Gone are the days when only pop princesses and Scientologist super-stars need to employ the services of bodyguards. Warren Buffet was recently a target in his own home, where a masked man with a “fake” gun came right to the Buffet’s front door (which Buffet opened, without looking out the peephole) and attempted to rob him.
Buffet isn’t “famous” in the usual entertainment mega-media way, but he is ranked as one of the top billionaires in the world.
As with Buffet, the exceedingly wealthy need well-trained protection. It doesn’t matter if they’re not a household name or recognizable face to the average person on the street. One can become the subject of kidnapping, robbery or assault for simply holding certain political views. Business executives with ties to environmental issues are taking precautions, and of course with random acts of terrorism occurring the world over, our top political leaders as well as other political movers and shakers need to be concerned.
In the bodyguard business, there are what we call “hard targets,” meaning someone the bad guys will have a difficult time getting to. There are also “soft targets,” those individuals who are more easily accessible, and therefore more vulnerable to stalking, assaults, kidnapping and even attempted murder. A perfect example of this is when Arthur Bremer (the man who wanted to become famous by shooting someone famous) chose to shoot George Wallace. His first choice was Richard Nixon–who proved to be a hard target. So he shot Wallace instead, since he was a soft target.