there in time to make a difference.
00:23:13.000 So I was just jumped in my pickup truck and then set off.
00:23:17.000 To the drive, which was about three miles away to the complex.
00:23:22.000 And it's on route.
00:23:24.000 Well, so here's the part I think people really need to appreciate.
00:23:26.000 I mean, no one ordered you to go in, but no one ordered you not to either.
00:23:30.000 I mean, if I recall, you didn't even put your helmet on, you just left it in the truck.
00:23:35.000 How do you make that decision in real time?
00:23:38.000 How do you plan sort of the approach?
00:23:39.000 You said you went in through the hair salon.
00:23:40.000 I know we've had this conversation sort of privately, but never publicly.
00:23:45.000 What do you say to the people who'd argue you should have waited for backup?
00:23:49.000 I think so.
00:23:50.000 When I turned up there, I was going there.
00:23:55.000 In my mind, I thought the Kenyan Special Forces, Kenyan police had already responded.
00:23:59.000 So, in my mind, I'm just going there to check in, see what they're doing.
00:24:04.000 If they need help, we can ask permission.
00:24:06.000 And then I'll go and then spin it up like I would do on a training simulation.
00:24:11.000 I got there.
00:24:13.000 I had my helmet, I had my vision goggles, had ear protection, everything, uniform even, in my truck.
00:24:19.000 But I just put the gear that I had, which was I put an assault belt, body armor, and a balaclava, wore a balaclava, and took my rifle just to look somewhat official.
00:24:30.000 So I just didn't just turn up and say, hey, I'm the guy in charge.
00:24:34.000 So I went to look official.
00:24:36.000 And in my mind, I thought I'd be able to come back to the vehicle to get the rest of the gear.
00:24:40.000 But when I got there, I asked someone, there's a security guard hiding in an office, and I said, SAS, what's going on?
00:24:50.000 And they looked and said, Al Shabaab, Al Shabaab, which is the Islamic terrorist organization.
00:24:56.000 And I heard gunfire and explosions.
00:24:58.000 I said, Is that Kenyan special forces, Kenyan police?
00:25:02.000 And he looked up to me and said, No one's here.
00:25:05.000 No one's in there.
00:25:06.000 At that moment, and I heard a woman screaming and automatic gunfire cut it out.
00:25:12.000 And I said, Right, I'm going in.
00:25:15.000 Are you guys coming with me?
00:25:16.000 And they looked and said, No, boss.
00:25:18.000 And then that was me committed into the complex for the next 22 hours.
00:25:26.000 You were in there for 22 hours.
00:25:28.000 Yes.
00:25:28.000 Wow.
00:25:29.000 So, I mean, I know you went in alone, but you didn't stay alone.
00:25:32.000 Eventually, I guess there were six Kenyan paramilitary police officers that showed up, guys you've never worked with, and basically became their leader under fire.
00:25:43.000 What does that feel like?
00:25:45.000 Again, you're used to working with the SAS, some of the best in the world, and now you don't really know who you're working with.
00:25:54.000 How does leadership like that actually work?
00:25:57.000 Look in a moment like that, where you're sort of figuring out someone's skill set under fire in a pretty arduous situation?
00:26:04.000 Yeah, well, it was kind of very fluid.
00:26:06.000 So initially, I worked just to put some more accuracy on that.
00:26:10.000 I worked alone, then with some armed civilians, very, very briefly.
00:26:15.000 Then with regular Kenyan police officers.
00:26:19.000 And then with the special counterterrorist police from the Kenyans who were US trained.
00:26:26.000 But to answer your question, it was what helped me was my thorough knowledge of the job that I had to do.
00:26:35.000 So I'd had over a thousand high risk missions under my belt.
00:26:39.000 I'd also been the leader instructor for hostage rescue and close quarter combat.
00:26:44.000 So I lived and breathed the game.
00:26:49.000 And the point of one, I knew how to manage these people, but two, I knew when to take the risks and when not to.
00:26:57.000 And what I mean by risk is anyone other than terrorists being shot is absolutely unacceptable.
00:27:03.000 The only acceptable risk is me being shot. 0.93
00:27:08.000 That's to my view, was if I'd rather be shot and killed than. 0.97
00:27:13.000 Then it goes bad on my watch. 0.59
00:27:15.000 So it was manipulating that. 0.83
00:27:17.000 So, in some parts, I'd say to the Kenyan regular police, no one goes into the rooms. 0.90
00:27:21.000 I will clear these rooms by myself and you wait outside and then I'll call you in because I couldn't risk any of those shooting any civilians.
00:27:30.000 How many rooms did you have to clear and, like, how many overall terrorists were in there?
00:27:37.000 So, there was a suicide detonation to start the attack, and then there were four terrorists, but we didn't know where they were.
00:27:45.000 And.
00:27:47.000 Or where they were positioned until much later in the day.
00:27:52.000 Overall, to put an estimate, so well, just from neutralizing the terrorists on the top floor of the hotel to moving to the bomb, we cleared 102 rooms, but I'd already cleared, so estimated room clearances, well over 200 room clearances on that day.
00:28:09.000 That's got to be a record.
00:28:12.000 Well, I don't know how many of those over 200 did I personally clear.
00:28:16.000 It's got to be in the maybe 30, 40, 50s, probably over 50.
00:28:20.000 But it's still a, yeah, it's still probably got to be up there for a record.
00:28:24.000 I never really give it a thought like that.
00:28:26.000 So, you know, between the suicide vest and the terrorists, you know, 21 people were killed in that attack.
00:28:30.000 But more importantly, hundreds got out alive.
00:28:34.000 And a lot of that, you know, is because, you know, because of you.
00:28:38.000 You know, are there any misconceptions about that day, you know, or that, you know, again, narrative they tried to create afterwards?
00:28:48.000 You know, and does the book do a lot to finally set the record straight on that?
00:28:54.000 The official report is kind of doesn't mention me whatsoever.
00:28:59.000 But even in the official report, the terrorists aren't where they were killed, it's not in the right locations.
00:29:08.000 That's fine.
00:29:10.000 This book is my version of events.
00:29:15.000 It does set the record straight.
00:29:17.000 But what is very important about this book is it gives credit where it's due.
00:29:22.000 And when I set off to write it, And I finished it.
00:29:25.000 I started writing it in the end of 2020, but it was finished in Tennessee this year.
00:29:37.000 I didn't want to write a book which was like bad mouthing other people to make myself look good because I don't need to make myself look good.
00:29:43.000 My actions speak for themselves.
00:29:45.000 So this gives high praise, especially to the US trained Kenyans who were with me for the final 15 hours or so.
00:29:54.000 And it's so any Kenyan reading this book should be proud because it doesn't, it gives a bit of criticism, like criticism where it's necessary, but it's filled with high praise for the US trained Kenyans who help me.
00:30:10.000 So, as you say, they were there for the last 15 hours, but if the thing was 21 hours, you were in there six hours essentially solo.
00:30:15.000 I mean, how does it take that long for anyone else to respond?
00:30:18.000 Especially, you know, you were a British SAS operator, you were there in minutes.
00:30:23.000 Now, obviously, you've got a call from a friend.
00:30:24.000 What takes so long for anyone else to mobilize?
00:30:27.000 In Nairobi, I mean, the capital city of the country.
00:30:30.000 How's that possible?
00:30:31.000 Well, this is a modern problem.
00:30:33.000 So, people had responded, but they hadn't had permission.
00:30:38.000 So, they got to like the threshold, if you like, but they didn't get the permission to go in.
00:30:45.000 And there's video footage of me going to them and asking, Hey, I think I know where the shooters are.
00:30:50.000 Just give me four guys. 0.97
00:30:51.000 Give me four guys we can close and kill with the enemy. 0.97
00:30:54.000 And they were like, We haven't got permission. 0.97
00:30:55.000 We can't go in.
00:30:57.000 So, then you see me running back off by myself into the complex.
00:31:01.000 And that's the problem is, and it's happened in this country and it happens everywhere it's cowardice in some, but not physical cowardice.
00:31:12.000 Whereas if you tell someone, cowardice of leadership, run into it's decision paralysis or whatever you want to call it, they will run into a building if you tell them to.
00:31:23.000 But now people are more scared of the repercussions of them acting outside of orders than they are of the physical damage itself.
00:31:30.000 So they'll be like, I've got no permission, I can't go in there.
00:31:33.000 And it's a worrying state of affairs how we've got to this point in life.
00:31:38.000 Yeah, now, obviously, you didn't have permission, but they didn't tell you no either.
00:31:42.000 You just sort of went in and did the right thing.
00:31:45.000 It's sort of interesting to me that it doesn't seem like you were necessarily reprimanded for what your actions, because it'd be sort of hard to reprimand a hero, but that they would go that hard at you for writing a book seven years later is also pretty crazy.
00:32:00.000 I don't understand that.
00:32:01.000 So they were not happy with me.
00:32:03.000 And it's amazing what happens when people.
00:32:06.000 So I retired, well, nearly two years after this incident.
00:32:14.000 And I knew bits of information, but once I retired, a lot of people came forward and told me some hard hitting facts.
00:32:21.000 Some of these aren't mentioned in the book, but they were not happy that the British government were not happy with me being in there.
00:32:28.000 In fact, they were planning on court martialing me.
00:32:30.000 And it's only because the next day I was on the front page of every UK national newspaper was that, yeah.
00:32:37.000 And they gave me a medal for it.
00:32:39.000 And my line is, of course, did I deserve it?
00:32:41.000 Absolutely.
00:32:43.000 But also, they had to give me that medal because of the public, because of the visibility of it all.
00:32:50.000 But they were not happy.
00:32:52.000 And to quote a British, very senior British general, he said that Christian Craighead is a bad example to young soldiers.
00:33:04.000 His mutiny attitude promotes flawlessness in the military.
00:33:08.000 So that's what they think of me.
00:33:11.000 They do not like what I, again, it's because I represent in some ways, like say, that's evidence of a representing revolution.
00:33:20.000 Yeah.
00:33:21.000 It's a little different when you have hundreds of people in a thing that are basically sitting there helpless with suicide bombers.
00:33:26.000 I mean, they would have killed, they probably would have killed all of them.
00:33:29.000 And if you had a less prepared force or a much larger force and no one knew what was going on, I could see sort of the friendly fire and collateral damage.
00:33:37.000 Again, for my, I know you'd spent years clearing houses and rooms all over the world.
00:33:43.000 This is sort of your wheelhouse.
00:33:44.000 I mean, you were.
00:33:46.000 They could have used 10 of you guys and it would have been even easier.
00:33:50.000 But you're the guy in this area that's ideal for that.
00:33:54.000 So it's just sad that it has to be this way or that it's become this way because it's just a serious knock on civilization.
00:34:05.000 Yeah.
00:34:06.000 It's sad to say that they had every chance to make this a PR win.
00:34:10.000 Like I said, it doesn't break the Official Secrets Act.
00:34:12.000 They just don't want me to tell the story.
00:34:13.000 And that's good enough for the UK courts.
00:34:16.000 If the army doesn't want me to talk about it, that's good enough.
00:34:20.000 But it, and if, and the strange thing, if they'd said on day one when I said, Hey, can I write about this book?
00:34:26.000 If they'd said, Absolutely not, you cannot write about this, I wouldn't have wrote about it.
00:34:31.000 I would have went, That was, I'm still a team player to somewhat.
00:34:34.000 I would have gone, Okay, that's good to know.
00:34:36.000 And I'll just move or whatever.
00:34:39.000 But the fact that they cut, now it's at this point where they're trying to put a genie back in the bowl.
00:34:42.000 When they say you can write it, I go through all the efforts to do it.
00:34:46.000 It's cost, I had to sell my medals to pay for like legal fees.
00:34:50.000 And things like that.
00:34:52.000 And now they're like, and now they're just held.
00:34:55.000 And I said to a friend of mine who's a general, it's interesting, a win for the British government.
00:35:00.000 What is it?
00:35:00.000 It's destroying my life.
00:35:02.000 That's it.
00:35:03.000 Yeah.
00:35:04.000 They can't stop the book from coming out in the United States.
00:35:06.000 And I said, what the sad thing about this is people, long after I'm dusting in the ground, people will say, Oh, have you read One Man In?
00:35:14.000 Or do you know the story about Kenya?
00:35:15.000 And people go, Yeah, that's badass.
00:35:18.000 And forever now, the following lines will be, Isn't it a shame about what the British government tried to do to them afterwards?
00:35:24.000 It should be.
00:35:25.000 It's disgraceful.
00:35:27.000 I'm sure the movie will come soon, too.
00:35:30.000 And it should, because I think we want to reward this kind of behavior, in my opinion.
00:35:36.000 But, Christian, let's talk about readiness, because, again, this wasn't a military base. 0.55
00:35:42.000 It wasn't something, a target you'd probably been dealing with, whether it was in Afghanistan or Iran, small house structure.
00:35:49.000 I mean, it was a hotel, offices.
00:35:52.000 What did Nairobi teach you about how?
00:35:55.000 A serious country prepares for the day that the terrorists actually show up.
00:35:59.000 And if you're looking around the world right now, I imagine there's going to be a lot more of that.
00:36:04.000 Are we ready?
00:36:07.000 I think the simple answer is no.
00:36:12.000 And it's the line that the only people who can be ready are you as an individual.
00:36:21.000 And that stems from whether you are a regular civilian to the manager of the hotel.
00:36:27.000 Everything is all right until it's not.
00:36:30.000 Yeah.
00:36:31.000 And you rehearse it and everything else and everything goes well until the wheels finally come off and then you've got to make it work.
00:36:39.000 And I think the readiness for me, readiness is whatever it is you do.
00:36:46.000 And this extends out to hostage rescues and things.
00:36:50.000 It's everyday life is know your job inside out, know what you think you're going to do inside out.
00:36:57.000 So even if it is to respond to a terrorist attack, it's like, okay, what would I do?
00:37:01.000 What am I going to think about?
00:37:02.000 How am I going to handle my wife, my kids, all these sort of things?
00:37:06.000 Know it so that you're not thinking about that.
00:37:10.000 You're just making it work within the plan.
00:37:12.000 Because if you've thought about absolutely nothing, then it's chaos for you and everyone else around you.
00:37:18.000 So it's be ready for every eventuality.
00:37:23.000 And especially be like, if you.
00:37:27.000 So if we put this into the context of an active shooter or a terrorist attack or whatever, it's like.
00:37:33.000 Be ready for what you think your response is going to be.
00:37:36.000 That's fine.
00:37:38.000 Whatever you sit in there.
00:37:40.000 Also, be ready for the actions of everyone around you, including the terrorists and the security forces and other people, other civilians around you.
00:37:49.000 And then, third, be ready for the establishment after the event.
00:37:57.000 Like, they should have done a follow up movie to the movie, Die Hard, where he gets dragged over the coals for acting outside of authority and things.
00:38:06.000 But be ready for the effects afterwards, both positive and negative.
00:38:12.000 Yeah, that's one of those.
00:38:14.000 Even if you do the right thing, even if you're a good Samaritan, even if you're a hero by virtually any imaginable standard outside of that of broken, corrupted bureaucracies, prepare for the legal ramifications afterwards because you see that all the time.
00:38:29.000 Good Samaritans acting and it doesn't work and they tried their best to do whatever they could and then they get sued by the people they were trying to help, even if nothing happened through their fault.
00:38:39.000 That's pretty sad.
00:38:40.000 But, Christian, obviously, With the 25th anniversary of 9 11 this week, I mean, this is still something we should all be thinking about.
00:38:48.000 If we're not, we should be.
00:38:50.000 What are some of the things that people can do to sort of prepare for perhaps this eventuality?
00:38:57.000 Again, this is happening.
00:38:59.000 Maybe Nairobi, Kenya is a little different than other places, but if they can have one of the biggest terrorist attacks in the world happen in New York, and you've seen what happened in Israel, I mean, this is something very real.
00:39:12.000 I mean, these things can happen.
00:39:13.000 What can people do to prepare for?
00:39:15.000 You know, that worst case scenario to protect themselves and their families.
00:39:20.000 I think, obviously, legal status dependent is to be an asset to your family and those closely around you.
00:39:28.000 First and foremost, like you are the security detail to the people you love.
00:39:34.000 So, what does that mean?
00:39:35.000 It means like having some tools at your disposal if you're comfortable using them.
00:39:40.000 And that's the key thing.
00:39:41.000 Or getting comfortable using them if you're not right now.
00:39:44.000 And that's the thing is because you can have a weapon or firearm.
00:39:48.000 But straight away, there's a fine line between you're an asset or a liability.
00:39:52.000 So it's always being this asset.
00:39:55.000 And that goes back to being ready, having a plan of, you know, if someone breaks into my home or if I'm in the shopping mall and I'm carrying, where am I going to go?
00:40:05.000 What am I going to do?
00:40:06.000 What is the priority?
00:40:06.000 Is the priority to save my family or is it the priority to neutralize the aggressor?
00:40:12.000 So it's thinking.
00:40:14.000 So this all points to being trained.
00:40:18.000 Or having some sort of training, whether it be a thought process or just actively being an asset with whatever tools you're going to use.
00:40:27.000 Yeah.
00:40:28.000 Well, listen, you know, I'm a believer in all of that stuff.
00:40:30.000 I've tried to do that with my kids.
00:40:32.000 I know you've spent some time with Donnie, who's a pretty serious shooter for a 17 year old.
00:40:38.000 So, yeah, no, listen, and I know you do a lot of close quarter combat training and continue to do that.
00:40:42.000 So, you know, people can reach out to you about that as well and learning how to do these things.
00:40:47.000 Because it's not just.
00:40:48.000 You know, firearms ownership.
00:40:50.000 It's actually just being so intimately familiar with all of those things that you can do that.
00:40:55.000 And again, that doesn't mean, you know, the average guy, even a reasonably trained guy, should be trying to go into a hotel and taking out a bunch of terrorists, but it may be just enough to get you and your family the hell out of a bad situation.
00:41:07.000 Yeah.
00:41:07.000 And sometimes you're right.
00:41:09.000 That's the thing what everyone realizes when they go, oh, well, it doesn't matter because the police will turn up.
00:41:14.000 Maybe.
00:41:15.000 When seconds count, the police are only minutes away.
00:41:18.000 Yeah.
00:41:18.000 That's a really great line.
00:41:20.000 And also, I mean, you know, I've got nothing but respect for the law enforcement agencies in the United States, but sometimes that police, and this is again extremely relevant in other countries where the police who do turn up aren't going to be the police you think, out of shape, under trained, and with the right mindset, or the ones who've come up to defend you.
00:41:44.000 And you're like, man, this is, this things, like I say, when it goes wrong, sometimes it goes wrong really badly.
00:41:52.000 And we're not.
00:41:53.000 And my point is, you don't have to train to be some sort of ninja special forces assassin.
00:41:58.000 It's just being comfortable with a gun.
00:42:01.000 So it's, and I've said this when I've been training, it's about bandwidth.
00:42:05.000 So if you're spending 60 or 70% of your bandwidth working out how to hold that firearm, then that leaves only 20% of solving problems.
00:42:16.000 Whereas if you're comfortable with your firearm, if you use it a lot and you're trained with it, that's like 10% of your bandwidth.
00:42:23.000 And the rest of it is to saving people's lives, including your family's and your own.
00:42:26.000 Yeah.
00:42:27.000 And by the way, to your point about the police showing up, and I have a lot of respect for law enforcement as well, but I think, you know, our government here, and I've seen plenty of these cases, they've also made it very hard for law enforcement to do their job.
00:42:38.000 If they do do their job, if you do what everyone would want them to do, the lawsuits afterwards, the trying to erase qualified immunity so that they can, you know, sue them, you know, cops show up and they're like, hey, man, I'm not going to take the risk.
00:42:49.000 I'm not going to lose my house, my family, my mortgage, go to jail for trying to do the right thing.
00:42:54.000 In many cases, and I understand it, there's sort of, They're hamstrung from operating and doing what they probably should be doing because they're worried about those ramifications afterwards.
00:43:04.000 And so many places have been so hostile to the police that you have a force, but they're effectively neutered by the inevitability of what's going to happen to them, even if they do the right thing.
00:43:16.000 Yeah.
00:43:16.000 And that goes back to exactly what I said before you have the right trained individuals, but the risk on them is super high.
00:43:24.000 And you've got to have some empathy for that, but sometimes it doesn't help.
00:43:30.000 Not even a little bit.
00:43:31.000 So, Christian, you joined the British Army at 16.
00:43:35.000 Like you said, you came from the British equivalent of Section 8 housing.
00:43:40.000 You did more than 1,000 high risk missions with the SAS.
00:43:46.000 You retired about six years ago.
00:43:48.000 I mean, what's that transition been like to go from that level of action to civilian life?
00:43:54.000 How do you make that transition?
00:43:57.000 I mean, it was irregular for me because when I retired, we're We were in this two weeks to flatten the curve moment.
00:44:05.000 So, in essence, two weeks, two years, whatever.
00:44:09.000 So, I was kind of in lockdown in my apartment.
00:44:12.000 And then, because the original plan from the get go was to move, get to the United States.
00:44:18.000 So, that sort of slowed things down to me.
00:44:19.000 So, for me, I've spoken about it a bit where I've seen it's like lack of purpose and direction.
00:44:28.000 And I suppose what helped me greatly was my purpose and direction was getting into the United States of America.
00:44:34.000 So, that was now my new mission.
00:44:39.000 And thank God I'm here today.
00:44:41.000 But so it was just a tough adjustment of like losing that purpose, losing that close set of friends because they're all so busy and then we move away and things.
00:44:53.000 It's difficult on any veteran or anyone who's done a job for a long time.
00:44:57.000 But yeah, so I used this time just to get into America, to get then and work with firearms, something I love, and carry on my training and just.
00:45:09.000 Just do what I do now, and it's good.
00:45:12.000 To hunt.
00:45:14.000 I mean, the best thing ever for, in my opinion, if you're suffering from any sort of stress, especially if you've been in the military, is hunting.
00:45:21.000 It's like a no brainer.
00:45:24.000 It's the ultimate for me.
00:45:25.000 That's great. 1.00
00:45:27.000 In African hunting.
00:45:29.000 Oh, yeah.
00:45:29.000 Well, we got to get out there together sometime, also.
00:45:31.000 I know we've talked about it a lot.
00:45:32.000 We got to actually make it happen.
00:45:34.000 But when readers finish One Man In, what do you want them to understand about courage, about duty, and about being the one man who goes in when no one else is coming?
00:45:47.000 What I want people to take from this book is I was very privileged at the end of this incident, if you like, to realize that everything is setting you up for a moment.
00:46:00.000 And this goes, elements of this book go back in time to moments in childhood, moments of joining the army.
00:46:06.000 And I look back in before 2019, I'd go, oh, these things were like pretty bad.
00:46:13.000 And I'm angry about them or I'm pretty pissed.
00:46:16.000 And then, but now I'm like, All of these moments were shaping me to be ready for that one day.
00:46:22.000 And it's just a nice, it's just that.
00:46:26.000 So I want to think about that.
00:46:28.000 And it's just a good book of like what one person can do when no one else will.
00:46:33.000 And sometimes you're it.
00:46:34.000 Yeah.
00:46:35.000 Yeah.
00:46:37.000 That's it.
00:46:38.000 Be ready because you never know when that moment's going to happen.
00:46:41.000 Yeah.
00:46:43.000 Where can people find the book, Christian?
00:46:45.000 It should be available everywhere.
00:46:49.000 From the 15th of September.
00:46:50.000 It's available on Amazon.
00:46:52.000 It's available directly from Simon Schuster, but it should be in most good bookstores.
00:46:57.000 Very nice.
00:46:58.000 In the airport, it should be in the airport.
00:47:00.000 It should be everywhere.
00:47:02.000 And in terms of your shooting training and stuff like that, for those who are interested, because I get a lot of gun questions on here, if people are interested in that, where can they find that?
00:47:10.000 Right now, they can't.
00:47:11.000 It's only by request only.
00:47:13.000 But in the future, we'll look to maybe open it to.
00:47:19.000 To the public.
00:47:21.000 Very nice.
00:47:22.000 And because I'm a Bower Start gig, I'm a technical advisor on a Hollywood movie, which I can't say publicly what it is.
00:47:30.000 I got you.
00:47:31.000 So I'll be busy for a while.
00:47:32.000 Well, I appreciate it, man.
00:47:34.000 Everyone, again, go check out the book, One Man In Christian Craighead, Great American Hero.
00:47:40.000 Now I can say you're a great American hero because you transferred.
00:47:43.000 You may have been a hero then in Britain, but since they're going to try to go after you, we'll just happily adopt you as a great American hero, Christian.
00:47:52.000 Really appreciate it, buddy.
00:47:53.000 Good luck with everything on the book.
00:47:55.000 Just, you know, whatever I can do to help get it out there.
00:47:57.000 Because, I mean, I think this is the kind of behavior we want, you know, young people in this country and, frankly, everywhere else in the world to emulate.
00:48:08.000 So appreciate what you did.
00:48:10.000 Appreciate you taking those risks.
00:48:12.000 And, you know, we need more of that, not less.
00:48:15.000 Well, yeah, thanks, Don.
00:48:17.000 And it's something I've said before, but it's always worth saying again is.
00:48:23.000 I've had a really unique and unusual military career, and I'm very proud of serving my country of origin.
00:48:32.000 But everything that I've said and done feels nothing compared to being American, I think is the biggest privilege on this planet.
00:48:38.000 And I only wish more Americans could see that.
00:48:40.000 I appreciate that.
00:48:41.000 It's true, and it means a lot.
00:48:43.000 So that's awesome.
00:48:45.000 Thank you very much, man.
00:48:46.000 Great talking to you, and I look forward to seeing you soon.
00:48:49.000 Thanks, Don.
00:48:50.000 Guys, thanks so much for tuning in.
00:48:52.000 I really appreciate it.
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