Armed man impersonating US Marshal arrested at RFK Jr. event
An armed man carrying pistols and ammunition who claimed to be part of Robert F. Kennedy’s security detail was quickly detained by authorities after showing up at a California event featuring the presidential candidate, authorities said.
“The man, wearing two shoulder holsters with loaded pistols and spare ammunition magazines was carrying a U.S. Marshal badge on a lanyard and beltclip federal ID,” Kennedy said early Saturday on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. “He identified himself as a member of my security detail.”
Kennedy posted an image of the man, who was wearing a black shirt with a white symbol reading “Emergency Medical Services.”
The man has not been publicly identified.
The incident took place at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles Friday evening, where Kennedy delivered a speech in honor of Hispanic Heritage month.
Kennedy credited Gavin de Becker and Associates, the elite security firm guarding him, with flagging the gun-toting individual.
“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,” he said.
The LAPD confirmed the arrest of a man accused of impersonating a US marshal, adding the FBI was also on the scene and telling The Post the man “probably be booked on a gun charge.”
Kennedy, a well-known conspiracy theorist, is challenging President Biden for the Democratic nomination, making him a headache for Democrats and an amusing folk-hero for Republicans — who have donated heavily to his campaign.
Both his father, Robert F. Kennedy Sr. and uncle, former president Kennedy, were assassinated and the younger Kennedy said he was “aware” of the possibility he might also be targeted. He has been denied Secret Service protection by the White House — a situation he has repeatedly griped about.
“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,” he said.
Kennedy’s campaign, which polling suggests once had the support of one in five Democratic primary voters, stumbled badly over the summer after the candidate was caught on video floating the possibility that the coronavirus had been an “ethnically targeted” bioweapon designed to spare Jews and Chinese people. He was subsequently denounced by several members of his family.
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