An intruder was arrested on Oct. 25 at independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Los Angeles property after being detained by Mr. Kennedy’s private security detail, only to be arrested again later that day when he returned, according to police.
Officers who responded to a burglary call at about 9:30 a.m. that day found that a blonde, white male wearing a green T-shirt had been detained by security at Mr. Kennedy’s home in the Brentwood neighborhood, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) told The Epoch Times.
Jonathan Macht, 28, was taken into custody at a nearby police station, where he was cited for trespassing and then released, authorities said.
Police said the man returned to Mr. Kennedy’s home and was arrested a second time at 5:45 p.m. for violating a protective order. He’s currently being held on $30,000 bail.
The presidential candidate was at home at the time of both arrests, Mr. Kennedy’s campaign said in an Oct. 26 statement.
“After being released from police custody, the man immediately returned to Kennedy’s residence,” the statement reads.
The intruder, who entered the property by climbing a fence, is known to the U.S. Secret Service and Mr. Kennedy’s security detail from Gavin de Becker and Associates (GDBA), according to the statement.
“GDBA had notified the Secret Service about this specific obsessed individual several times in recent months, and shared alarming communications he has sent to the candidate,” the statement reads.
In September, an armed man accused of posing as a federal marshal at an event attended by Mr. Kennedy was arrested and charged with misdemeanors, according to the Los Angeles city attorney’s office.
At the time of the arrest, Mr. Kennedy was scheduled to speak at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre, at 4401 W. 8th St. in Los Angeles, to celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month. The event ran from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Sept. 15.
According to the LAPD, a call was received reporting a male in front of the event venue with “a badge on [his] lapel, a gun, and a shoulder holster,” who “claimed to be a U.S. Marshal,” a spokesperson told The Epoch Times. The suspect, Adrian Paul Aispuro, 44, was initially booked on a felony gun charge, before later being charged with carrying a loaded firearm, carrying a concealed firearm, and impersonating an officer, all misdemeanors.
Police said the suspect claimed to be employed for the event but wasn’t recognized by Mr. Kennedy’s security team.
Requests for Protection
Mr. Kennedy’s campaign says that two requests for Secret Service protection as a presidential candidate have been denied by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in recent months.“Every presidential administration for 55 years has afforded early protection to candidates who requested it. The Biden administration is the sole outlier,” the campaign stated, noting that it has now submitted a third formal request.
“Since the assassination of my father in 1968, candidates for president are provided Secret Service protection,” Mr. Kennedy wrote on X. “But not me.”
According to U.S. law under “18 USC 3056A,” the U.S. Secret Service is tasked to provide protection to “major presidential and vice presidential candidates and, within 120 days of the general Presidential election, the spouses of such candidates.”
The secretary of the DHS, currently Alejandro Mayorkas, is tasked with identifying “major” candidates in a presidential race in consultation with the speaker of the House, the House minority leader, the majority and minority leaders of the Senate, and one additional member selected by the other members of the committee, which as a whole isn’t answerable to the incumbent president.
DHS has yet to comment on its decision.
Mr. Kennedy had called for the Biden administration to provide protection in early August, after one of Ecuador’s presidential candidates, Fernando Villavicencio—who vowed to fight corruption in the country—was assassinated.
After Mr. Kennedy’s father was assassinated, the U.S. Secret Service expanded its protection coverage to presidential and vice presidential candidates, according to its website.
Following the Sept. 15 incident, Mr. Kennedy wrote on X, “I’m still entertaining a hope that President Biden will allow me Secret Service protection.”
