Has someone in the Houston mayor’s office been watching too much Homeland? Dave Fehling of StateImpact Texas points towards a bizarre ad produced by the City of Houston with Homeland Security funding. (This particular video actually was released in February 2011, some nine months before the first episode of the award-winning Showtime series aired. In July, a few days after the Aurora theater shooting, Annise Parker’s office put out another PSA on how to avoid an active shooter.)
In the seven-minute video targeted at first responders and those who work in the service industry, a narrator discusses the danger posed by a variety of suspicious individuals. “The threat is real. we are vulnerable,” he says, ominously.
In one such scenario, a man sits on a park bench wearing a heavy jacket in summertime, leading the narrator to say:
Fashion may follow trends, but people always dress for the season. If you see someone wearing heavy or bulky clothing that is obviously wrong for the time of year, carrying suspicious bags or acting extremely nervous, they may be carrying explosives or weapons. Don’t be a hero. Try to place a solid physical object between you and the threat. Stay low to the ground and call security or the police immediately.
WATCH the video below:
