Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images
An armed man was arrested by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) on Friday at a campaign event dedicated to Hispanic Heritage Month for Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., at the Wilshire Ebell Theater in Los Angels.
The LAPD said they received a call around 4:30 p.m. regarding a disturbance at the theater in the 4400 block of West Eighth Street in the Mid-Wilshire area.
The man was taken by officers to the Wilshire station where it was decided that the LAPD would remain the lead agency in charge of investigating the case. The suspect “will probably be charged with carrying weapons,” according to the LAPD station guard commander.
According to a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Kennedy said the man claimed to be part of his security team and a member of the U.S. National Marshals Service.
“The man, who was wearing two shoulder holsters with loaded pistols and spare ammunition magazines, was wearing a US Marshal’s badge on a lanyard and a federal ID with belt clip,” Kennedy said.
The suspect, who has not been identified, never brandished his weapons or threatened anyone.
Kennedy thanked his security personnel and the Los Angeles Police Department for their quick response. The incident was also reported to the FBI.
DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and a bipartisan committee in July rejected an unusually early request by the Kennedy campaign for Secret Service protection.
Kennedy said at the time that his request “included a 67-page report…detailing unique and well-established security risks, aside from the common death threats.”
Kennedy, son of Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of former President John F. Kennedy, both of whom were assassinated, again raised the issue of a Secret Service detail in his statement Friday night, stating that he is the “first presidential candidate in the story” who was denied protection when he requested it.
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