Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is again asking President Joe Biden to grant him Secret Service protection after an armed gunman was arrested last weekend at his campaign event — just two miles from where his father was killed in 1968.
“The threat level to our candidate, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., increases every day. He is not the only one in danger: anyone attending a campaign event is in danger,” Kennedy campaign manager Dennis Kucinich wrote to the president.
Kucinich referenced the armed gunman arrested this weekend and the history of assassinations of political figures in his post. Kennedy’s father – Robert Kennedy – was shot in Los Angeles in 1968, and his uncle John F. Kennedy was shot in Dallas in 1963.
Kennedy challenges Biden for the Democratic presidential nomination. Biden leads by 50 points in the polls. But polls also show voters are concerned that at 80, Biden may be too old to do the job.
Robert F. Kennedy has again asked for Secret Service protection. He was speaking Friday evening at a Hispanic Heritage Month event at the Wilshire Ebell Theater in Los Angeles when an armed man tried to enter
Kucinich noted in his letter that the country still bears scars from the political turmoil of the 1960s.
“It is not difficult to imagine the civil chaos and political disintegration that could result from the return of the kind of assassinations of officials and presidential candidates that marred the 1960s,” Kucinich wrote.
“The American psyche still bears the scars of these devastating events. “Together with the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., they have sent America into a tailspin from which many believe the country has not yet recovered,” he said.
Kucinich also noted that President Biden and his family know how important federal protections are.
“This ever-present threat of violence is something you are well aware of, given the security demands for you and your family members,” he noted.
The Secret Service notes it “does not determine who is eligible for protection, nor is the Secret Service authorized to independently initiate protection of candidates.”
The agency protects major candidates for president and vice president, typically within 120 days of the election. Ironically, such measures were introduced after the assassination of Robert Kennedy in 1968.
“Prior to this event, the candidates and their families received no Secret Service protection,” the agency noted.
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden with their Secret Service credentials
The suspect was arrested by police after claiming to be with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s security team. to hear
The incident occurred less than two miles from where RFJ’s father was shot on June 5, 1968. Kennedy Sr. died a day later at Good Samaritan Hospital.
Dennis Kucinich (left), the former Ohio congressman who now works for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign manager, wrote to Biden asking for protection for his candidate
A president can order Secret Service protection for any person he wants. Former President Donald Trump extended post-presidency Secret Service protection to his four adult children and two of their spouses during his final days in office.
Only former presidents and their spouses receive lifelong Secret Service protection. All minor children would receive protection until they were sixteen, although most presidents extend protection for their minor children until they are no longer in college. Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and George W. Bush all did this for their daughters.
Some presidential candidates receive protection early in the primary process, especially if they face a number of threats.
Barack Obama was one of them. He was cleared for protection in May 2007, marking the first time in history that a presidential candidate received Secret Service protection nearly two years before the presidential election.
His rival in the Democratic primaries, Hillary Clinton, already received Secret Service protection due to her status as a former first lady.
Obama, the first major black presidential candidate, had received numerous death threats.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson, also a leading black candidate for president, received early Secret Service protection during his campaigns for the White House in 1984 and 1988 due to threats.
It is not just the president who can approve of a candidate having a secret service.
The Secretary of Homeland Security — the federal department that houses the Secret Service — can also approve federal protections with the approval of an advisory committee that includes the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the House Minority Whip, the Senate Majority Leader, and the Senate Minority Leader. and an additional member selected by the committee.
Some presidential candidates are rejecting a protective detail that could hinder a candidate’s moves.
During the 2008 presidential campaign, John McCain, the Republican candidate, opposed federal protection until the very end, calling it an “inconvenience” and a “waste of taxpayer dollars.”
Eight months before the election, he bowed to the “inevitable,” as he called it, and accepted the details.
A full Secret Service detail usually includes a long motorcade: a lead car, a car with the candidate, a decoy car, cars with additional officers and protection, and an ambulance. Dozens of officers protect the candidate and provide security at events, passing crowd members through scanners and monitoring threats.
Other presidential candidates hire private security through their campaign committees.
Others have security details because of their current role. For example, Governor Ron DeSantis has a protective role due to his job as governor of Florida, but those are state police, not federal agents.
Currently, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, along with their spouses, have a full-time Secret Service employee. Biden’s two adult children and seven grandchildren, as well as Harris’ two stepchildren, also receive protection.
Kennedy was shocked Friday night while speaking at a Hispanic Heritage Month event at the Wilshire Ebell Theater in Los Angeles when an armed man tried to get him.
Wearing a US Marshal badge on a lanyard, a man tried to identify himself as a member of Kennedy’s security team.
He was seen wearing two shoulder holsters with loaded handguns with spare ammunition.
The incident occurred less than two miles from the former site of The Ambassador Hotel, 3400 Wilshire Boulevard, where RFK was shot and killed in June 1968 after winning the Democratic California presidential primary.
Barack Obama at the Iowa State Fair in August 2007 during the 2008 presidential campaign; a secret service agent is visible behind him; Obama received early protection due to threats
RFK Jr.’s uncle was assassinated in 1963: Above President John F Kennedy, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, Texas Governor John Connally and his wife Nellie Connally ride together in a convertible limousine in Dallas in 1963, shortly before shots were fired.
The property was later redeveloped as the Robert F. Kennedy Schools after the hotel was demolished in 2005.
Kennedy shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, his gratitude for the quick-thinking actions of those around him who were able to intercept the suspect.
“I am very grateful that alert and quick-acting protectors from Gavin de Becker and Associates (GDBA) spotted and detained an armed man who attempted to approach me tonight during my Hispanic Heritage speech at the Wilshire Ebell Theater in Los Angeles,” Kennedy wrote .
“The man, who was wearing two shoulder holsters with loaded handguns and spare ammunition magazines, was wearing a U.S. Marshal badge on a lanyard and a federal ID with a belt clip. He identified himself as a member of my security detail.
“Armed GDBA team members moved quickly to isolate and detain the man until the LAPD arrived to make the arrest. I am also grateful to the LAPD for its quick response.
RFK Jr. added that he hoped he would receive Secret Service protection after the incident.
“I am the first presidential candidate in history to whom the White House has denied a request for protection.”
RFK — a longshot for the 2024 Democratic nomination as he trails Biden 76 percent to 9 percent in the poll — complained last month after the Biden administration denied his request for Secret Service protection.