How He Survived the LA ‘92 Riots: Rooftop Korean Tony Moon

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Fame Game with Heidi & Spencer

Episode Title: How He Survived the LA ‘92 Riots: Rooftop Korean Tony Moon
Release Date: March 26, 2026
Hosts: Spencer Pratt (Sam), Heidi Montag
Guest: Tony Moon (The Rooftop Korean)

---

Episode Overview

In this compelling episode, Spencer Pratt (a.k.a. Sam throughout the episode) sits down with Tony Moon, known on social media as the “Rooftop Korean,” to explore first-hand experiences and deeper truths about the 1992 Los Angeles Riots. Tony provides an honest and nuanced account of defending his community at 19 years old during one of LA's most chaotic moments. The episode touches on the evolution of crime in LA, race relations, generational trauma, modern challenges, Second Amendment rights, and what real community means in times of crisis.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Context of the 1992 LA Riots

• Crime Then vs. Now

  • The 1990s saw "a lot worse" levels of organized crime and gang violence compared to today's LA, where public perception is affected more by homelessness and high-profile incidents (03:28).
  • "It was an era for gangs. GTA: San Andreas is probably a good example of, you know, kind of showing that. But yeah, it was, it was a different time." – Tony (03:39)

• Home Invasions & Gangs

  • Home invasions disproportionately affected Asian immigrant communities in the 80s and 90s, especially because word spread that these communities kept large amounts of cash (06:10).
  • Crime has shifted from gang standoffs to home invasions and high-frequency property crime, often with little consequence and quick releases (05:19).

2. Tony’s Experience During the Riots

• Triggering Events

  • “It kicked off on an afternoon. Wednesday afternoon. That's when the verdict came down. And that's where you see the famous shot from the helicopter... It happened on a Wednesday.” – Tony (06:53)
  • Thursday escalated violence: looting, arson, and a stretched-thin police force unable or unwilling to intervene in many areas.

• Radio Korea and the Community Call to Arms

  • On Thursday, a call for help went out over Radio Korea. By Friday, Tony and his friends answered, showing up armed to protect businesses and each other in Koreatown (08:15).

• Nature of the Conflict

  • The riots in Koreatown were particularly violent—described by Tony as “a gang war between 18th Street and MS and Korean shop owners."
  • “It becomes an Asian community, Korean and black thing, you know, but... the riots... you can segment into three different parts..." – Tony (09:02)

3. Deeper Themes

• Race, Perception, and Stereotypes

  • Tony emphasizes his book’s core mission is to break down misconceptions about Asian Americans and offer a nuanced take on racial relations during and after the riots (18:29).
  • “I'm for the group that doesn't want to hurt me or harm me... that's who I'm with.”

• Friendship, Loyalty, and Community Survival

  • “I can't imagine people not doing that for each other. You know what I mean? It's almost like, who do you call when you're in the Mexican jail, right?” – Tony (22:05)

• Erosion of Community Self-Reliance

  • Spencer and Tony both lament a shift toward dependency on institutions and away from communal self-help:
    “We've been so conditioned that this idea of, oh, the police will save us... we as a community have lost our survival ability." – Sam (23:41)

4. Reflections on Law Enforcement and Urban Policy

• LAPD and Institutional Failures

  • Tony and Spencer critique changes in police hiring, loss of LAPD autonomy, slow hiring processes, and lack of readiness for real emergencies (25:35).
  • “They’re not there to apprehend anyone. They’re there to write a report... DoorDash gets delivered faster than cops.” – Tony (24:11)
  • “We need different leadership, different direction... you can’t fix the problem with the same thinking that created it.” – Tony (51:09)

• Youth, Gangs, and Community Outlets

  • Tony argues much youth crime stems from a lack of structure and outlets—calls for places for car culture, street art, or other male-oriented activities to reduce street crime (28:30).
  • “If you want to fix things, you got to fix the problem, not the symptom... This is just a symptom of a bigger cultural deficiency in terms of the home.” – Tony (28:30)

5. Gun Rights, Self-Defense, and the Korean-American Community

• Cultural Change After the Riots

  • The 1992 riots transformed the Korean-American community’s relationship to the Second Amendment and self-defense:
    “We’re all into gun safety, familiarity with firearms, you know, so... education is important. I think you should have that.” – Tony (41:16)

• Martial Arts and Real-World Violence

  • Practical discussion about martial arts’ limitations and the need for practical force multipliers, especially for the vulnerable (42:14).

6. Mental Health, Homelessness, and Policy Grievances

• Systemic Failures in Public Health
  • Both critique LA’s approach to homelessness and mental illness, highlighting how current policies often benefit private enterprise rather than solve the fundamental issues (47:25).
  • “No more making money off of people's mental health, off of addiction... not doing it under people that are on drugs. This is not a business.” – Sam (48:08)

---

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• On the Shift in Crime & Policing:

  • “Home invasions were a thing with the Asian community back in the 80s and 90s... immigrants... carried a lot of cash.” – Tony (06:10)
  • “Police is stretched thin throughout the city. Right. So without making official call to stand down, there was a call to pull back…” – Tony (07:00)

• On Community Defense:

  • “We went there to basically help some of the older guys, because... his brother owned a stereo store... but that was already secured, and they had black and Hispanic employees that helped out. Everyone was carrying that week.” – Tony (08:15)

• Personal and Cultural Identity:

  • “The book is going to hopefully shift the cultural narrative, especially when it comes to race... As much as martial arts is, you know, has value... you need force multiply[ers], especially if you’re like a 100 pound woman.” – Tony (18:29, 41:16)

• On Post-Riot Lessons & Leadership:

  • “You can’t fix the problem with the same thinking that created it. So our thinking has to change in the city too, to make it better.” – Tony (51:09)
  • “I mean, LA County, not LA. LA County... That whole area is going up in smoke and it’s chaotic. There’s no order, there’s no central command, nothing’s going on.” – Tony (36:31)

• On Institutional Decay:

  • “Institutions that we relied on for a long time are no longer functioning the way they used to. They’re more bureaucratic than anything…” – Tony (24:11)

• On Youth Culture & Crime:

  • “A lot of it’s tech-related... the transformation of what’s happening in Japan with the Yakuza. A lot of the younger guys... are no longer joining the Yakuza, but doing their own thing...” – Tony (29:28)

• On Mental Health Solutions:

  • “We need to open our institution. Mental health institutions. Again… Like you were saying, a lot of the calls they deal with now are mental health situations.” – Tony (46:12)

---

Important Timestamps

• 03:28–07:00: The reality of LA in the 90s vs now; start of the 1992 riots; Radio Korea's call to arms.
• 08:00–10:00: Tony’s mobilization with friends, details of their preparation and patrol.
• 17:02: The chaos and absence of police in the streets during the riots.
• 18:29–22:05: Tony’s background, motivations, and changing narratives around community and identity.
• 23:41–26:19: Debate on community self-sufficiency, institutional response, and what was lost since the 90s.
• 28:30–31:08: Solutions for youth crime, need for structured activities, impact of social media.
• 36:29–37:44: Racial tensions and the realities of violence and its toll, how communities were uniquely targeted.
• 41:16–43:14: Gun culture changes among Korean-Americans post-riots, importance of education and force multipliers.
• 51:09–51:45: Tony’s closing advice on leadership, resilience, and lessons learned after 50 years as an Angeleno.

---

Final Thoughts

This episode gives raw, firsthand insight into the LA Riots through the voice of someone who lived and defended during its most chaotic hours. Tony Moon dispels myths about race, community, and violence, while Spencer uses his platform to push for deeper reforms in LA—focusing on real solutions, leadership, and rebuilding community. The conversation is both a sobering reminder of the past and a call for new approaches, real conversations, and policy solutions for today’s Los Angeles.

---

For More

• Tony’s book (discussed throughout; available via his publisher for signed editions and forthcoming audiobook) covers more in-depth experiences and lessons from the rooftop militia perspective.
• Follow-up episode promised after Spencer reads Tony’s book for deeper insights and discussion.

---

Listen if:
You want the real, often gritty history behind the 1992 LA riots—and how its lingering effects shaped LA, the Korean-American community, and debates about crime, policing, and community response today.

Transcript

[Sam]

When I first started Pratt Daddy Crystals was one of the best moments throughout the day that my wife Heidi and I would ever hear. We would high five, we would toast, we would do a dance. Something. It was so powerful and life changing. So I can't thank Shopify enough for all the years of business that they've provided and supported my Pratt Daddy Crystal Company. Shopify is the commerce platform used around the world. It is top 10% of of E commerce in the United States is used by Shopify. From smaller businesses like Pratt Daddy Crystals to global brands, Shopify is the platform for your e commerce sales. Start your business today with the industry's best business partner, Shopify and start hearing. Sign up for the $1 per month trial today at shopify.com fame go to shopify.com fame that's shop.

[Tony]

You said you were over him, but his hoodie is still in your rotation. It's time. Grab your phone, snap a few pics and sell it on Depop. Listed in minutes with no selling fees. And just like that, a guy 500

[Sam]

miles away just paid full price for your closure.

[Tony]

And right on cue. Hey, still got my hoodie? Nope. But I've got tonight's dinner paid for. Start selling on Depop. Where taste recognizes taste list. Now with no selling fees, payment processing fees and boosting fees still apply. See website for details. Zootopia 2 has come home to Disney. Let's go get ready for a new case. We're the greatest partners of all time. New friends, Gary the Snake and your last name the Snake Dream team. New habitats. Zootopia has a secret reptile population. You can watch the record breaking phenomenon at home.

[Sam]

Zootopia 2 now available on Disney. Rated PG.

[Tony]

And right now you can get Disney

[Sam]

and Hulu for just $4.99 a month

[Tony]

for three months with a limited time offer ends March 24. After three months, Plan Auto renews at 12.99amonth.

[Sam]

Terms apply. Oh no. That's all God's. Welcome to the Fame game, Tony. Known on social media as the Rooftop Korean.

[Tony]

Roof Korean. Yeah.

[Sam]

Roof Korean.

[Tony]

Rooftop Korean. Yeah.

[Sam]

So for people who don't know what that means, I had a big meeting that I can't discuss for fear of retaliation was the quote with a high powered former Los Angeles Police Department individual. And during this lunch they said to me everyone talks about how bad LA it can is right now and these, you know, the riots with this and that he goes unless you were around for the 92, the 1992 LA riots, you have no idea how good We've had la, you know, you know, we see the burning waymos and, you know, people go onto the freeway and they burn the chp, which again, I think is terrible. And I thought it was end of times, but after talking with this law enforcement person, it made me very interested into deep diving the 1992 riots. And what a great opportunity to have somebody who was 19 years old defending his community and business. So hit it, hit it.

[Tony]

Tony, thanks. Thanks, master. Thanks for having me on. It's a pleasure to be here. Yeah, I agree with his assessment. I mean, it was a lot worse in the 90s than it is now. I think it's more of an eyesore with the homelessness that we see. But in terms of like crime and gangs, the 90s were really prevalent with gangs. I mean, it was an era for gangs. I mean, GTA San Andreas is probably a good example of, you know, kind of showing that. But yeah, it was, it was a different time, you know, in terms of like the. We didn't have cell phone tech, you know, everything was done word of mouth or on the phone. A lot of the, the, the immigrant communities that came over during the 70s, the 80s, a lot of these kids grew up, you know, during like the 80s, late 80s, mid-80s and 90s, you know, and they formed groups and a lot of the gangs that you're, you guys are very familiar with now started like in around the 80s. Like Ms. Is one AP Armenian power, which is locally here in Southern California. They're another one starting around that time. But I go over a lot of that in my book to illustrate the time, what it looked like at that, you know, at that period. And I disclose a lot of things I think weren't known to the general public, but I'm sure law enforcement were very familiar with it. They'll tell you that it wasn't public knowledge at that time. But in order to tell my story regarding the riots, I had to kind of go back into my background in history of who I was and what I did and why. I didn't say anything for a long time until the election, until Covid. So, yeah, with his assessment, I totally agree. I mean, it was a much different time. We have it a lot better now in terms of certain aspects than we did then. It's just that, like I said, there's a lot of eyesores that are around the city right now that makes it look like it's a lot worse than it, than it is.

[Sam]

Another interesting. I spoke with a different law enforcement guy involved in SWAT And I said, back to what you're saying about gangs. And he said, you know, the gangs now aren't who we're having our standoffs with. It's people going under, going through a mental health condition that are maybe don't even know their, where they are in the situation. And it's shifted from the hardcore gang type individuals. He was saying now know that they get out in two weeks if they just hands behind their back, don't try to do anything. And the craziest part is with the home invasions. So that's what it's gone from street gang stuff to now their biggest money making thing is the home invasions. And you can break into somebody's home with a weapon and be back on the streets in two weeks.

[Tony]

Right. That's not anything new though. Home invasions were a thing with the Asian community back in the 80s and 90s. You had a lot of immigrants that were coming from Taiwan and Hong Kong that carried that hold a lot of cash in their homes. Excess of 10, 20, $30,000 in cash. So it's well known within the Asian community that a lot of the older generation do this. So home invasions became really popular in the San Gabriel Valley, like around Alhambra, Monterey Park, San Marino, those areas.

[Sam]

So home invasions, but you're saying, yeah, it's now it's back because it's moved over.

[Tony]

Right. Now it's on the west side. Now it's valley all over. Yeah.

[Sam]

So let's rewind. You were 19 years old. Where were you the morning of when the riots kicked off?

[Tony]

Well, it kicked off on an afternoon. Wednesday, Wednesday afternoon. That's when the verdict came down. And that's where you see the famous shot from the helicopter with, you know, the truck, Florence Normandy, Reginald Denny, all that, you know, so that it happened on a Wednesday. So then Wednesday comes and goes and then it rolls into Thursday, you know, and Thursday gets really bad. I mean, not only are they looting, but now they're burning down stores. Firefighters can't get into these places to put out the fires because they're getting shot at. So they need police escorts now. You know, police is stretched thin throughout the city. Right. So without making official call to stand down, there was a call to pull back, you know, so you can see it however you want, you know. So once they were pulled back is when it really kind of gained momentum on there by Thursday afternoon. Ish, I would say. And then the call went out on Thursday for help through a radio station called Radio Korea. I'm currently connected with them. Right now as well, with the new owners. But they sent out the call on Thursday, and then on Friday is when we all went out, so they never sent out.

[Sam]

That just gave me chills. You're such a legend. Sorry. I just love it, you know, What a. What a community. I love that. I thought you. I thought the call was going out to the Marines, you know, and it's like we got the call on radio. Korean and. Sorry. Right.

[Tony]

No, it just. It just the call went out. So then we went on on Friday. And then my friend calls me and says, you know, are. You know, I'm gonna. You know, come out with me? So I said, yeah, I have this thing where I'm obligated to my friends. I've had friends in the city for. Since I was in high school. So, you know, my ties and some of my loyalties go deep. So he calls and he says, like, yeah, you know, come out. You know, I need you to come out. So I went out with him. So we were over by Olympic and Vermont. There is a small street called New Hampshire. It's a plaza. You can look it up on Google. There's a green wrought iron fence. That's. It wasn't there before the riots. They put that up after the riots. But we went there to basically help some of the older guys, because when he initially called me was to help his brother out, who owned a stereo store on Vermont down by the 10 near Washington, but that was already secured, and they had black and Hispanic employees that helped out. You know, so those guys were carrying, too. You know, everyone was carrying that week, that day or that week, whatever. So they pulled all the merchandise back, and there's like. And then his older brother says, hey, go talk to these guys over on New Hampshire. You know, so we roll over there, and then we're talking to them, and they're telling us that they're getting shot at. You know, so we get a description of the vehicle, number of occupants, and then because of our background, we kind of know who was shooting at them. So we actually go into their territory. And what I think most people don't realize is that, like, on Twitter and X, it becomes a. An Asian community, Korean and black thing, you know? You know, but I think the. The riots was. You can. You can segment into three different parts where you had, like, south la, South Central, that you had that. Those riots, which was the black community that was pissed off and burning down stores and whatnot. And then you had another set of riots in Koreatown, which is a whole different game. It was basically, it was a gang war between 18th street and Ms. And Korean shop owners, which a lot of these Korean owners just called, blanketed them and all, called them all cholos. But yeah, they're segmented. I mean, it was like two groups I'm pretty sure of, I'm 100% sure of one group, not 100% sure of the other because we were on the, on the east side, But I know 18th street is more on the west side. So we're on the east side dealing with Ms. And a click of Ms.

[Sam]

Yeah, you saw last week what happened or Friday what happened with the 18th street in MacArthur Park.

[Tony]

Right. So yeah, they're all right. Now the news is 18th street and Ms. Have now linked up with the Mexican mafia to run drugs together. So that old rivalry, they're squashing that old rivalry now. So LAPD needs to kind of step up their game. I mean, back in the 90s they had crash community resource against street hoodlums. They need to bring a program like that back again, you know, something similar. Because I mean, gangs have morphed in la, but they're still around. They're generational. Right. So you still need to kind of keep tabs on what's going on. And I can't even crash prior to what happened in 98 with the Rampart. Yeah, I mean it was, it's a good program. It just, it just kind of got out of control, you know, it's like anything.

[Sam]

Speaking of got out of control and right now, did you see last night with the street takeovers that are happening in Koreatown and what you saw that

[Tony]

I haven't seen that, but no where.

[Sam]

So let me just pull this up.

[Tony]

But that's been happening all through like south la.

[Sam]

Yeah, no, but it was big. So I messaged my.

[Tony]

Is it mini bikes or cars? Cars, cars.

[Sam]

And I asked my contact, so I sent it last night, it was going down. And I said what? My contact said, we need the LAPD command to not be scared of their own shadow. Allow LAPD to come in, have zero tolerance, parking tickets, citations, arrests, hit them hard anytime they pull this shit.

[Tony]

Yes.

[Sam]

And I said, what about, you know, having the feds help? You know, does that help? You said feds actually aren't great when it comes to policing. They have resources and run years long investigations. But the street level stuff is something the LAPD can handle. We just need the city and the leadership to support it.

[Tony]

So I'm going to speak to car culture because I grew up in the 90s, you know, 80s and 90s, like fixing up cars and whatnot. We need a place for these guys to go. I mean, I mean that's what it is. We used to have Irwindale, right. And then there used to be Long Beach. Right. And then I think Palmdale, Lancaster, there was a place up there as well. But we need a place for these guys to go. That, that's it. I mean solves it. Yeah, because. All right, so back in the day we used to go up to Sylmar Roxford Street. So anyone who remembers that remembers the bridges and that lane. So that's where everyone used to congregate. So it was outside of the residential area and there used to be a straightaway drag strip so guys would just race there. But it was a small, small in the street where like nobody, it didn't bother anybody. Like now these guys are doing street takeovers and full on residential commercial areas where cars are going by people trying to get to work. Right.

[Sam]

So that's a good solution. I'll add that to my list.

[Tony]

And another thing is we need some sort of a uniform emergency system that's going to link up all the EMSs, like cops, firefighters and, and EMTs. Because one of the things that propelled me to write the book was because the fires are going up to Mount Wilson, you know, so you have all those antenna arrays up there. And once communication is lost, I'm positive that there's been no sort of training or any sort of litmus test done to see if these three agencies can work together in case there's a communication breakdown. Yeah, I will. I can help you with that.

[Sam]

You got, well, you started when you're 19 with Korean radio. I can help you with my favorite story. Almost 10 years ago when I first started selling beautiful crystals, I was doing it through direct messages. And then one angel wrote to me, hey, have you heard of Shopify? I think it would make your life a lot easier than just opening all your DMs and responding to people and asking them for their address. I said no, what's Shopify? And I went on Shopify and I made my own Pratt Daddy account. I even bought my website through Shopify. To this day, PrattDaddy.com is through Shopify's domain feature. And this was one of the more life changing experiences I had ever been involved with. If it weren't for Shopify, I would have never been able to grow Pratt Daddy crystals into a multimillion dollar global business. I can't thank Shopify enough for all the years of business that they've provided and supported my Pratt Daddy Crystal company. Finding the right tool that not only helps you out, but simplifies your business. Sales is so important when you're a small business trying to scale and then even when you're a huge business doing thousands of orders. And for my business, Pratt Daddy Crystals, I started with, you know, a couple hundred orders and got to thousands of orders and never was it difficult because of Shopify. So thank you, Shopify. Shopify is the commerce platform used around the world. It is top 10% of E commerce in the United States is used by Shopify. From smaller businesses like Praddy Crystals to global brands, Shopify is the platform for your e commerce sales. Get started with your own design studio. With hundreds of ready use templates, Shopify helps you build a beautiful online store that matches your brand style. Best yet, Shopify is your commerce expert. With worldwide expertise in everything from managing inventory to international shipping to processing returns and beyond, Shopify is a platform you need. Start your business today with the industry's best business partners. Partner Shopify and start hearing. Sign up for the $1 per month trial today at shopify.com fame. Go to shopify.com fame. That's shopify.com fame.

[Tony]

This episode is brought to you by Redfin. You're listening to a podcast, which means

[Sam]

you're probably multitasking, maybe even scrolling home

[Tony]

listings on Redfin, saving homes without expecting to get them. But Redfin isn't just built for endless browsing. It's built to help you find and own a home with agents who close twice as many deals. When you find the one, you've got a real shot at getting it. Get [e-mail], own the dream. Yeah.

[Sam]

So back to you're in that. We're going back in time.

[Tony]

Yeah.

[Sam]

You're dealing with 18th Street. You don't know who the other well,

[Tony]

on our side was. Ms. Oh, you were doing Ms. Yeah, I think 18th street was over where David Ju on western and between 8th and 9th Street. Well, James Wood, 8th and 9th Street. Where you see this, they're shooting like in the parking lot. I think that was 18, you know. So the thing is, like, this is not anything personal. I mean, if people say, oh, they had no. There was not beat. It was just a week of chaotic lawlessness and people just losing their minds and just doing things that they wanted to do because there's no rails to kind of keep you in place. So if you can get away with doing anything, I mean, you would and this is 90s where LAPD was like every maybe, you know, quarter mile, you had a squad car. I mean, there was a heavy presence in LA with lapd and it was a different set of cops. These cops grew up in like 60s and 70s and they didn't put up with nonsense, I can tell you. First time they put up for nonsense. So it's a different breed of cops that were around then, that was around now. So you take that away and you got streets that are just completely empty of traffic, cars, and you can do whatever you want. I mean, these guys are. Some of these guys are literally going to lose our minds. But not only that, but they're going to take out old scores that they need to settle with rival gangs too. And that's pretty much that week was a whole bunch of gunfire. I mean, one thing that's not reiterated or talked about is the amount of gunfire and shots that were. That sounded around that, you know, week it sounded. It was like New Year's Eve in la, like that whole week.

[Sam]

And did you have any experience shooting? Like, what was your background? Did you just.

[Tony]

My book is gonna tell my background. Okay? I'm gonna leave it at that. But I'm gonna. I have ties. I have ties to the city that go pretty deep. And it's gonna dispel a lot of the cultural ideas that, like, one of the things I get asked on X is like, hey, who do you. Who do you support? Are you for the whites? Are you for the browns? You must hate the blacks because of the riots and do you like the Jews and whatnot? I mean, my position has always been the same. I'm for the group that doesn't want to hurt me or harm me, you know, or kill me, you know, that's who I'm with. I mean, everyone else is like on the other side. So in that sense, I mean, like, the book is going to hopefully shift the cultural narrative, especially when it comes to race, you know, especially from my standpoint because, I mean, Asians are 7% of the population. Population, but we're lumped in with all the other Asians, South Asians, but in terms of like East Asians, we're probably like maybe 2, 3% of the population, right? So if I can tell a story regarding race in America, that's going to dispel a lot of like, misconceptions and also perhaps stereotypes. And, you know, that's kind of, I mean, wrote this book for my kids too. You know, my kids are 15, you know, 17. I wrote this in A sense where Since I was 19 at that time, I wanted to reach out and connect to them, but also kids around that age, too, you know, and then even guys that are in their 20s and 30s, you know, to kind of give them a glimpse of what time was like back then, you know, and what was important to us at that time and why we did what we did and why I am the way I am now with my perspectives and my opinions and, you know, and why, you know, I hold certain things very dear, like the first and Second Amendment. I actually signed up for Sam Tripoli's, like, word war debate. I don't know if you've seen that.

[Sam]

I just. I'm actually, I didn't. With respect to him, I wasn't aware of Sam Tripoli, but a bunch of people reached out to me to go on his podcast I'm playing on the Tinfoil podcast. Oh, cool. On Wednesday.

[Tony]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Sam]

So what. What is this that you said?

[Tony]

Yeah, he's. He's. He's having this, like, forum where I guess you can sign up and be a debater on. On his word war debate. I mean, someone sent me the link. I was like, you know what? I'm just gonna just do it.

[Sam]

And you're. And that's set up.

[Tony]

Yeah, but I. I signed up for that because I. I want to talk about the first and Second Amendment, and I think if anyone could talk about the Second Amendment, I think it should be me, because I can talk about this from a legal and not so legal standpoint, because once the book comes out.

[Sam]

What's the legal part?

[Tony]

The legal part?

[Sam]

Yeah.

[Tony]

Well, you know, you know, there's all kinds of. You can say, like, you know, like in California, you can't have a high capacity 30 round magazine. There's all these little restrictions.

[Sam]

Unless it was Freedom Week. Allegedly, it.

[Tony]

Yeah, exactly. It was awesome. Freedom Week was awesome.

[Sam]

Yeah.

[Tony]

But I mean, little things like that. So in terms of talking about basically all these little rules and regulations that are there, I mean, it's like death by a thousand cuts. It's pretty much what it is.

[Sam]

I mean, it's like what they just did to Glock, right? You know, they take the most, you know, the governor says, I'm program, blah, blah, blah on a podcast as he's eliminating the most popular hangout in the entire world.

[Tony]

And then the whole requirement for ccw,

[Sam]

now they added another, like, eight hours.

[Tony]

Exactly.

[Sam]

But if you have a great CCW instructor like Josh at VIP CCW, 8 hours is a treat. But so how did that experience alter you as like an American, because here you are fighting for your friends. You're not technically fighting to save the stereo thing, because that's possessions. It's more of a community, I would imagine, feeling like that call to.

[Tony]

Yeah, well, it's like. Like, let's say you and I are friends. We got history together, right? Known each other for, like, five, ten years, whatever, right? And then, like, you have a store and you call me and say, hey, T. Like, you know, like, there's riots and stuff. You know, stuff happening. Like, can you come down and help them? Be like, yeah, Spence, I'll go down help you. You know, it's kind of like that. I mean, I can't imagine people not doing that for each other. You know what I mean? I mean, it's like if your friends in trouble, I mean, isn't that the true litmus test of friendship? It's like when you're really down and out and like, you're like. Like, you know, poop is hitting the fan. Like, I need help. I mean, it's almost like the whole analogy, like, who do you call when you're in the Mexican jail? Right? No offense to Mexicans, but I'm just saying, right? Like, who do you call? I mean, so I think that's a bank.

[Sam]

So let me tell you this. I have a friend because three weeks before our house burned down, there was a big fire in Malibu. And my friend Brian had all his friends show up and they saved his house, they saved his mom's house. And this now is a thing in the Malibu community, which is the community brigade, because they realized that the fire department isn't actually gonna save most of anybody's houses. And they experienced that, right? So that call and I. Truly, my biggest. One of my biggest regrets is not. And I told my wife this, and I've said it a million times. Right after I saw that happen in Malibu, I told Heidi, I need to buy all this kit. I need to get our own fire hose. I need to get a truck. And I just didn't do it. And, you know, it was three weeks later.

[Tony]

Yeah, yeah.

[Sam]

But how many houses could have been saved if so many people stayed with that type of mindset? But we have been so conditioned that this idea of, oh, the police will save us. Oh, the fire department will save us, that we as a community have lost our survival ability. And we've gotten to almost, I guess, this big brother, you know, you're our. You take care of me almost. It feels like communist.

[Tony]

I don't think it's hyperbole when we say that the institutions that we relied on for a long time are no longer functioning the way they used to. You know, they're kind of imploding on themselves, and they're more bureaucratic than anything, you know, like for law enforcement. They're not there in a timely fashion to apprehend anyone. They're there to write a report. You know, so that's the reality of it. Because when it comes down to it, you need individuals that are willing to kind of put themselves out there for other people. Right? But if you're hiring based on certain qualifications, because of race, because of height, because you need more women, because you need this or that, you're no longer hiring individual based on character and integrity and just the willingness. I mean, like firefighters, for example, right? I mean, you got to be kind of out of your mind and run into a burning building, right? Well, just like cops, you got to be kind of out of your mind to shoot back at someone who's shooting at you a little bit. Right? I mean, you kind of got to go into that training mode. So you need people like that. But if you don't, if you have a system that doesn't, you know, facilitate that or even encourage that, then you end up with people who basically, you know, something happens and they show up, like an hour or even, you know, I mean, doordash gets delivered faster than cops. Right? I mean, that's what kind of what I read, too. Right. So you have situations like that. I mean, lapd. LAPD needs a lot of reform. I mean, I've seen a lot of the officers that are there now. And no, no disrespect to any of them, you know, but I'm just saying there needs to be some sort of a reform within lapd.

[Sam]

You know, so one of my policies, God willing, I become mayor, is I'm going to bring the LAPD hiring back to LAPD.

[Tony]

That's the way it should be.

[Sam]

25 years ago, or when Rampart happened, they stopped doing that. But that wasn't the solution they should have fixed. Well, they had the issues there, but not hand the hiring to the same people that are in charge of sanitation. And the issue with the LAPD outsourcing the hiring is it takes three to four times longer. So the good guys or good women end up going to different, whether it's Manhattan beach or Newport, because it's quicker. They can't wait one year.

[Tony]

Yeah, that's how I was just going to. You know how long it takes for someone to apply to LAPD and to finally get hired and go into the academy, it takes a year. Yeah. A year.

[Sam]

Nobody. People need jobs.

[Tony]

Yeah.

[Sam]

Especially. And another thing I've heard, whether or not this is true or not, but as mayor, I'll make sure it's not true that the current hiring actually doesn't want former military in the lapd because they're this idea. They all have PTSD and they shouldn't. So I'll make sure that is that rumor is not true as mayor, and we will hire former military to be part of lapd. So I think just the hiring and the other thing I was told, and it's a balance that there's so many law enforcement people that get forced into being in the bureaucratic desk jobs, and they, we need more patrolmen. But I was also told we also can't put more civilians into that position. So just because we think it's a quick hack. Oh, we'll put a civilian. No, you actually need law enforcement in those jobs in the building as well, because they have access to things that keep the police safe. And there's so many.

[Tony]

Right.

[Sam]

There's rails for a reason. So it's not this quick hack. And then also when they. You end up having to furlough people, the first people that get fired are the civilian jobs or removed. And then that backfires on the patrolmen. So it's not this quick solution. It ends up, oh, it's this cheaper, quicker thing. But on the long term, part of it's hurting the lapd. So. And I truly believe that we need to get back to the spirit of the law. Nobody respects the law anymore, across the board, whether it's, you know, graffiti. There was 311,000 calls, I feel like just for graffiti removal or something, the whole town. And, you know, again, there's people be like, oh, there's street art. There's a difference between street art and just ugly tagging up people's private businesses. And it's back to what you were saying about finding a place for these people to have the car events and the drag race. And we need to find certain spots in the city where street art, not tagging is accepted.

[Tony]

Because these are all young people. These are all the young people in our city. Right. They need an outlet, you know, so if you had a place where they, you. You can have competitive street art, you know, contests in the summer and the spring. Right. And then you can have like, you know, same thing, you know, racing at Irwin Deal. I mean, you got to bring some of These places, the thing is right now is like a lot of these activities are male orientated. These are men, these are young men that are out there. And you don't, you don't see women, young women in cars, drag racing or tagging up buildings. Right? These are young men. You need a place for young men to go. I mean we, I grew up with a place called the Boys Club when I was a kid growing up, you know, and you had older kids there and they kind of see what they were doing. A lot of these kids that are growing up, growing up, single homes, single moms, you know, they don't have that structure, you know. So as you know, if you want to fix things, you got to fix the, the problem, not the symptom. So this is just a symptom of a bigger cultural deficiency in terms of the home. So in order to plug that, I mean we need an organization where you can foster, you know, things, activities, you know, like, you know, like what just talked about, you know, going to places where they're not tagging up like someone's house or someone's wall. Right. There's a specific place where they can go and do things like that. Yeah, so I'm, I'm into community revitalization, working with the community. I don't think everything has to be heavy handed with law enforcement. I mean, law enforcement has its place. But even crime is changing right now too. I mean the younger guys are going into crime are no longer doing strong arm robberies and stuff like they used to. I mean, back in the day. I mean a lot of the stuff now is Internet based so they use a lot of anon accounts to run these scams and they kind of like disperse. So they meet online to disperse online. A really good example of this is just the, the transformation of what's happening in Japan with the Yakuza with a lot of the younger guys that are coming up that are no longer joining the Yakuza, but doing their own thing, you know. And it's not just a cultural thing over there, but it's a generational thing with everybody here. You see a lot of these younger guys doing different things that we, that, that the old generations weren't doing before, you know, and a lot of it's tech, tech related, but it's also things related to, I guess, social structure and supports that we didn't give them. So now they're meandering into doing things like, you know, street takeovers.

[Sam]

It all starts with the youth. It's so real, you know, and you just see it such. All young, all the videos. And what heightens it now is the social media because everyone's holding a phone. So you factor in, you got nothing to do now. There's clout connected to being a part of something.

[Tony]

Yeah.

[Sam]

So I don't, it's. I don't know, just, just become mayor.

[Tony]

Everything else will work itself out.

[Sam]

That's the easy part, I guess. So. Okay, we're back to you. Just got the call. You're in the. Before they put up the green fencing, do you have a pistol? What?

[Tony]

Do you have a shotgun?

[Sam]

Shotgun. How many?

[Tony]

It's.

[Sam]

How many rounds you got on deck?

[Tony]

It's five.

[Sam]

You got a bag?

[Tony]

I got a bag. I got a bag. My friend has a 9 millimeter. So we're out. So we get, we, we get word who these guys are shooting at. You know, who's, who the guys are shooting at, you know, the older guys. So, so that morning, I mean we got there like maybe 9ish, 8, 9ish around there. So that morning till like, like early afternoon, we're just running patrols in that neighborhood, you know. And then in my book, I go over the incident where I think we ran into the guys that were shooting, but I wasn't 100% sure. So it was kind of, it put me in a weird situation, you know, kind of having to make a decision. And then also something I didn't like, share is that I have ties to the city in that week with other friends as well. So it was a lot more complicated for me personally than it was just, hey, cut and dry. Like, hey, looters are here. Just go. You know, I mean, so I, I detail that in my book. But yeah, it's, it was, it was a different type of week.

[Sam]

Do you feel like the Korean community was being targeted for like. Some people thought it was like a race thing. I get. Well, it was okay. It was, it was so different parts because some there was just crazy. Everybody, the rails are off. Let's go crazy.

[Tony]

That's one, that's one part.

[Sam]

But then there's people we don't like, right? Because for instance, yeah, this, I just saw this on. Thankfully everyone tags me on everything on the Internet. But there's a quote in the New York Times where at the time Karen Bass was part of this Cuban.

[Tony]

I read that.

[Sam]

And she said that she was the best thing they ever was. All the Korean, she walked that back.

[Tony]

That's so short sighted of her though.

[Sam]

The Korean business is all burned to the ground. And it was the best thing that could ever happen so is, was that because like what go take me back in the time. Why would anybody want Korean businesses, whether there are liquor stores or any small business to burn down? People did not like Koreans in the black community. Was that a niche?

[Tony]

Yeah, it was. It was a thing. There was prior to the verdict that came down with Rodney King, there was another verdict the year before with 14 year old black girl that was shot by older shopkeeper. And that verdict came down where I think the older shopkeeper got like probation. And the black community wasn't happy, you know, because on paper it looks bad. You know, it's like a older woman in her 60s shoots a 14 year old in the back of the head. I mean, looks really bad. Then you watch the video and then the 14 year old is not like just some small, she's like a big black 14 year old, you know, and you look at the Asian shopkeeper and she's small. So all this happened over a bottle of orange juice. I mean, she wanted to steal orange juice, got called out, beat the crap out of the shopkeeper. Shopkeeper loses her mind for a bit because doesn't know what's going on. She turns around, she gets shot in the back of the head. There's a jury, you know, a whole courtroom thing. The verdict comes out and the black community is not happy, right? So this is where a lot of the sentiment changed because back then Asian shopkeepers just kind of made fun of like that, you know, Asian, you know, Korean, Chinese, shopkeeper, you know, can't speak English well, you know, like, hey, you buy something, you know, I. That accent. So, so a lot of the movies that came out from the black community, like do the right Thing. That's a good, that was a good example. They portrayed Asian shopkeepers kind of harmless, you know, like just doing their thing. After that verdict came out, the subsequent movies that came out like Boys in the Hood menace society. Totally different now. It was like, you Asian, you know, Chinese, Korean motherfucker, you know, I mean, that's what it was. So you can see it in the movie and that sentiment. So that sentiment carries over into the riots, right? So Rodney King is, you know, the verdict comes out, black community is very upset, right? They need an outlet. Korean, Korean shops that are in South Central, south la, those are pretty much islands that are peppered in that area. There's no way to defend those effectively. So they, they're the first ones to get hit, looted, burned, and then we, you know, the call goes out. So a lot of us are considering like, okay, maybe they're black community is going to come up north, you know, they're going to try to mess with the Koreatown, whatever. We don't know. It's all chaotic at this point, right? Because like what you guys saw last year for the ice riot, that's just like small bs. I mean, they try to make it a big deal. It's just BS. You know, 92, you had fires that were like down the South LA, south of downtown, all the way up to Hollywood. Going out to like Culver City, you know, going out to like maybe parts, you know, just the edge of east la. Right? Because I mean East LA is a whole different east la. Royal Heights, a whole different neighborhood, but just that whole area is being going up in smoke and it's chaotic. There's no order, there's no central command, nothing's going on. Right. So pretty much everyone's kind of left to kind of do their own thing. And you know, I watched Gangs of New York last night. Just a quick snippet and that last part where everyone's just kind of going crazy, the mob, it's kind of like that, you know, it was just like that, but just not in one area. But we're talking about different parts of LA County. LA county, not la. LA County. Right.

[Sam]

Even bigger.

[Tony]

Yeah.

[Sam]

And then how many. This lasts for two weeks.

[Tony]

So no, went from Wednesday all through the weekend. Oh, national card came in the weekend.

[Sam]

So 85 people died in like. And they. I was actually told, we don't know the more people actually could have died.

[Tony]

Well, number could be, I don't know the count. And they're saying like, oh, you know, they didn't kill anybody, but nobody knows who shot who. I mean, first of all, no one's gonna go back and check bodies.

[Sam]

Also in fires, who knows how many people just burned in all this fire.

[Tony]

Not just that, but you gotta remember all these gangs are shooting each other, right? So you think LAPD is not gonna like, you know, dedicate man hours to that at that point? Like, okay, you guys are the usual normal stuff, but now it's even more heightened because you guys are all shooting at each other. Right? So there's that too. And then not only that, but you got like some of the older guys shooting at these guys. So who knows how many, like I count in terms of how many people got shot by the one guy that got shot and, and killed that week. It was. His name is Eddie Lee. So he basically, he's the one that got shot And I detail in my book why he got shot and the circumstances of how he got shot and why it happened the way it happened. I try to explain that in a way where people are saying like, oh, they couldn't tell the difference. There is a reason why.

[Sam]

So yeah, in the book.

[Tony]

In the book.

[Sam]

Stay tuned.

[Tony]

Yeah.

[Sam]

Two Good and Co coffee creamers are made with farm fresh cream, real milk and contain 3 grams of sugar per serving. That's 40% less than the 5 grams per serving in leading traditional coffee creamers

[Tony]

for a rich, delicious experience.

[Sam]

Whether you enjoy your coffee hot, cold, bold or frothy, two good coffee creamers

[Tony]

make every sip a good one.

[Sam]

Two good coffee creamers, real goodness in every sip. Find them at your local Kroger in the creamer aisle. The world moves fast.

[Tony]

Your workday even faster. Pitching products, drafting reports, analyzing data.

[Sam]

Microsoft 365 Copilot is your AI assistant for work built into Word, Excel, PowerPoint and other Microsoft 365 apps you use, helping you quickly write, analyze, create and summarize so you can cut through clutter and clear a path to your best work. Learn [e-mail] M365 copilot There's a world where legends race across city skylines roaming. Romance blossoms in glittering ballrooms. And there's magic around every corner. It's a world known to many as Great Britain.

[Tony]

You've seen the action on screen.

[Sam]

Now visit the real star of the show. Visit Great Britain.

[Tony]

To discover more, go to tripadvisor.com Great

[Sam]

Britain are you going to do an audiobook eventually?

[Tony]

Well, they're having me do that.

[Sam]

Oh, amazing.

[Tony]

Yeah. So I'll be in your ear for like maybe four and a half hours.

[Sam]

I'm an audiobook person on all my drawings. How were all the Koreans communicating? Because no cell phones.

[Tony]

Well, you know, it's like everybody has their own little friends. So that's how they're. It's not like we all kind of got together and we all knew each other. Like everyone has their own little clique of friends, right? And that's what everybody's doing. So you had where you know, like maybe a plaza that was protected by like 8 to 10 guys, right? And then you had a shop with like three to four guys. I mean, it was just all. I mean, there was no coordination. You know, in Korean, there's no term as a rooftop Korean. We're called Oksang shimingun, which means rooftop militia, you know, people's army.

[Sam]

And this is pre this.

[Tony]

Well, this is the label that the Koreans after the riots. Yeah. They, they call us a rooftop citizens army, which is like a militia. That's the, I mean, you go to Korea and say, hey, you know, that's a roof crane. They're like, what are you talking about? You know, but if you say like, you know, he's a Shimung Okun, which means like, you know, rooftop citizens army or militia, they'll know what that means

[Sam]

in, right now in South Korea.

[Tony]

And then if you tell them like, hey, it's regarding Saigu, which is like 429, they'll know what that means.

[Sam]

Do people even say South Korea or they just not even count North Korea. Like when you ref, like when you say if you go to Korea, you're obviously assuming you're not going to North Korea.

[Tony]

Right.

[Sam]

Nobody says nobody South Korea.

[Tony]

Right. If you say North Korea, there's a reason, like, oh, yeah, it's specific. Right.

[Sam]

It's just Korea. And then. Right. Something got you. Gotcha. And then how much has that 1992 changed Korean culture for the Second Amendment is all. Or what percentage would you say are Koreans in the community? Like pass down, like, are your, your kids when they turn 21 or you go into the range and we get in.

[Tony]

Yeah, all that blocks. Yeah, all that.

[Sam]

It's.

[Tony]

Yeah, I, I was at an event in Vegas at Staccato. It was, you know, Brandon Herrera was running for Congress against Tony Gonzalez in Texas, along with a donut operator. Yeah, Cody, like they invited me, so I took my kids there. So we went shooting out there. So no, we're all into gun, gun safety, farm, familiarity with firearms, you know, so we're like, I back all of that, you know, and I, I think education is important. I think you should have that, you know, because as much as martial arts is, you know, is has handy, I mean, I mean you need force multiply. Especially if you're like a 100 pound woman, right. You're not going to fight some like 200 pound, 250 pound guy no matter how good you are. I mean, you're going to get smashed, you can get squashed and you're going to get hurt. So it's better to have a force multiplier. Like perhaps either, you know, a firearm or even a blade. You know, even pepper spray works. You know, you just bear spray. Yeah, yeah, but that thing, big purses these days.

[Sam]

I told my mom, she got a pepper special. Mom. Yeah, she's like, it's big. I'm like, get a bigger bag, mom.

[Tony]

There you Go.

[Sam]

Yeah. I mean, it's. You know, I've been doing martial arts since I was 15. And the one thing. There's a reason why there's weight classes in martial arts, because no matter, there's a handful of people and it's a very small that can go up to any weight class and survive if even. But if the other person's as good as that person, wait, they may not even be surviving. So it's this idea that, you know.

[Tony]

And also, like, when you do martial arts, a lot of it's competitive sports, right? You got to get rid of those reels when you're on this, when you're out, like, in public. Like, you know what I mean?

[Sam]

Yeah. No, like, that's why Hicks and Gracie's biggest thing with what modern jiu jitsu has become is it's become sport jiu jitsu. When he was teaching it, and, well, he'll teach it now. Everything is related to a knife, a gun, a bat, a chair. You're here. It's that setup. It's for the real world. It was for Valtudo. It was to survive.

[Tony]

Yeah, Yeah. I love Valtudo. I think it's legit, you know, and the thing is, like, I don't know if this still stands, but I think bjj, if you're. If you get picked up by no slam, no slams, Right? But you can. You should slam. I'm just saying, like, if you're, like, in real life, I mean, what. Oh, I'm not going to. You know, I mean, I mean, it's

[Sam]

like, thankfully, in the adcc, you can do slam, right? So. But.

[Tony]

But that should be at least a point off or something. Or something.

[Sam]

Yeah. No, no. If you. If. Well, like, my buddy Shrek, who is this Delta Force, former Delta Force guy, he just did the Masters Worlds in Las Vegas. And he. The guy, he lifts the guy. He stands up with the guy and his guard.

[Tony]

Yeah.

[Sam]

And the guy does such a good little sneaky way and makes it look like he's getting slammed by just letting go of his legs a little bit. So Shrek comes down with him, and then the guy holds his stomach. You decide you want to win.

[Tony]

Yeah, yeah.

[Sam]

But, yeah, it's back to a hundred percent. I feel like, especially in today's society where, you know, that's back to, you know, everyone hates guns because of school shootings, Right. My biggest thing with every school, it should have law enforcement in front, right? It's. We guard banks, we guard TSA better. We guard the list of Things we guard better than schools is. And then the argument like, oh, we need more guns to get rid of guns. The situation is clear. We're not getting rid of lunatics trying to harm the people that are just, you know, trying to be safe. So we need to create protection for them. So that argument, and I know it's very controversial, but to me, law enforcement should be in front of schools. It will deter the crazed shooter because now they know someone right when they open fire is going to be shooting back at them.

[Tony]

I don't think it's controversial at all. I think it makes perfect sense.

[Sam]

No, I know, but if you go on the Internet, though, that's the argument.

[Tony]

Yeah.

[Sam]

To me it's. Then why we have armed people at parking lots.

[Tony]

Right.

[Sam]

You know, go around the city and look at all the places where you accept an armed security. And then you flip it on this. Every one of these politicians has armed security.

[Tony]

Right.

[Sam]

So why don't you want kids to be safe at schools? So again, as mayor Eddie, schools getting armed. I mean, in the sense we are having professional law enforcement.

[Tony]

I think that's a good idea.

[Sam]

Just. Yeah, done.

[Tony]

Right.

[Sam]

Like, because that to me drives me nuts. And then the Internet, oh, there's we can't stop crazy people. And then you say, well, you take away their guns, we bad guys will always get some way to hurt the innocent. Look at the guy yesterday in New York, he didn't have a gun. He built a thing. It didn't go off properly, but he had a can with nails and bolts.

[Tony]

I just saw that this morning.

[Sam]

So what, are we gonna stop every hardware store once people want to do harm to people? So again, as mayor, we are protecting schools.

[Tony]

Yeah, we need to open our institution. Mental, mental health institutions. Again, we used to have a lot of those, you know, and like you were saying, like a law enforcement talks about how a lot of the calls they deal with now are mental health situations. Yeah, we need to open that up again. You know, we need to have mental Queen of Angels right off the 101. That used to be a mental health facility until they shut it down there.

[Sam]

I mean, this argument that we don't need that for. To people who say that all they have to do is drive around la. These are mental issues. And then you could say, oh, no, that's drugs. Okay, well then we need to put somebody in a facility to help them get off the drugs and then get the mental health treatment they need. They're not going to do it in a housing situation where they can go In. Oh, they don't like what they're being told, boom, I'm going on the street, I'm going to do fentanyl. Okay.

[Tony]

Well, our currency policy just enables them, you know, it doesn't get them. And they. A lot of them are smart enough, intelligent enough to recognize that, you know, you talk to a few of them, they know exactly why.

[Sam]

Yeah, 100%. So again we. Yesterday I read the state just granted they're opening like a mental health facility and this is the problem. It says a hundred beds, $100 million.

[Tony]

That's crazy.

[Sam]

I don't. Again, I'm not a.

[Tony]

That's crazy.

[Sam]

There's no math that adds up where you need $100 million.

[Tony]

It does, it does.

[Sam]

100.

[Tony]

Yeah, it does add up.

[Sam]

People.

[Tony]

When you have consultants and everyone. Yeah, exactly.

[Sam]

Everyone. The highest bid and this bid and like so again, people keep saying, well, what are you going to do as Mayor Spencer? No more making money off of people's mental health, off of addiction. These aren't. This is supposed to be the government helping, not how do we bring in private entered enterprise. And how can we make money in the homeless world? The you want to go make money? There's plenty of things to do. We're not doing it off of homeless people. We're not doing it under people that are on drugs. This is not a business.

[Tony]

Right. Well, I mean, that's what it is though. No, I mean it is now it's a total business.

[Sam]

It shouldn't be. That's. Yeah, it's exactly. It's completely.

[Tony]

Even Churches are involved. I just got to put it out. The churches are involved with this too.

[Sam]

Anyone that can get money is involved.

[Tony]

It's crazy.

[Sam]

The problem is what happens with. I watch with everybody. Well, it's this. They're doing it, you know, that's it. This is okay because this church did

[Tony]

it or you know, or have some integrity.

[Sam]

Yeah. So. And then. Well, they're offering the money this grant, but you know, it's like the PPP loans.

[Tony]

Yeah. A lot of people are gonna get pinched because of that. They used it.

[Sam]

They used it for the wrong way. I thankfully used it to pay employees and didn't get a dollar of it. And they got to stay home and not get Covid.

[Tony]

That's why none of the 10,000 new IRS feds are going to be looking at your.

[Sam]

That's why the IRS loves me. That's why they're helping me to save la. Because they know I'm not a criminal and they know what A partnership with the City, LA and the criminal investigation team at the IRS would be able to do because they only need, they told me, one document for each of these scams and they can open up.

[Tony]

Nice.

[Sam]

But without that document, they can't. Even if they know it's happening, they can't open a case.

[Tony]

Right.

[Sam]

So. But let me buy your book right now.

[Tony]

Let's.

[Sam]

Let's show everyone how to do this, would you? Where do you want to Audible or

[Tony]

are you like ibook from Wargate? That's the publisher. You can direct buy directly from their site. Though the one right now is kind of the bells and whistles one where I sign in. There's, you know, shooting stuff. But they'll have the regular hard cover and the paperback shortly after. And then the audio version is going to come out as well. They're going to have me record that. I say it's going to take about a couple of weeks to do, so they'll have me do that too. And we'll see. Yes, we shall see how that goes.

[Sam]

And then to be clear, anyone that wants the from, boom, we're leaving off. Tony's got his shotgun, his buddy's got the pistol, if you want to know what, how he survives for the next five days. Are you sleeping? Are you taking naps?

[Tony]

No, it was like a couple days, you know, and it was. We rotated and.

[Sam]

Yeah, so you need to read the book or listen to it and I'm buying it.

[Tony]

Oh, and there's actually a graphic novel being planned too.

[Sam]

Oh, yeah.

[Tony]

So we'll see how that all goes.

[Sam]

People always say they get stuff and they don't. I'm gonna show.

[Tony]

Thank you for buying my book.

[Sam]

We're the real deal over here. We support authors.

[Tony]

Thank you. Thank you.

[Sam]

Well, thank you so much, Tony. Thank you for being such an important human for Los Angeles. And we will definitely have a follow up podcast after I read the book so we can go through it with all the listeners who bought and read the book. Any parting words of wisdom for the Angelenos and how you feel like from living here, what we need to do all together to get the city on track to where you feel like it should be.

[Tony]

Yeah, like next year is going to be 50 years of unbroken residency in the city for me. So they're going to always say like, you know, LA count LA out because of X, Y and Z. But yeah, we'll always come back. I mean, the 90s were like that too. I mean, we had the riots and we had Rampart and we had Northridge earthquake and we thought the 90s were really bad. And then we came out of the town. 2000s were pretty good. So, yeah, we just need different leadership, different direction. And, you know, mentality's got to change. I mean, you can't fix the problem with the same thinking that created it. So our thinking has to change in the city too, to make it better.

[Sam]

Boom. Thank you for listening. Make sure to leave a five star review and obviously buy the book.

[Tony]

Thanks.

[Sam]

Appreciate it, Sam.