Wednesday 14th May 2025 marks the one-year anniversary of an assassination attempt on a European political leader. Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot during a public appearance in Handlova, Slovakia. Reacting to his name being called out by the assailant, the quick-footed Prime Minister approached the barrier line and waiting public. Juraj Cintula, a 71-year-old security guard and part-time writer, drew a legally owned pistol and discharged five shots at the Prime Minister. Two shots hit Fico, one narrowly missing his liver, leaving the PM in a serious condition and requiring surgery.
What the footage shows is that despite the best endeavours, size, firepower and number of protection operatives around a principal, action will always beat reaction. The Prime Minister had at least five large, armed, protection officers with him, but their presence still made no difference to the outcome. Why?
See BBC footage here: https://youtu.be/kYjMfKQaDQs
In the footage, we see the premise of action vs reaction being played out. The chain of events begins with Cintula’s action of calling out Fico’s name. Fico reacts to Cintula’s action and moves swiftly to the barrier. Fico’s action of moving to the barrier causes his protection team to react and follow. Cintula’s action of then opening fire at the Prime Minister causes the protection team to react, leading to the assailant being neutralised and Fico being swiftly evacuated from the scene.
As a former Royalty and Specialist Protection (RaSP) officer with the Metropolitan Police in the UK, I (Simon Tasker) have walked barrier lines with globally recognised principals, pressing the flesh with the public. For me, as it is for any professional protection operative, these are the ‘heart in your mouth’ moments. Well drilled and effective protection operatives should be drained at the conclusion of barrier line and public work. You are constantly watching hands, watching people, watching behaviour, watching movement, watching the principal. Your senses will likely be overloaded to the noise, the movement and environment around you. You’ll be thinking where your nearest safe exit route is, where your immediate hard cover is, and a whole lot more. We accept the discipline, we train for it, and we plan for the worst outcomes possible.
My heart went out to the Slovakian protection team when Prime Minister Fico was shot, as this incident will have weighed on them heavily. Some elements of the protection team response were excellent, including the actions of the two operatives that swiftly got the PM into a car and away from the venue.
One thing is certain though. Action vs Reaction can work in your favour, too. Security guards, law enforcement, SAP’s, indeed the public themselves on the barrier can play a real part in dissuading or reducing the likelihood of an attack, such as was launched against Prime Minister Fico. In the UK, uniformed police officers are encouraged to actively talk to, listen and engage with the public at events and on barrier lines. There are subtle, but real benefits of doing this. The action of a friendly “How are you doing?” or a “Hello!” will almost always prompt a reaction from the person being asked. If it doesn’t provoke a response, that could be for reasons of language understanding, or partial hearing or deafness. More likely though, a lack of reaction from a friendly question asked may help inform your judgment about that person’s motivation for being there.
Positive engagements with the public can also help identify fixated, agitated or unusual behaviour within a crowd. A positive engagement with an individual in a crowd may potentially cause an assailant to abort the attack, merely as a result of a friendly intervention, disrupting the would-be assailants thought process. So, when you next find yourself as a SAP, or stewarding a barrier line or section of the public at an event, take it all in. You have an incredibly important part to play. Look, listen, talk to and watch people. Make these your actions, which others will inevitably have to react to.
