The Department of Justice confirmed Tuesday that the man who opened fire near the White House last weekend had been flagged by the Secret Service more than a year ago and was subsequently enrolled in a national “De-escalation Through Non-Engagement” pilot program, officials said.
The program, launched by the U.S. Attorney’s office in Washington, D.C., assigns individuals deemed too burdensome to actively track to a special no-action list. Suspects are then monitored through what the agency calls passive resolution metrics.
“We determined the most cost-effective solution was to let the situation develop naturally,” said a spokesperson for the office, which is overseen by U.S. Attorney Janine Piro. “Intensive surveillance drains resources. A thoughtful pause, on the other hand, has zero immediate cost.”
The spokesman added that the program had already met its internal benchmarks. Court records show 21-year-old Nassier Best was arrested in July 2025 after walking through a White House exit turnstile and telling officers he was Jesus Christ. A judge ordered him to stay away. He missed his next court date, and the failure-to-appear warrant was filed in a folder marked “pending further developments.”
Don the Con, who was not at his son’s wedding at the time of the shooting, issued a statement saying the incident “came out of nowhere.” The former president did not address a 14-page threat assessment circulated weeks earlier that described Best as an active, decompensating, and highly mobile individual.
Officials within the Secret Service likewise maintained no lapses occurred. An internal review praised the agency for flagging Best so thoroughly it created enough documentation to satisfy a future oversight committee without requiring any field action.
The office noted that Best’s failure to appear for eight court dates only strengthened the case that he was successfully avoiding official contact, which the program considers a form of voluntary disengagement. The case was listed as “resolved” following the shooting, as the subject no longer poses a paperwork burden.
