Category: The American Spectator
Vietnam vet says he had to ‘get aggressive’ and grab his gun when his female tenant started screaming
Earlier this week, Blaze News reported about a 79-year-old Los Angeles landlord who fatally shot a naked intruder after the culprit body-slammed him to the ground, breaking his legs.
Well, George Karkoc — the Vietnam veteran who opened fire to protect not only himself but also his tenant, whom he heard screaming prior to the deadly confrontation — spoke to KTLA-TV from his hospital bed about the ordeal.
‘I just thought, “I need to get aggressive,” so I ran into the house and got my gun.’
The incident took place around 7:15 a.m. Nov. 7 in the 4500 block of Tujunga Avenue at a Studio City apartment, authorities told KABC-TV.
Surveillance video captured the intruder walking naked around the neighborhood, KABC said, adding that video also shows him at the front door of a home and grabbing a sign, then continuing to walk.
But soon the suspect entered an apartment — and that’s when things got frightening.
Karkoc told KTLA he heard his female tenant screaming and knew he had to act quickly: “I just thought, ‘I need to get aggressive,’ so I ran into the house and got my gun.”
The station said Karkoc confronted the intruder and tried to reason with him, begging him to stop. But the naked intruder rushed at Karkoc and body-slammed him, KTLA said, breaking both of his legs in the process.
Now seriously injured and pinned to the ground, Karkoc told the station he had to defend himself and that he shot the intruder three times.
Karkoc was rushed to a hospital in serious condition, KTLA said, adding that he was stable after undergoing surgery. The suspect was declared dead at the scene, the station said.
“This incident, although horrible, brought me a great feeling that I was able to do something to protect other people,” Karkoc told KTLA.
On Veterans Day, a group of Los Angeles police officers visited Karkoc in the hospital and thanked him for his service.
Karkoc’s tenant, Chloe Dzielak, tearfully recounted to KTLA what she saw — and was grateful for her landlord rescuing her.
“He was protecting me,” Dzielak told the station, adding that “he saved my life. I don’t know what would have happened if he wasn’t there.”
Dzielak also told KTLA that while she was terrified and screaming, Karkoc was calm — even while speaking to the naked intruder.
An “Inside Edition” reporter asked Karkoc if his military experience aided him as he assessed the stressful situation, and Karkoc replied, “I certainly know my training helped me.”
KTLA added that family members have organized a GoFundMe for Karkoc. His son said his legs, ankles, and hips are full of pins — and there’s a long road to recovery for him. What’s more, Karkoc’s wife has late-stage Parkinson’s disease, and Karkoc’s son added to the station that the couple may need an in-home caretaker for both of them until his dad heals.
“He just keeps his head and takes care of other people around him,” Karkoc’s son added to KTLA. “He’s a hero.”
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EXCLUSIVE: We Tracked Down the Demon Who Attacked Tucker Carlson in His Bed and You’ll Never Believe What He Had to Say About the Jews
Tucker Carlson, the edgelord podcaster and former Swiss boarding school student, made headlines this week for several reasons. He risked his life by agreeing to interview “chemtrail” expert Dane Wigington, one of the only men on Earth with the knowledge and fortitude to expose the global plot to manipulate weather patterns with airplane-guided geoengineering. He followed that up by valiantly defying the outdated convention wisdom surrounding Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German Lutheran pastor jailed for speaking out against the Nazi regime and executed for allegedly plotting to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Carlson shrewdly denounced Bonhoeffer as a “great man in some ways” who was nevertheless a bad Christian for trying to kill a fellow Christian who was just trying to solve a problem and defend his country from the Jewish-backed imperial aggression of Winston Churchill.
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Hasan Piker Geeks Out After Receiving Mao Zedong’s Infamous ‘Little Red Book’: ‘Really, Really Special’
Anti-American streamer Hasan Piker—a rising left-wing darling featured in glowing mainstream media profiles—was visibly elated after receiving a copy of Mao Zedong’s “little red book,” which was essential reading in China as the authoritarian carried out a murderous purge.
The post Hasan Piker Geeks Out After Receiving Mao Zedong’s Infamous ‘Little Red Book’: ‘Really, Really Special’ appeared first on .
Election Day Update!
Supreme Court to Hear Mississippi Ballot Deadline Case Michigan Atty. Gen. Coordinated with Leftist Nonprofit to Target Trump and Supporters Secure Border, Fewest Illegal Crossings in History Supreme Court to Hear Mississippi Ballot Deadline Case The U.S. Supreme Court has granted review of our landmark election integrity case on behalf of the Libertarian Party […]
The post Election Day Update! appeared first on Judicial Watch.
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Fetterman Falls
“Fetterman Falls,” editorial cartoon by Tom Stiglich for The American Spectator on Nov. 14, 2025.
Mao tried this first — New Yorkers will not like the ending
More than 50 years ago, I witnessed firsthand how Mao Zedong’s socialist experiment dismantled market competition, suppressed innovation, and plunged China into economic ruin. As a survivor of that experiment, I watched in horror last week as Zohran Mamdani won over 50% of the vote in New York City, promising a socialist illusion of city-owned grocery stores, free public transit, universal rent control, and a defunded police department.
Such proposals might sound compassionate, but they threaten to repeat the class warfare and state control that devastated China from the 1950s to the late 1970s, only this time they are taking place in the financial capital of the world.
The unpleasant truth is that America may have won the Cold War, but we are losing the ideological war at home.
Consider Mamdani’s push for “good cause eviction” laws and expanded rent control. He claims these measures protect tenants from exploitation, but they discourage property ownership and investment — just as Mao’s housing policies did.
In communist China, the state assigned apartments to urban families, but most people lived in poverty. My family of five was crammed into a 200-square-foot unit with no running water or a toilet. Today, rent control has already reduced housing supply by 20% in parts of New York City, driving up costs for everyone else. What Mamdani offers isn’t progress — it’s stagnation disguised as equity.
Mamdani’s support for “Medicare for All” and fare-free buses also ignores fiscal realities. Mao’s “barefoot doctors” promised class equity but delivered substandard care, contributing to millions of preventable deaths. America’s health care system leads the world in breakthroughs because of merit-driven research and competition, not government mandates. Meanwhile, New York City’s transit authority estimates free transit would cost taxpayers $1 billion annually without improving service. When socialism promises “free” services, it often delivers shortages, rationing, and inefficiency.
The proposal for city-owned grocery stores is another red flag. Under Mao, government-run stores led to chronic food shortages. Rice, cooking oil, and meat were rationed. Each urban citizen received only two pounds of meat per month. Even with ration coupons, I had to wake at 3 or 4 a.m. and wait in line for hours to buy a few ounces. Mamdani’s plan threatening private grocery competition risks repeating this nightmare.
Then there’s his support for defunding the police and replacing them with vague “community safety” alternatives. In 2020, he co-sponsored bills to slash NYPD funding by $1 billion, claiming it would combat systemic racism. This mirrors Mao’s Red Guards, who dismantled law enforcement and replaced it with ideological enforcers — leading to chaos, violence, and mass suffering.
Since 2020, crime in New York has risen by 15%, according to NYPD data. Weakening law enforcement doesn’t protect vulnerable communities — it leaves them exposed. As a father of a New Yorker, Mamdani’s reckless approach to policing is not just a political concern; it’s a personal one.
Mamdani also seeks to eliminate gifted and talented programs in public schools, calling them “inequitable.” But these programs offer high-achieving students — often from diverse backgrounds — a path to excellence.
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Photo by Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images
During the Cultural Revolution, China crushed its intellectual class and smothered innovation. New York is making a similar mistake. Gifted programs lifted math proficiency by 25%, according to a 2022 Department of Education report, yet Mamdani wants them eliminated in the name of “equity.” As an Asian-American parent who raised a child in STEM, I’ve seen how excellence takes root: You cultivate talent; you don’t level it.
Mamdani’s agenda mirrors the same destructive ideology I fled from. Socialism thrives on utopian promises pitched to voters who have never lived through the consequences. I have. And I recognize the warning signs.
Yet according to CNN exit polls, 70% of voters ages 18-44 supported Mamdani, compared to just 40% of older voters. Even more alarming: 57% of New Yorkers with college degrees voted for him, versus only 42% without. This reflects the growing influence of pro-socialist indoctrination in American universities.
The unpleasant truth is that America may have won the Cold War, but we are losing the ideological war at home. To prevent a socialist takeover, we must fight back by reforming higher education and teaching our children the truth about socialism in K-12 classrooms.
