Police arrested a gunman at a campaign event for Robert Kennedy Jr. in California
The gunman was arrested Friday at a campaign event for Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. California, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Kennedy said on social media that a man who claimed to be part of his security detail “was carrying two shoulder holsters with loaded handguns as he approached the candidate at a Hispanic heritage event.”
According to sources, the man arrived at the event and claimed to be employed by the organizers. However, campaign security officers did not recognize him and detained him until the police arrived. The Los Angeles Police Department received a call about the incident Friday afternoon. Police said the suspect, who has not yet been identified, wore an imitation badge and impersonated the U.S. Marshals Service. Police would not say what crime the man is charged with.
Kennedy repeated his request for Secret Service protection on X, formerly known as Twitter, but that protection was not extended to all presidential candidates. Kennedy’s father, former senator and attorney general Robert F. Kennedy, was assassinated in 1968 while campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination. “I remain hopeful that President Biden will allow the Secret Service to protect me,” Kennedy wrote on Friday.
The Secret Service provides protection for the “major” presidential candidates. The Secretary of Homeland Security decides who qualifies as a primary candidate and when protection begins.
Given the tragic history of the Kennedy family, the Kennedy campaign was highly sensitive to security issues. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, Sen. The current candidate’s father, Robert Kennedy, was assassinated in Los Angeles in 1968, shortly after winning the California Democratic presidential primary. In July, Kennedy noted that the Biden administration had refused to grant him Secret Service protection, despite his request to the Department of Homeland Security and detailed documentation of the need for such protection.
Kennedy is leading President Joe Biden in some polls, but is trailing significantly overall. Many Democrats say they are willing to vote for a candidate other than the current president.
