U.S. Marine veteran James Kilcer, who thwarted an attempted robbery in an Arizona convenience store last week, received an award Tuesday from the Yuma County Sheriff’s Office while wearing a “Let’s Go Brandon” T-shirt.
He was also sporting a red “Make America Great Again” hat, apparently in support of former President Donald Trump.
Sheriff Leon Wilmot presented Kilcer with the YCSO Citizen’s Valor Award, “For extraordinary heroism and exceptional courage while voluntarily coming to the aid of another citizen during an incident involving criminal activity at extreme, life threatening, personal risk in an attempt to save or protect human life,” the sheriff’s office said in a news release.
“The YCSO Citizen’s Valor Award is the highest award for citizens whose actions warrant recognition.”
Surveillance video of Kilcer stopping the robbery at the Chevron convenience store early in the morning on Oct. 20 went viral.
The now-U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground employee had just purchased some Gatorades and other items and was talking to the clerk when the suspects came in, Kilcer told the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service.
“I heard the door start opening forcefully and my ‘Spidey senses’ or whatever kind of tingling, and I turn around and saw they were coming in real quick,” he said.
The veteran turned around and his military training kicked in as he sought to disarm the robber.
“I was ready: I saw it coming,” Kilcer said. “The minute my hands closed around it, I never lost contact with the gun. And I pulled him down.”
ZERO FEAR:
When this Yuma, AZ veteran saw some criminals pop in guns high — he didn’t wait for things to potentially go south.“The Marine Corp taught me not to [mess] around,” he later said.
‘The few, the proud’ for a reason.
More on the story on @ABC15 at 10. pic.twitter.com/fGjKthcXvO— Zach Crenshaw (@ZachCrenshaw) October 21, 2021
He held the suspect down until law enforcement arrived.
The person arrested was a 14-year-old juvenile who has now been charged with one count of armed robbery and one count of aggravated assault.
Arizona AG Seeks Temporary Restraining Order to Stop Biden’s ‘Unconstitutional’ COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates
“Kilcer served as a tactical air operations technician in the Marine Corps and was deployed to Afghanistan during his time in the military. He credits his actions to his Marine Corps basic training and mindset,” DVIDS reported.
“I guess I was just in the right place at the right time,’’ Kilcer said. “I was doing what needed to be done.”
While appearing on Fox News on Friday, the Arizonan also waded into the political when he ended the segment, saying with a smile to host Dana Perino, “And remember, [Jeffrey] Epstein didn’t kill himself.”
The Marine who stopped the corner store robbery in the viral video was just on Fox News.
He ended his interview saying “Epstein didn’t kill himself” haha. pic.twitter.com/NUkZaow09j
— Kassy Dillon (@KassyDillon) October 22, 2021
“OK, got it,” said Perino, who laughed and added, “Very clever.”