OAN’s Abril Elfi
2:04 PM – Saturday, September 16, 2023
Authorities have arrested an armed man who was impersonating a law enforcement officer at a Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Hispanic Heritage event in Los Angeles, California.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), an armed man accused of impersonating a United States Marshal was taken into custody at a Kennedy Jr. campaign event in Los Angeles, California, Friday afternoon.
A statement from an LAPD spokesman reported that a radio call was generated at around 4:30 p.m. local time about a man with “a loaded gun in a shoulder holster and a badge stating he was a U.S. Marshal.”
After the radio call LAPD officers arrived at the scene followed by the FBI and the man was immediately arrested.
Kennedy Jr. released his own statement on X, the social media platform formerly know as Twitter, after the event and said that his private security had detected the man who attempted to approach him during his speech on Hispanic Heritage.
“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,” he wrote. “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.”
The presidential candidate then continued by adding that he hopes that President Joe Biden will provide him Secret Service protection since he is “the first presidential candidate in history to whom the White House has denied a request for protection.”
After the statement was released, the press argued against Kennedy Jr. saying that “the vast majority of candidates in modern presidential primaries never receive Secret Service protection because they are not deemed ‘major’ candidates and it would be nearly unprecedented for even a major candidate to receive protection this early in a campaign if they did not already have it on account of currently or previously serving in the White House.”
The suspect was identified by LAPD as a Hispanic man with tattoos on his arm, neck and hands.
Wilshire Station’s Watch Commander said that the suspect did not raise his gun or threaten anyone with it but was carrying the weapon.
He also reported that the man is now in the Wilshire Station and he will most likely be booked on a gun charge.
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