My first instinct was “inside job.” Nothing that’s come out since changes that. Of course the rule to “never attribute to malice what is easily explained by incompetence” fits too.

I hope it was merely incompetence. Likely because of DEI hires. If that is the case it was multiple and consecutive incompetencies by multiple people. There were rally attendees who showed more competence than the police and Secret Service. In the iconic photo Trump looks “present” and angry. The Secret Service agents look like bored stand-ins wondering what to do next. No one “took charge”. I can almost here them saying to each other “I dunno what do you want to do, ok lets move off stage and then decide what to do”.

I fear that this is how our DEI military will react to an emergency too.