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A man carrying a loaded pistol was taken into custody on Sept. 15 at an event in Los Angeles where Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was set to deliver a speech for Hispanic Heritage Month.
Adrian Paul Aispuro, 44, was carrying a gun in a shoulder holster and a badge stating he was a U.S. marshal, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department told The Washington Post.
Aispuro appeared at a side entrance to the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles, prior to the start of Kennedy’s speech.
Kennedy founder and chairman on leave of Children’s Health Defense, is seeking the Democratic nomination for U.S. president.
According to the Los Angeles Daily News, police said the suspect was wearing a U.S. Marshals Service badge on a lanyard and was armed with two pistols. He was booked on a felony gun charge and was being held on $35,000 bail, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Inmate Information Center.
In a statement, Kennedy’s campaign said:
“The man claimed to be part of Kennedy’s security team and told RFK Jr.’s actual protectors with urgency that he needed to be taken to the candidate immediately. Observing that the man had a handgun, Kennedy’s security team removed the man from the area, isolated, and surrounded him, and notified LAPD.”
Kennedy thanked his private security detail in a tweet:
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… pic.twitter.com/vvJc0Gtk4o
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) September 16, 2023
Kennedy’s father, U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated on June 5, 1968, at the Ambassador Hotel, less than 2 miles east of the Wilshire Ebell Theatre.
Sen. Kennedy who was running for president, had just won the California primary. His assassination prompted the U.S. Secret Service to establish a new policy that included providing coverage to presidential candidates.
As of yet, the Biden administration has declined to provide Secret Service protection to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., despite repeated requests.
Friday’s incident prompted the Kennedy campaign to reach out again today to Biden, in an open letter requesting protection.
The Defender on occasion posts content related to Children’s Health Defense’s nonprofit mission that features Mr. Kennedy’s views on the issues CHD and The Defender regularly cover. In keeping with Federal Election Commission rules, this content does not represent an endorsement of Mr. Kennedy who is on leave from CHD and is seeking the Democratic nomination for president of the U.S.
