LOS ANGELES — Police arrested a man allegedly posing as a United States Marshal during a Hispanic Heritage Month event attended by Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Friday in the Wilshire Park area not far from where his father was assassinated in 1968.
Kennedy, 69, took to X, formerly known as Twitter, shortly after the event ended, claiming that the man attempted to approach him at the event, held at the Wilshire Ebell Theater, where he gave a speech discussing the need for “a comprehensive policy to secure the border and ease immigration pressure,” according to a news release.
“I’m very grateful that alert and fast-acting protectors from Gavin de Becker and Associates (GDBA) spotted and detained an armed man who attempted to approach me at my Hispanic Heritage speech at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles tonight.
“The man, wearing two shoulder holsters with loaded pistols and spare ammunition magazines was carrying a U.S. Marshal badge on a lanyard and belt clip federal ID.
“He identified himself as a member of my security detail. Armed GDBA team members moved quickly to isolate and detain the man until LAPD arrived to make the arrest. I’m also grateful to LAPD for its rapid response.
“I’m still entertaining a hope that President Biden will allow me Secret Service protection. I am the first presidential candidate in history to whom the White House has denied a request for protection.”
In July, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and a bipartisan committee rejected a request from Kennedy for Secret Service protection following an unusually early request from Kennedy’s campaign. Kennedy said at the time that his request “included a 67-page report…detailing unique and well-established security and safety risks aside from commonplace death threats.”
Kennedy, whose father and uncle were both assassinated, raised the issue of a Secret Service detail again in his statement on Friday night, claiming he was the “first presidential candidate in history” to be denied protection upon request.
The Wilshire Ebell Theater is in the 4400 block of West Eighth Street in the Mid-Wilshire area, just 14 blocks west of the site of the Ambassador Hotel, where the candidate’s father, U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, was assassinated June 5, 1968.
“Major presidential candidates” do receive Secret Service protection during the primaries but there are a number of requirements that candidates must meet, according to the Congressional Research Service.
Once such requirements are met, the secretary of Homeland Security consults with an advisory committee and one additional member selected by the other members of the committee — usually from the Secret Service — and determines if a candidate is eligible for Secret Service protection.
ABC News reported this is the first time Kennedy has explicitly acknowledged that Gavin de Becker and Associates, whose namesake donated $4.5 million to a pro-Kennedy Super PAC, is providing his security detail.
Asked in July by ABC News if he employed private security following the rejection of his request, Kennedy was cagey about the details despite the presence of men wearing pins with the insignia of Gavin de Becker and Associates.
“I’m not going to tell you my security arrangements for obvious reasons,” Kennedy said.
RFK Jr. is running as a Democratic candidate against current President Joe Biden.
The Los Angeles Police Department said it received a call at approximately 4:30 p.m. Friday regarding a disturbance at
Upon their arrival, officers located a man who was impersonating a U.S. marshal and claimed to be part of Kennedy’s security team. Officers arrested him and took the man to the LAPD’s Wilshire Division Station, according to Officer Drake Madison.
“He didn’t threaten anyone, and no one was injured,” Madison told City News Service.
Police said the suspect was wearing a U.S. Marshals Service badge on a lanyard and was armed with two pistols.
“He’ll probably be booked on some sort of a gun charge, but we won’t know until” Saturday, Madison said Friday.
Photos of the individual who was arrested at the event were shared by Kennedy on social media. The unidentified perpetrator was shown wearing a black shirt with a logo reading “Emergency Medical Services.”
He said the FBI was contacted and it was decided the LAPD would handle the arrest and the investigation.
Caption: A man carrying loaded pistols and spare ammunition was detained Friday after impersonating a U.S. marshal at one of Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign events in Los Angeles.
